chiquitawannabe

Help!
I am having trouble with some banana plants that are not growing, in fact they are wilting.
How much should I water in this area? What sort of fertilizer should I use and how much of it?
I am going to double check the soil; I believe it may may not drain well enough.
Lastly, what is the best way to determine the species I have?

mikevan

When they mature and/or flower post pics up at the nanner ID forum - maybe someone will see it and ID it.

As to wilting and not growing - that depends on the growing conditions. Normally that's caused by too much water, believe it or not. The roots are drowning and are unable to support the needs of the current foliage. Check the soil - if it's very wet - stop watering! It's easy to overwater - like when they're not growing. Killed my share of plants that way thinking more water would make them start growing again.

On the opposite side - if they're bone dry they'll have the same problem. Only you can tell - stick your finger in the soil. If it's dry below where your index finger can reach, then you need to water. If you pull up a wet index finger, you need to stop watering.

Plant food doesn't cause as obvious a wilting/slow growth as does the issue of water - or more accurately - the issue of root health. If the roots are too dry or too wet, they'll stress and the outcome is your leaves won't get the moisture they need and your plant will wilt. Be aware that heat-of-day wilting is normal. But they should be fairly firm during the mornings.

If you find that the problem is too much water - stop watering and don't feed until the soil has dried and growth has resumed. Feeding doesn't make a nanner start growing, it enhances it's current growth. So, if it's not growing, don't feed lest you contribute to further root rot.

New nanners also don't grow very fast either. When you first plant a nanner, it's first act is to start developing a new root system, so you'll see minimal growth. New nanners should even be topped - have their leaves removed - to take the stress off the corm while the roots are forming. Once it develops roots new leaves will jump out and slap you in the face if you don't get out of the way fast enough.

Hope this helps,
Mike