This is my first summer at gardening, I'm not sure if this is the right forum
to post this question or not. First I like to say, all my plants are in containers.
I planted Elephant ears and banana trees, and other things. The Elephant ears and the Banana
trees are starting to turn Yellow, I notice the yellowing on some of the other plants,
but the EE's and the Banana tress is the most observe. We have been having a lot of rain
lately for the last pass 2 or 3 weeks.
Pleaseeeee help. Here is a picture of my Elephant ears
Thank you Gale
New gardener needs help
I'm new at this, This is the picture of the elephant ears
This is the picture of the Banana tree
In general too much water causes yellowing & death of leaves- I sometimes have to move my potted plants into a sheltered area when we get a lot of rain.
Aprilwillis,
Thank you so much, I'm going to move them now.
Gale
Hope that does the trick!
MissG, are you feeding them? They are both heavy feeders. When you do, would suggest fish emulsion.
Bugme, I feed them once a month, I use Miraclr- Gro.
How often should I feed them.
I will go and get some fish emulsion.
Thanks for your help Gale
Gale, wait until after they've had a chance to dry out some before feeding......any plant in distress should not be fed. Miracle Gro is a good product and I use it as well on some plants but tropicals such as elephant ears, ferns, etc. I think maybe the fish emulsion is better but, be prepared, it stinks.....eeeeeeewwwwwwwww. After using it my dogs get very interested and will even lick the dirt. Maybe someone else has other thoughts on how to help??
I would take the leaf off the EE-not so sure but that spider mites is part of the problem.
Not over-watering I'd say.
I don't think you can over-water a Colocasia esculenta when the weather's warm.
If it's not weeping water from the leaf edges in the morning then it can take more water.
I'd say it looks fried. Either under-watered or sunburn.
How long has it been outside or in that space?
I agree w/ checking for mites also.
The Caladiums and others look perfect so I doubt pests though.
Don't worry about the bottom leaves on bananas.
They die off. It's natural.
If the top and new leaves are healthy then it's OK.
It does though look as if it's time for a bigger pot.
Ric
Bugme, I will picking up some fish emulsion today.
I will also let the soil dry out be for using the fish
emulsion, how often to feed, and how
much.
Tigerlily123, How do I indentify spider mites
how can I remove the spiders
keep them away.
Rie, I put the EEs out in may ( around mother's day)
Would it be ok to repot the banana tree now
Thank you all, for your help. Gale
It can be repotted now.
I pot in 50/50 compost and manure.
A tip I learned from banana farmers.
Put your old banana peels right at the base around the trunk.
They break down rapidly and form a nice potassium rich mulch.
We use 'Safers' on the mites.
Look for webbing especially on the under side of the leaves near the stem. Not like a big spider web almost like fine white hair.
Black dots are the mites.
If you use 'Safers' do it on a cloudy day and drench the underside.
Ric
what kind if light is it getting? It looks like it is getting scorched to me
The EEs get afternoon sun.
Gale
that could be doing it -
I had one that had been growing great in afternoon sun until the heat came on and he started to look like that (albeit not as bad)
I moved him to a.m.-only sun, pulled the really scorched leaves and it looks normal again
capt _ insano, will try different area
Gale
Gale is it in the ground or a pot?
Ric
Ric all the plants are in Pots
I'd put it in the ground for the Summer.
If you have a damp area or like to water it will easily take full sun.
Part sun and you won't have to water as much.
If you stay w/ a pot I'd go at least 16".
3 or 4 will fill a half barrel
They are heavy feeders and drinkers.
As I said earlier you can not drown them.
We've grown them for at least 10 years and never lost on to over-watering.
Our Sun plants are in a bog.
We grow dozens of them in sun, part shade and shade.
Last year we left some of them in the ground here for the Winter.
If you have a drier (in Winter) protected area they come back nicely.
Our's were south side of the house under an overhang.
Ric
Well here is my comment on the Banana: it would be virtually impossible for a banana to get scorched in zone 6b! I live in 9b and have always had bananas growing in full sun and clearly the sun in my zone is much stronger than the sun in your zone. I stick w/ my original comment specifically about the banana and too much water.
I have bananas growing in the ground, and we're just now coming out of a drought...only having good rain (but not torrents) for the past couple of weeks. The past week there are some leaves suddenly yellowing, both on the taller mature ones and the babies. I know it's natural for this to happen, but I don't remember it happening at this time of year and on babies, too. In this case, I doubt it's too much water. I'm thinking ours perhaps haven't been fed enough.
