What's wrong with these bananas?

[Calusa]

My NamWah put out its first bloom in the 1st week of June. This is their size as of today, they just don't seem to be growing any larger. I wonder what's going on with them. Shouldn't they be almost ready to harvest by now?




Now the photos below are of my Blue Java. The bloom came out in late June and now it looks like the entire stalk is dead.
What could have happened?

[Amy K]

Hard to say without seeing the whole picture. Do you have too many suckers growing around the tree with fruit?

[pineislander]

How many functional green leaves are on these banana plants?

[Calusa]

I have left all the suckers free to grow around the trees in the photos. There are 6 around the NamWah and 4 around the Java. Some of the suckers have grown as big as the fruiting trees. Should I only allow 1 or 2 suckers at a time?

pineislander: there are no functional leaves on the fruiting trees. As they yellowed I cut them off.

[mattyboydesigns]

Namwah tall or dwarf Namwah? Your "blue java" looks a little short, how tall is it? What do you feed your bananas and how do you water them?

[Amy K]

I have left all the suckers free to grow around the trees in the photos. There are 6 around the NamWah and 4 around the Java. Some of the suckers have grown as big as the fruiting trees. Should I only allow 1 or 2 suckers at a time?

From what i know, you should only allow two or three suckers growing around the fruiting tree. Select the two that are the opposite side of each other. Any newer sucker coming up should be cut down. I'm not sure if we can save it at it's current state so I suggest trying this for next time. Good luck

[Calusa]

Namwah tall or dwarf Namwah? Your "blue java" looks a little short, how tall is it? What do you feed your bananas and how do you water them?

I kept them watered with the hose during the early dry part of Summer. With the rains they've had plenty. I fertilize them with a mango citrus fertilizer, about 2 cups every couple of months since May.



NamWah - the tallest leaves are about 10'. The tree that fruited was 6' at the crown where the pod came out.




Blue Java - tallest leaves are about 12'. The tree that fruited was at 6' at the crown.

[shot]

 Blue Java Looks like the plant has collapsed ... died!

[mattyboydesigns]

So that's not blue java and it's most likely dwarf Namwah like your other plant. You should leave the leafs on until they brown and die. If they are fruiting without leaves then they will die back and fruit will not form properly. Banana plants fruit at the same height so if you have a sucker that's about to fruit coming off a fruiting psuedostem it can pull the energy out of the old plant especially if the old one has no leaves to provide itself with energy.

[Amy K]

I just took a picture to give you a better idea of it. I'm no expert but this is what been working for me. My Veinte Cohol banana is having late season flower. The one in the middle is the mother tree. And then two growing big ones along its side will be the next ones to bear fruit.

[Calusa]

So that's not blue java and it's most likely dwarf Namwah like your other plant. You should leave the leafs on until they brown and die. If they are fruiting without leaves then they will die back and fruit will not form properly. Banana plants fruit at the same height so if you have a sucker that's about to fruit coming off a fruiting psuedostem it can pull the energy out of the old plant especially if the old one has no leaves to provide itself with energy.

Thanks! How can you tell it's not Blue Java?

I should go ahead and cut that one down and thin out the smaller suckers right? Is there any hope for the other stalk in the first photo at the top of this thread?

[Calusa]

I just took a picture to give you a better idea of it. I'm no expert but this is what been working for me. My Veinte Cohol banana is having late season flower. The one in the middle is the mother tree. And then two growing big ones along its side will be the next ones to bear fruit.

Excellent! Thanks Amy

[Galatians522]

The fruits can't size properly without functional leaves. I see similar results when a plant blooms after frost knocks all the leaves off. If the plant was healthy it can sometimes fill the bunch even without leaves, but they will never get as big as when the plant has leaves. I would give the Nam Wah some more time. The Blue Java rack is toast. I have had similar trouble with that variety. I don't know if the rot is bacterial, fungal, viral, or a nutrient deficiency at this point. None of my other bananas do that including a Mysore right next to it. I am leaning toward fungal at this point and will try some fungicide the next time it blooms.

[Seanny]

I cut off flower bulb once male flowers open.
No point in letting the tree wastes energy on the male flowers.

[mattyboydesigns]

Some of those bananas on the first rack look plump enough to ripen  just fine. You can leave it on and see if the rest plump up more and cut off when you see some signs of yellow.

The plant is too short, the leaf and petiole size, the shape and the looks of the fruit tell me it's not blue java. I see you live in St Pete. Do you want the real blue java?

[Calusa]

I know the Blue Java get really tall and there are "knuckles" where the fruit is attached to the hand.

I am going to thin out the clumps, fertilize and wait for the next crop to appear. I appreciate all the help from everyone here - thanks!!!

[mattyboydesigns]

Blue java will fruit when the psuedostem reaches 12-15'. They don't like growing up straight and are almost always at weird angles. They have longer petioles giving them a droopy appearance. The fruit from the start are covered in a waxy coating that makes them appear blue.(more of a silvery light green).

top side of blue java leaf has no red spine but it does have a red spine on the bottom.

bottom of namwah leaf has no red spine.

top side of namwah leaf has a red spine.

some wax on namwah fruit making them appear light green. Ripen to a pale yellow color.

lots of wax on blue java fruit even when yellow.  Ripen to a brighter yellow than namwah but still pale cause the wax.

[spaugh]

there are no functional leaves on the fruiting trees. As they yellowed I cut them off.

It needs leaves to make energy to ripen the fruit

[Amy K]

Blue java will fruit when the psuedostem reaches 12-15'. They don't like growing up straight and are almost always at weird angles. They have longer petioles giving them a droopy appearance. The fruit from the start are covered in a waxy coating that makes them appear blue.(more of a silvery light green).

top side of blue java leaf has no red spine but it does have a red spine on the bottom.

bottom of namwah leaf has no red spine.

top side of namwah leaf has a red spine.

some wax on namwah fruit making them appear light green. Ripen to a pale yellow color.

lots of wax on blue java fruit even when yellow.  Ripen to a brighter yellow than namwah but still pale cause the wax.

Wow i love the details. This make me wonder if what i have is even blue java. If you can, could you please confirm it for me? It look like Cavendish banana to me. Specifically the pup since they all got red splashes. I bought it from Tallahassee nursery and they all look like this

[spaugh]

I dont think blue java has wine spots.

[Amy K]

There go my money lol D:

[mattyboydesigns]

There go my money lol D:

Like spaugh said Blue java does not have wine spotting at any stages of growth. A couple varieties have wine spotting but it's very particular to the canvendish varieties. By how short the petioles look I would say dwarf canvendish.once it fruits you'll know for sure. Where are you located, if you really want one I'll get you one and you can just pay for the shipping.

[Calusa]

Thanks for the photos and descriptions Matty!

[Amy K]

There go my money lol D:

Like spaugh said Blue java does not have wine spotting at any stages of growth. A couple varieties have wine spotting but it's very particular to the canvendish varieties. By how short the petioles look I would say dwarf canvendish.once it fruits you'll know for sure. Where are you located, if you really want one I'll get you one and you can just pay for the shipping.

That's very kind of you Matty. I would love one. I'll send you the PM.

[spencerw]

Probably more water for the plants. How much are they getting? My plants get over 150 inches of rain per year. They need at least 100 to make full sized racks. Probably irrigate
The black peduncle on the other mat looks like a fungal problem. Probably remove the trunk and see what the next one does.
I let my mats grow freely for 2-3 years then I dig the entire mat and reset it. I consistently get 100lb racks but from different varieties. But my namwah more like 50lb racks normally