I have a banana plant growing in a container (zone 5).....I have a saucer under the pot, so that when I water, there is always water in the saucer to help it from drying out. Anyway, as new leaves are forming, some of the older, lower leaves are turning brown and looking ratty. Is this normal for a banana plant, or am I doing something wrong? Should I just cut them off, or let them go? Thanks. Jenny
Banana plant question
It is normal. When mine turn brown I cut them off.
Thank you so much. :o) Jenny
I have 5 banana plants planted and just trying to get one to survive. What is the secret to growing BANANA'S??? What do you feed them, how often to water, just any little tidbit would be grateful. and will put to use. Please help me.
Linda
How big are the ones you have Linda? For seedlings, the key is not to overwater. For big plants, the bigger the pot the better. They like lots of water, fertilize and sunshine.
I just keep mine well watered. That seems to be working for me. Jenny
I got one from Lowe's and it had a real good root system on it. Then three I got off ebay, and I am sure they are young ones. Then the last one is one that I started from seed myself and it is fairly small. I did go ahead and plant them all outside in ground in full sun. What kind of fertilizer do you suggest? I may be over watering the young ones, but our temps here for the last week has been in the 100's. I did feed them a little left over from my brug feedings. Peters 20-20-20, 1/2 tsp per 5 gal. of fish emollient, 1 tblsp per 5 gal.cal/mag, and 1 tlbsp per gal Epsom salts.
Linda
Linda, they aren't picky. I have given them all kinds of plant food, even citrus food.
I give mine a nana fert that is high in potassium. I think it's 15-5-30 and they are going to town. Before I bought that, I just gave them peter's 20-20-20, but I think they have done much better with the nana food.
Another thing I've done for all of mine is provide them with very well draining soil by adding plenty of perlite and sand to the mix. I water every other day and don't bother keeping a saucer underneath any of them. I'm too afraid of the roots rotting, but maybe I'm just paranoid. This is my first year growing bananas. I bought some last november that were so tiny--maybe about 6" tall and put them in a south-facing window. In May I repotted and put them outside. My two largest ones are over 4 feet tall now.