This is a different case from the ones in pots, I'm sure. Just thought I'd add this info in case anyone else in this area has had the same problem.
In pots I think it's important to feed plants more than we think- the water, be it rain or irrigation, tends to leach out everything.
I'm new to gardening, and esp. tropicals too. This is my first year also, I have one canna and one Black Magic Colocasia esculenta. Is this the same as EE? Mine has four scapes/leaves, they emerge green and then darken. I put it in a pot with potting soil that has added fertilizer. Should I feed it as well? Do I need to water it daily? I've been keeping it fairly moist. The canna is in the ground, but I'm thinking I might pot it as well.
If the potting soil has fertilizer in it don't fertilize it for a while. I don't know how these plants do in your zone so that may be the deciding factor in whether to pot or plant in the ground. Both of these plants like it on the moist side, but make sure the drainage is good- that would go for most plants in general anyway. Where I live it's hot and very sunny. I water quite a few of my potted plants daily but not all. Plants in plastic pots tend to retain more moisture than plants in clay pots. After years of over watering many plants I have come to realize that the best way to tell is to stick my finger down into the dirt as far as it will go- if it's moist and the plant is not wilting it doesn't need water. If on the other had the soil is dry, well clearly it's time to water. At first I hated the thought of sticking my finger into each pot but now I don't mind and my overwatering has been curtailed.
Good rule of Finger aprilwillis!
PG,
EE is a catchall name for any Aroid w/ big leaves.
Ric
oh well, I'm usually pretty dirty after lugging the hose around, I definitely need to at least wash my hands, that's a good idea april! I have been growing things in containers a good while longer than I've been gardening, so I did know that about plastic vs, clay, I have also used those water retaining gels that are mixed with the potting soil. Plus I got a larger pot for the EE than it was growing in. I hope I can figure out how/what to feed from reading this and other threads. I've placed the EE on the backyard deck, in part shade, morning sun (eastern exposure). The canna is in the hot, dry sunny front yard (western exposure). I may pot it up, I counted 7 stalks, but it's still pretty short, it looks like it wants to put down roots before shoots, LOL. thanks for your reply.
ric~aroids? I'm soo confused. but thanks for trying to clarify, maybe I'm hopeless!
PrairieGirl, its been my experience that most potting soils that say they have a fertilizer in it, have it at a very weak strength, in case people use it for very young plants that would be burned if it were stronger. EE's are generally heavy feeders and if yours is showing any signs of nitrogen deficiency then I would go ahead and add fertilizer-esp if your EE has any size to it. I would add it regardless of how the plant looks, because it will only make the EE grow larger faster. Start out with a smaller amt and as the plant gets bigger, increase the amt of fert that you add. I assume that you are using a soluable fert ( liguid) and not a slow release fert.
Maybe it's the climate here, but I've never fertilized my EE. They grow 7 ft. tall in sand. Is it the sand? Whatever, they get big and beautiful. With the drought this spring, they were a bit slow and stunted, but they're coming back now and growing fast. When they start to spread where I don't want them, I just pull them up, lay them down without planting them, and they take root and grow in their new location. One of my favorite plants!
thanks tigerlily, that makes sense. I have some Schultz' liquid plant food, but I've never used it, or any other fertilizer. How weird is that? Does it have a shelf life? thanks for the tips.
bivbiv-you lucky Floridian, there's lots you can grow that I can't.
And there's lots you can grow that I can't! :)
Hi all,
I have two new leaves on my EEs, that looks healthy.
I removed all the old brown and yellow leaves. I did leave the
pot in the same area.
This is the 2nd. picture
Thanks for all the infor.
Lookin' good! I removed one of the leaves on mine, it had lots of little bitty greenish bugs? Help!
Aphids?
I look for spider mites, did not have any on plant.
missg, you said you've left the pot in the same area. Do you mean they're still where they get afternoon sun? That seemed to me the possible problem..too much sun. I'd think they'd do better with morning sun only. When ours pop up in spots with p.m. sun, they don't do well at all until they're moved. I know it's hotter here, but I think they'd still react the same. They really do need lots of water and not too much direct sun.
Different Sun angle.
Here now the Sun intensity is about like FL in April/May.
Up here almost all Colocasia are grown in full Sun.
The lack of deep watering combined w/ the Sun caused the problem.
Ric