Author Topic: Weeping banana  (Read 1105 times)

Rerod

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Weeping banana
« on: August 12, 2019, 04:26:22 PM »
I am in Safety Harbor FL. I have a Raja Puri banana that I purchased and planted about 1.5 years. It was stunted for a while but is now growing really well with the summer rains. The problem that I am having is that all the new leaves are so large and heavy that they are breaking in half. Is there something I can do to prevent this?

Thank you.


pineislander

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Re: Weeping banana
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2019, 07:09:53 PM »
That is an interesting problem. Bananas have to deal with wind damage, sometimes they get very shredded up yours seem to have just gotten broken. Maybe the corner of the house is subject to some wind rotation? If so I'm not sure what you could do about it in an otherwise unsheltered location. Bananas are just susceptible to wind damage, in open areas they get very tattered in anything over 40 mph winds and can get completely ragged. Those broken branches will dry up and can be cut off. Bananas have a root system which likes to extend as much as six feet out from the corm, but your grass is taking up that space. It will benefit from mulch, fertility, and root space to grow.

Rerod

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Re: Weeping banana
« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2019, 10:10:52 PM »
Thanks. I know that bananas are really prone to wind and the leaves shred easily but as you point out none of these leaves are shredded. It's pretty well protected by the house. Here is a photo from the other side and you can see the new leaf that is about to uncurl is already bending over and almost touching the ground. All the bananas that I've seen, the new leaves start to uncurl while they are still straight up. I agree, it's very strange what is happening to this banana plant. I had mulched a big area around it but the weeds and grass have grown over the mulch which needs to be cleared. I've also fertilized with osmocote several times.


PunaGreenTree

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Re: Weeping banana
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2019, 03:12:02 AM »
Yeah rarely do I see banana do all that great when grass is right up next to them. We usually keep a perimeter round them with mulch/green waste from the yard.

I can tell that it is a transplant bye looking at the stock, usually the transplant can take a bit of time to fruit, and seems to me that the new banana stocks will fruit before the transplant. This is why Asian farmers will cut the top out of the transplant; to encourage the new shoots to come up faster.

I understand it's a hard thing to do, but it works great. Once you cut the top out some will say that the transplant will never fruit, but I have seen that it can fruit. You don't need to do this because the banana transplant has already grown past the slow phase, and you already have new stocks coming up. At this point you are in good shape even if you lose the transplant.

Frankie

sahai1

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Re: Weeping banana
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2019, 05:15:24 PM »
Once you cut the top out some will say that the transplant will never fruit

Frankie

whoever said that has 0% experience growing bananas, the corm has a genetic marker or something... they will always grow back after being cut, and flower/fruit.    If cut after they flower or even if they have a flower developing in the trunk, they won't grow back.  So if they grow back, they will flower 100%.

Also.. the banana is just acclimating, it is a new transplant, I've had plenty of new plantings do this, especially with large leaf bearing bananas like cuban reds.  If it gets too bad just cut it and let it grow back and try again.

Rerod

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Re: Weeping banana
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2019, 11:25:58 PM »
Thanks for the info. I'll just let it be for now.