CoryS

I discovered 3 wide yellowish stripes on my Ice Cream banana plant leaf and I don't know what's happened. It's a new leaf that unfurled yesterday. I saw some hard shelled, about 2 mm long flying bugs on it [cream colored]. I knocked them off but I don't know if they did it or what. Please help! I need any advise I can get about what I should do. Any help much much appreciated!
Here is a photo I just took of the leaf:

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hammer

Well i think with a little more sun it will turn green. sometimes after it comes out 2 or 3 days of sun.

Abnshrek

Spray it with Orthene so the next time when they come back they die.. It soaks in the plants tissue or doesn't go away just cause it rains or you do foliar feeds. :^) Make sure you read the cautions.. and don't apply inside. :^)

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LilRaverBoi

I wouldn't worry about it too much unless it turns brown/dead-looking. Hard to say what's causing it for sure, but I don't think it's anything to get worked up over.

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CoryS

Total thanks! After seeing my first two banana plants fail, it really gets me worried. I think I will spray though, just to play safe.

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Sunlight makes plants grow and people live. -Me

sandy0225

The only kind of bugs that might make the leaf turn streaky like that would be spider mites, aphids or whiteflies, all of which should appear obvious if you examine the leaves. Save your spray and look for culture problems instead. Was it raining a lot lately? do you need to fertilize. One of those causes would be much more likely.

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Bananaman88

It looks like a nutrient deficiency of some kind to me. I posted a link some time ago to a page that deals with nutrient deficiencies and disease probems. You can probably find it if you do a search.

Try this link: BANANA (Musa sp.) PEST AND DISEASE IMAGE GALLERY (Hawaii)

From our own Dr. Nelson, I think.

CoryS

Thanks tons for the link! It will take time [there are so many] but I'm going to check them all out. Btw, I thought that name was familiar. I recently joined a site called "the plant doctor" as XKelvinz [nickname, lol]. There's so many scientific words there, though, that I have to use a dictionary to try and figure anything out. I think it will be very helpful after I learn more.

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Sunlight makes plants grow and people live. -Me

Bananaman88

No problem. There is a ton of good info on there. That might be a good link to make a "sticky" for this particular forum.

planetrj

First thought is location...
We always have to go back to basics before being hasty and spraying everything.
Let's talk about environment....

Bananas grow comfortably between 70-85 degrees, and do their very best in volcanic based soil.. but in the ground. A typical day in the tropics during the midsummer, begins with a sunny morning, dark and rainy midday (cloud cover), and often a sunny afternoon.

Given these parameters that Bananas do best in, there could be quite a few scenarios of why bananas do what they do in our sub-prime climates.

First, given that you're in the Southern Midwest, you're experiencing some super long, hot days and often the middle of the day, it's scorching hot. When a tender blade unrolls, it's subject to sunburn even after a few hours of scorching sun, especially when the temps go above 90 degrees and the sun beats down right on it. Also, if there are extreme days where it could be cloudy an entire day, then the next day, it's scorching hot with no cloud protection in the middle of the day.

One clue I noticed is the angular sections, which are often tell-tale of the exposed parts of the blade, especially at angles. The other clue is that it's very green close to the midrib, which indicates it's not internal, because the veins are not affected at the rib juncture. One last thing... If overfeeding, it can sometimes cause the leaf to roll out faster than it can build callous on the cuticle of the leaf, and if it gets exposed too soon, the cuticle will burn like this. Last is the soil. If there are too many soil salts built up and/or the pot is getting too hot (black pots often do this in scorching sun), root burn can happen which inhibits other parts of the plant from taking care of itself as well.

I think giving this a little bit of midday shade and maybe a cooler part of your yard (if it's in a container) everyday while it's the hottest time of the year is the best bet to keep this from happening. Also, keep in mind that when the temps get too hot, bananas will stop growing as well, so all is in your benefit to protect your baby.

Good Luck!!

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you will never have enough bananas ^_^

jjjankovsky

in my area of Mexico, so many things are after every plant that we have...

we have to 'grow many, and pay attention'

if you had ten of this plant, you might just see a trend, or an anomoly, and the anomolies don't count...they have to be seen as part of the randomness of the universe.

a question such as yours is understandable, but the answers cannot be seen as scientific (sample way too small), and you wil probably receive the 'standard gardener answer'..."this is what i think about it..."

at least folk feel your pain...

good luck!

perhaps if you take a longer view..."how'd this one do? over time...keep a notebook...then you can look back and have your own data...

planetrj

BEAUTIFULLY Said!

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you will never have enough bananas ^_^

jjjankovsky

thanks...gardening is like beekeeping...got a question?,...got as many answers as the number you ask...

i started keeping the notebooks ten years ago, and now i can ask myself...and if i have questions...quien sabe??

CoryS

Thanks guyz! This whole thread is copy-pasted into my computer plant log under "Ice Cream banana plant problems". I wrote down everything I learned in chat, too, and added that. I just started learning to grow plants last May and am growing 5 different plants now. I made a section for each plant and keep printouts and CDs too just in case there's ever a computer problem, lol.
Thanks everybody! This is helping a lot!

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Sunlight makes plants grow and people live. -Me