wxman

I ordered 4 musa orinoco corms with a short piece of pseudostem a few weeks ago from Stokes Tropicals. I planted them in the ground about 10 days ago, and I'm wondering if what you see below is normal. When I received them there was little white things pushing up in the middle. They have been slowly getting more and more black on them and I haven't witnessed much if any growth yet. They still feel firm. Want to know what you guys recommend to get them growing for me.

Gabe15

Give them time. They will look junky and dead for a bit and then should start growing fine once they get rooted.

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Rmplmnz

I agree they should be fine. I would not apply mulch until they start growing (rake the mulch back from the base of the corm) and be careful to not over water.

Following are the growing instructions I recommend:

Care: Plant your Heliconia/Banana as soon as you receive it using a well draining soil mixture. DO NOT USE POTTING MIX unless it has a considerable amount of aggregate added to it, such as coarse sand.

Also do not use soil from your back yard – heavy, dense soils will hold too much water and cause the rhizome to rot.

It is very important that your soil is well draining. When you are ready to plant you can often look at the rhizome and see where the soil line had been while it was growing.

If you are not sure you may grow it upright with the lower base in the soil.

WATERING / LIGHT / WARMTH/ HUMIDITY FOR PROPER HELICONIA/Banana GROWTH

After your first time watering do not water until the surface soil is dry to the touch. It is very important that you do not keep the soil too wet.

Heliconia/Banana happen to like warm temperatures and bright light to grow strong. An ideal temperature would be 60* F with humidity over 40 %. . Zone 9-11
Bananas
Good soil mix for bananas is 1/3rd compost (if available), 1/3rd rich potting soil and 1/3rd perlite (for good drainage) you can put them in almost any kind of soil but remember drainage is key. If you don’t have access to compost, just mix the parts ½ and ½ and they will do just fine.
They do prefer a more acidic soil and compost will do that for you. You can’t really go wrong, bananas are not too particular with soil type but the worst type of soil is a clay/loam soil.

Water thoroughly at planting, keep on the moist side ( NOT WET ) if base of plant begins to soften or look discolored , this is a sign of to much moisture, stop watering until healthy growth appears. Once planted resumption of growth is quick as new leaves unfurl from the top center of the pseudostem, or stronger new growth will emerge from underground portions of the corm (suckers) and produce a new banana plant.

Good luck!!

wxman

They are in loose soil and I only watered once when I planted them. I was just worried because they started turning black on top. What should I look for to make sure they are ok? The middle will push up white or whatever? How does it turn into the first leaf?

austinl01

Do you know your soil temp? Orinocos need warm temps to start their growth.

__________________
Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

wxman

It was 59F at midnight.

austinl01

If the overnight lows are in the 50's, you should be good to go!

__________________
Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

wxman

No, the soil was in the upper 50s at midnight last night. The low last night was only 71F here after a high of 89F, although now its 44F with rain.

just j

u planted them already in wisconsin risky i have been debating it for a week now if i should start putting the orinocos and other hardy ones out but we do get some cold days yet do u cover them at night

wxman

I covered them when it gets in mid 30s or colder. This past Friday it was in the upper 80s, today its 72. Soil temperature is upper 50s now.

I went out there today to look at them again and the tops were black and mushy feeling, so I cut the stem about 1/2" down from the top and found white tissue. How do these things get leaves to grow out? Does just the center grow and the rest dies away or what? I've never planted corms with short stems before. Always just planted a full plant. I don't want to lose these.

just j

well i started planting mine out today they r pretty hard so we will see but yeah they will start growing leaves out the top or if it dont they usually put a sucker out they should be fine

Bama Banana

Take a knife and cut them off clean, and down to the point where the center is green. When the heat hits, give them plenty of water. But they can take a LOT of water even when its cold. They slow down a LOT when it gets cold, but they really keep going all year here in South Alabama, as long as I keep them cut (stimulated?) like that. We had wet weather and temps in the high teens this last winter only to have the psuedostems survive (no protection at all) by using this method. Had eight (more than half) of them to fruit last summer. That's one of the bunches in my avatar pic. Hope to do better this year. I think most folks just let them go and they come back out from the ground instead of from the top of the main psuedostem. I realize you probably won't be able to save your psuedostems during your winters, but this will probably help to get these going. In any case I am pretty sure it will not hurt them (I would NOT do this with my other bananas). Orinocos are very resiliant!

__________________
More pics on Facebook. Send me a friend request at "facebook.com/joeympowell"

wxman

Here they are as of today. Three of them I trimmed down 1/4" because the top looked sunken in and black in the middle. It was 83F today, and will be 85F tomorrow and 80F on Thursday. When can I expect these to start moving? What should I be looking for as a positive sign? Nothing seems mushy, so I think they're alive?

just j

there good im 80 miles north of u and mine look the same just starting to push so thats a good thing they will come around soon and when they do they will take off fast most of the growth is under ground at this stage the roots are growing and possible could be producing pups

just j

just dont dig them up to check or it will take longer to reasablish its self

hammer

i have 17 orinocos plants and they have been putting on one leaf a week with night temps in the 50s soil temps 60s i have them on rasied beds

banfan

I've had good results in the winter here by giving them some fresh, hot horse manure on the surface from the p-stem out to about 1 meter, piled to about 10 cm. high to warm them up.

__________________
Sigi

Chironex

They are doing fine. See the green coming up? You will be surprised!

__________________
Scot

Gecko

I have 4 Orinocos, all rescued from a landscaping job, they were damaged and the root balls dry.

I placed them in a raised bed, lots of compost, and some 12-12-12 slow release.

I had to cut back the largest as there was p stem damage, in 3 days it put out a cut off leaf, and then slowed down. It took 2 weeks or so for the next leaf to show.

Now I get a nice full leaf on the large plant about once a week (new one unfurled today).

The 3 smaller guys were in sad shape, but now have been leafing like mad.

Granted we are a bit warmer here, and they seem to like the heat and the full sun for 80% of the day.

From your pics I would say they are doing fine, remember that although they can be fast growers, it takes 2-4 weeks to establish (from what I have read).

Guess it's time to update my gallery. I need to show how my "plantation" is doing.

Oh and always as a newbie here Thanks to every one on the board for the wealth of info.

Gecko

__________________


MoltenGecko Glassworks
moltengecko.etsy.com molten.geckoglassworks.com

Lagniappe

Will you guys stop cuttin' on the plants already? Just throw em' in the ground and walk away....they'll do fine.