tbaleno

My boiler went out in the basement where my banana plant is. Now the new leaf is about 1/2 the size as the others. Would a drop of 10F make the plant slow its growth that much? The temp now is 65F.

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Gabe15

No, it normally wouldn't. Can you post a photo to show us what you are seeing?

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

tbaleno

I'll post it tonight

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tbaleno

Here is the picture.


CIMG_2010-12-16-195240 by mysimplehomegarden, on Flickr

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Gabe15

What appears to be happening is that there is a salt buildup in the soil. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing it is a 'Super Dwarf Cavendish' that you have been feeding with miracle-gro or something similar with for awhile. These types of fertilizers are easily over-applied and accumulate in the soil where they can lead to problems like what you are seeing, usually shortened leaves which bunch up and to not come out fully or properly. Even if you were not using a chemical fertilizer, any type of fertilizer (even organic) can build up in the soil if over-applied and lead to the same problem. The 'Super Dwarf Cavendish' is especially sensitive to this and other environmental stresses which it often responds to by dieing back and suckering. There's not a whole lot you can do right now, the plant won't die, but it will probably continue to grow smaller and smaller leaves, and may actually decrease in height and shrink as it grows (essentially growing shorter...a few strange phenomenon). Each leaf will be smaller and come out a little lower, pushing the other older ones down until it effectively shrinks the whole plant.

If you have been fertilizing with anything, don't add any more, but continue to water until the spring when you can take it outside and thoroughly wash/drain the soil.

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

kelehawaii

It is possible for 'choking' to occur in some of the Cavendish varieties..in particalar the Dwarf. I have experienced that here in Hawai'i during winter months from time to time but only with the DC. The Williams does not seem to be affected. The new leaves will get progressively smaller and if the bunch does emerge, it is very small. When the weather is hot, it doesn't happen. I have heard, from other growers who, at one time, raised the Valery here that it would occasionally occur as well.

tbaleno

I've been using my hydroponic fertilizer. So the salt build up makes sense. I have the ability to flush the soil, would it be a good idea to drench it with regular water for a bit and then just let it sit for a bit while the soil dries out. Or would the roots realy hate that?

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Gabe15

For now, just do not add anything but water to the soil. This will in effect slowly flush it out, but it would be a bad idea to completely oversaturate the soil while it is in such low temperatures in a not very active growth state, so you should wait to do that until it is warm, with lots of the sun, and the plant is growing fast. Your plant is very small, in a very small closed soil environment, nothing is being harvested, and so the nutrient demand is very very low, and anything it cannot take up will just sit in the soil and cause problems. Depending on the water you are using, it too could also be adding lots of salts which are causing problems.

This is one of the reasons I always use about 1/3 compost in my potting mix, it supplies plenty of slowly released nutrients, avoids the need for additional fertilizers which can easily lead to the problem you have encountered, and the organic matter in the soil aids in many other processes to help keep it a healthy, balanced system, even though they are just small containers.

The hyrdroponic fertilizers are typically very concentrated, and not meant for use in potted plants. Unless you were doing very precise application rate calculations based on the volume of soil and plant nutrient requirement (which is basically immeasurably low for your plant), you have very likely added way too much to the system.

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

tbaleno

Okay, nothing but water for the plant for a few months. I forgot all about lowering the concentration for potted plants. The bottle even tells you how much to use if you are using it in the soil and I think you are right in that you don't use very much.

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Kostas

I would say that its best to flush it now and just keep it in a warmer place if possible for a few days as continuing to grow in a soil with excess salts will only induce what Gabe said,continuing the damage to the plant. It surely isnt great to overwater with low tempratures but overwatering once for flushing the soil shouldnt be a problem if you return to proper watering regime afterwards. Keeping it in a warmer place for a few days after the flushing would ensure it will be perfectly happy with it!

Gabe has more experience than all of us probably with bananas though so i could be wrong but that works best with other plants after overfertilization and salt build up. It stops plant damage instantly. Of course then you need to watch out for secondary problems arrising from that damage such as damaged roots,etc but your plant seems in good shape and shouldnt be much affected.

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Gabe15

This is true, the only problem is that it is so cold. All of that excess water will just sit in the pot because the plant is not transpiring very much, and with it being so cold too it could be worse than the effect of the salts.

If you can move it to a very warm, very sunny place afterward for a few weeks, then you can do the flushing now.

Will it be staying the the 60's in your basement for awhile?

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tbaleno

Temperature is 75F. Humidity is very low at 25.

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Kostas

I know what you are saying Gabe,its indeed a fine line there...

With that low humidity,i think that even at that temprature,the soil should dry out enough in a week so as prevent any further trouble. Raising the pot on small objects and exposing the drainage holes helps dry the soil faster. A slow fan blowing at the banana could be used to increase evapotranspiration even more if needed but that depends on the current condition of the roots which may be damaged by the salts and not able to cope with that increased rate.

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