We used to have a thriving group of these without doing anything to keep them healthy. Over the last few years their numbers have dwindled. We've never paid much attention to their health, so I can't be sure, but I don't remember seeing rusty spots on them in years past. Is it fungus or disease of some kind? That would explain why they've been pretty much wiped out.
Thanks for any info or advice!
another photo
Bananas can get Panama Disease, Black Sigatoka, pseudomonas and also Xanthomonas which cause the leaves to be first streaked with yellow and turn brown/black and the plant eventually dies.
Neamatodes can weaken the plant making it susceptible to disease.
Here is a link to a few banana diseases http://www.ikisan.com/links/tn_bananaDiseaseManagement.shtml
Thanks. Sounds a lot like Panama Wilt Disease. Should I dispose of the remaining plants in some specific way? There are only three of them left.
I hope the nearby cypress trees will be OK. It doesn't sound like this fungus will harm other plants.
I don't know for sure but I would think you should bag them and dispose of them that way since it is contageous. I don't know if it spreads to other plants.
yikes, from what I have read, I thought panama disease was supposed to be something for COMMERCIAL growers to worry about. It appears that it's not limited to plantations, huh? oh no, something else to worry about
I could be totally off about the Panama Wilt Disease, but this sounds exactly like what I'm seeing:
"Reddish streaks appear in the pseudostem with intensification of colour towards the rhizome."
My neighbor planted some banana trees a few feet from ours that disappeared suspiciously soon. I was away in college at the time (these are in my parents' yard) and not around to keep an eye on it, but I bet the plants he introduced were infected with something,judging from that our bananas were just fine in our yard for 18 years prior to the arrival of those.
I didn't realize how sentimentally attached I was to the bananas :o( At least its my parents house (who aren't really into gardening) and not mine.
hi khaulein, this is a a different subject all together, but it sounds like you might know something about these naner plants. I had one given to me last fall, so i placed it in the greenhouse. It had a big bloom on it that would open ever few days with a new set of cream colored things all around the bud, but they never pollenated. I tried the old paint brush but no luck. Can you give me some pointers on getting some naners off this fellow. thanks Mike
