krismast

I left home for work early this morning and as I walked out the door it was a bit chilly and breezy but I believe it only got down to about 55. Tonight when I got home from work, I checked my banana plants in containers on my front porch, and the leaves were wilted, droopy, and brown/black. The plants are dwarf reds. I didn't think that this would happen this quickly. Are dwarf reds THAT sensitive to the cold? None of my other banana plants outside seem to be affected.

Thanks

Kris

sunfish

You have some other problem. Even at low 40's you will not get damage

Is this cold damage???

krismast

I'm still puzzled. Someone mentioned to me that maybe it was fertilizer burn. Would that really show up on BOTH plants overnight. The last time I fertilize the one was on Sunday. But I just used miracle gro all purpose at normal or slightly below normal strength. The other plant I haven't fertilized in a couple weeks. I also have other plants in the same containers that don't show any signs of fertilizer burn. Like I said this literally happened overnight.

Kris

2woodensticks

I could be slight cold damage..are the outer edges dry and brittle...I happened to me last year on a dwarf red...42 deg wind blowing..outer edges of the leaves became dry and crumbly..but did recover over what seems like forever

__________________
got to love em..{neotropical rattlesnake..cascabell}

Dalmatiansoap

Sunburn

__________________
https://abnb.me/AXJty518xib

Abnshrek

With it only getting down to 55F I would have to agree.. :^)

__________________


I'm a Nannerhead :^)

krismast

Sorry but it's not sunburn. I know that because these pots only get direct sun for about an hour if that. I'm only growing them for the look not fruit.

bananimal

What did the National Weather Service say were your recent low temps?

kcj1219

I have a dwarf red in a pot and it got cooler than 55 where I'm at one night this week and it didn't even flinch. That does look like fertilizer burn even though you claim that it wasn't fed for awhile. Did a dog pee on it?...lol I mean on the ground next to it.

I guess it could be still fertilizer burn. You take some plants that don't get a lot of direct sun and with that larger leaves then. You add a cool night where the plant does not grow at all for a while because of the temps. Plant is not using up whats in soil cause its temporarily shut down. Just sits in it.

__________________
KJ

hilarleo

A cold night is one thing; but cold winds are another.
I see most of this damage is restricted to one side of one leaf; on the less-protected side (facing away from the wall) of the softest exposed leaf.
I have seen the drying "Santa Ana" winds of Los Angeles similarly do this- inside an hour- to newer leaves on the unprotected side of a grove.
I understand cold winds can also be notoriously drying.

Could root-burn damage the one side of a leaf?

In any case- Sympathies.

sandy0225

I think it was something caused by the water standing on that part of the leaf and cold windy conditions. I don't think it's fertilizer burn or anything unless you did a foliar feed or splashed fertilizer water on the leaves that day. Did u do that? Dwarf red hasn't proven itself to be more cold sensitive than any other in my greenhouse, it can take down to 45 or so for overwintering with no adverse effects at all. So it's cold wet windburn. Trim off the ugly edges and it will be ok, just a freak occurrence.

__________________
Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

hanabananaman

I recently had something similar appear overnight after I had done a routine hose spraying after the sun was down. I suspect my tap water had something in it. At this time of year the tap water is getting very warm due to our searing heat and I wonder if the chlorine is not able to kill germs as efficiently due to the temperature???

hilarleo

Dear Hababananaman-
Evening misting has long been considered a risk to terrestrial plants. It sets up overnight wet conditions, encouraging common soil-borne pathogens like fungi & mildews which destroy roots.
Conceivably your plants might have encountered cold-damage similar to Krismast's. But without seeing your planting, or knowing more of immediate conditions, it seems likely you've encountered root damage closely tied to evening wetness. Meanwhile many growers tell us the resulting spike in air humidity levels from "routine evening spraying" is just not sustained enough to benefit tropical growth.

In my dry California conditions many professional orchid growers concern themselves more with the protection of humidity, rather than its production. Humidity is in fact constantly produced by all plants.

So we can increase relative humidity 'passively' using close nearby foliage plantings and with evaporation trays or tubs, or via technological systems. But wherever higher humidity is desired, a protecting structure is crucial. From a wind-break using a nearby wall or a planting of trees to dedicated arbor trellises, to heated conservatories, the humidity is contained.

Still, if you want damp, squeaky-clean plants, then (once plants are well-recovered from all wilt &after the top 1/2" of all suspect soil dries out), consider spraying plants in the morning! But if issues aggravated by damp continue, I wouldn't water before sunrise.
***

hilarleo

Hababananaman also brings up the important topic of water.
All gardeners should be well informed about their water quality. Over the last two decades the federal government has been working hard to standardize end-user water "quality" in terms of measurable chlorine compounds coming from the user's tap. EPA guidelines require that tap water at any faucet contain a minimal concentration of 0.2 ppm chlorine, and stringently limits the concentration of bacteria, spores, etc. We're told this is all good.

This is being effected in public drinking-water delivery systems via recent introductions of longer-lasting "chloramine" compounds replacing simpler chlorine gas compounds. The water thus produced is potentially more toxic to pathogens- yet equally damaging to our beneficial microbes. Consider the bedrock of the terrestrial food chain, the mycorrhizae. These are rootlet-associated fungi upon which most plants are dependent for assimilating minerals. Plants cannot thrive without healthy mycorrhizae communities.
Whether the overall resulting water is 'safer' for plants depends if a balance of healthy microbials survives and flourishes through periods of wet media.

Crucially, chloramines do not 'evaporate' out of our water like chlorine did.
Personally I've found tap water is now like a joker in the deck- anything might happen. Lately I find plants do better when my efforts are devoted to conserving all the available moisture present in soil, using more- & more varied mulches-- while using substantially less tap water.
In commerce this technique is labelled "Dry Farming", and the results in food quality have long been renowned.