Well, I got this Musa Basjoo in december. It was only a stem with no leafes. Quickly it began to develop leafes, but after short time, many of them got black spots and got quite lifeless.
The soil should be good since the guy I bought it from is a very skilled palm grower. He said it needs lots of water and I may have been exaggerated it.
Is this a typical sign of overwatering?
With only the info provided, and considering only the odds, I would guess there to be >an 80% certainty that the problem could be found within a triangle formed by the inextricably related effects of soil choice, watering habits, and the level of soluble salts in the soil. I probably would have rated it a 90% certainty if it wasn't for the need to consider the possibility that root congestion might also be at play in this particular case. Have you examined roots? What are you fertilizing with - how often?
Al
That is a very small pot you have your banana in and I think it may do better if you upgrade to a more roomy size (like that whole pail). Banana corms can grow large pretty fast.
While I have not grown one inside, I have towering M. basjoos outdoors. However I have kept M. acuminata 'Dwarf Cavendish' in a window for a couple years and I feel like it is next to impossible to over water a banana plant whether indoors or out. As far as soil is concerned, I separate so many basjoo pups each year as handouts that I use just anything that is available whether it be straight bark chips, clay, or peat. With water and fertilizer they don't seem to care for the month or two before they move to their new homes. That said, tapla's guide to soil composition is the best thing to have happened to my container plants, so I recommend his mix for your next larger pot size.
@tapla
Ok, well, I water the palm with a fluid fertilizer called "Substral", I don't know weather it's a danish product or not. I haven't used it that much since spring has only just started.
@cstart
You may be right, the pot probably is too small. I'll re-pot it into to something larger.
I have read the beginners guide. My english is ok, but I can't figure out what I should do about the soil anyway, it's just not clear to me after I have read it. Can you maybe break down to me exactly how I can give my plants the best soil.
What I do now is I buy soil suitable for plants at the store, fill the buttom with 1 inch og leca and plant the plant. I thought, next time I will try and add perlite, but from what I have read, that doesn't have much effect.
I am eager to know how I mix the best soil for my plant, but again, I do not understand the beginners guide fully.
Thanks in advance...
I've just read the guide again. Am I to put pine bark in the soil, is that the trick? I don't even know how to acquire pine bark here in Den. Is it just the normal bark one uses in gardens? And how big should the pieces of bark be and how much bark to how much soil?
Ha ha, sorry for all the questions, I just want to do it right.
Much of your container soil will actually be bark chips because they help with aeration of the roots and drainage. It's my understanding that the type of bark doesn't matter so much since tapla mentions several in his guide ( http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1073399/ ). But while you build your soil, it is good to "think of a banana as a column of water" (David A. Frankco, author of 'Palms Won't Grow Here and other myths', 2003). For potted bananas, the bark is all about aeration of the roots.
I look for bark chips roughly 1in (~2.5cm) in size although when I can't find them I will use a mix of different sizes which still seems to give favorable results. I just eye my measurements and for my own potted bananas it ends up like this:
2/6 bark chips
2/6 sphagnum peat or even just top soil
1/6 perlite
1/6 compost
I'm sure there are much better mixtures but bananas will quickly deplete your pot of its nutrients so fertilize often! I do so once or twice each month during the growing season and end up with beautiful plants. Also, I separate my bananas often so I end up amending the soil over time to fill the holes which doesn't seem to slow them down.
This message was edited Apr 10, 2012 10:40 AM
@cstart
Thanks, for your post, very useful and much appreciated. I still got some questions though.
1) I'm not quite sure what topsoil or sphagnum peat are and what it is called here in Denmark. Maybe I can ask someone at the plantstore.
2) Does this mix work for all my houseplants?
3) Quote: "Also, I separate my bananas often so I end up amending the soil over time to fill the holes which doesn't seem to slow them down."
Could you explain that in other words, I'm not quite following!?!
Oh, and what about orkide mix? That soil consists of much bark chips. Could one use that in the mix somehow?
1) Topsoil is just soil dug up from near the surface of the ground somewhere. It is usually very cheap. (http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/939.html) Sphagnum peat moss is a decomposed plant sold for gardening. It will hold moisture and nutrients well. (http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/854.html)
2) With most any container plant it is a good idea to stick as close as possible to one of tapla's recipes from his guide instead. Bananas require SO much moisture that they do just fine potted with a heavier soil like what I listed.
3) What I mean by separating my banana plants is that they will grow multiple shoots called suckers. When a sucker is large enough to have its own roots, it can be dug out as an individual plant. After digging them up, they pause or slow down only for a short time before growing like nothing happened.
Finally, I don't know about the orkide mix but it may be just fine to use. I have once or twice come across a soil mix that was already similar to what tapla suggests. When you have a lot of plants, buying the individual components to mix your own soil will be cheaper but if you already have this orkide mix and it drains decently then you may as well use it.
I think they meant 'orchid' mix.
Ok
I have just returned from the plantstore. And have bought:
1 bag of bark chips
1 bag of leca (Don't know if that'll come in use)
1 bag of ordinary houseplant soil
I'll have to order perlite over the internet.
Compost I'll have to get at the nearby dump, one can get it for free there.
So far so good
Now, I found tapla's soil recipe for normal plants and it goes like this:
Small batch:
3 gallons pine bark
1/2 gallon peat
1/2 gallon perlite
handful lime (careful)
1/4 cup CRF
1 tsp micro-nutrient powder or a dash of manure
Bark, I've got
Peat, I guess that is just normal houseplant soil I can buy in a bag, got that.
Perlite, I'll order that
Lime, I have no idea what that is
Controlled release fertilizer, no idea what that is either
A dash of manure, hmm, is that the same as compost? And how can a dash be enough, as far as I can understand, a dash is about an eight of a teaspoon, that does not seem as much.
It's pretty hard to get the right stuff when everything is named differently in Denmark.
Isn't the most important to do is add lots of bark to my ordinary houseplant soil, and then some perlite?
This does get a bit confusing...
Do you have the option of planting it outside in the ground? It will grow like crazy outside with a few hours of sun each day. Mine get over 15 feet tall here in St. Louis, zone 5. I got those spots when I grew them inside too.
Well, I have the option of placing it in a large pot in the garden for sure, but I believe it's a bit too cold yet, here in Denmark. It's sunny right now, but only 9c and it still dips a bit under 1c at night. But maybe I should place it outside in the daytime later this month and see what happens. I just don't want it to die.
Yes, that sounds like it's still a bit too cold for outdoors. Another book I have says they will go dormant when regularly exposed to temps below 57F (14C). Some of my bananas in full sun will start growing again even below that, but I wouldn't risk such a small plant.
cstart is right. That little plant just needs a bigger pot and it'll take off. Have you finished re-potting it?
I have potted up and the plant is growing nicely. Can't wait for the summer and lots of sunshine, I bet it will grow even faster.
Great!
