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madferret

Is my banana dead?

Mad Ferret
13 years ago

Ive bought a banana tree last year and it was going ok until I went on holiday and it got waterlogged (this was nov last year) I'm wondering wether it's dead or just dormant as its not pushed out any new growth since but I today pruned off the old leaves to leave just the corm(?) and there seems to be what I think is a tiny bud in the middle the root are fairly reasonable looking and not crusty.

So what do you think of it's chances now?

Comments (6)

  • carino2010
    13 years ago

    It sounds like it's coming bak to life. By the end of summer, you will have a banana tree taller than you. My problem with my banana trees is that I can't seem to kill them off.

  • Mad Ferret
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    It never really got by last summer I'm afraid I over watered I and never gave it enough sun, but I'm hoping it'll do ok now and from what I've read they are really tough things

    Ive given it a new home in a pot with a really gritty/ sandy mix does that sound ok?

  • sfhellwig
    13 years ago

    Is it in a pot now? Just curious to the details of the water logging. You can do something with a lot of bark and keep it fast draining but I don't know about gritty. Depends on what you want to use. If it's anything besides sand or perlite I would probably avoid it. Since bananas like water but don't like to sit in it, just make sure the bottom of the pot can drain properly. Unless you are using something really heavy or with high peat content you should be fine. Too loose and it might dry out during the heat of the year. I can honestly say I have never under-watered a banana and I don't want to see what it looks like.

    As long as you have not rotted the corm you will get something back. If it's mush, it's gone. If it's firm give it warmth and it will eventually give something back. It might be pushing a pup up from the side.

  • eyezofjada
    12 years ago

    Wondering if someone can help me out? Last season was my frist season with my banana tree: Musa basjoo. It got to around 8 feet tall with 4 pups. I live in Wisconsin, to winterize I cut down the stalks and covered with mulch and leaves, made a cage around the leaves and mulch and then covered the cage with a tarp. I went out today and pulled the cage down, and removed the leaves and mulch to see how it was doing, and the bases on the mother and pups are mushy. Can anyone help me out? Will these come back or are they dead? Thank you!

  • gastone21 (z7a VA)
    12 years ago

    eyezofjada,

    the long and short of it is... maybe. In zone 7 VA I didn't do anything with my basjoo this past winter. Just let it die down and fall over on itself (I'm sure my neighbors enjoyed the show). I recently have been getting the itch to do some yardwork, so I cut back the dead leaves and such. While the main stem and all of the pups are nothing but mush, I've got two new pups pushing their way up through the soil. Hopefully with all of the protection you gave the plant it will come back. Give the ground a chance to warm up a bit. I wouldn't give up hope until say late May in Wisconsin.

    Best of luck.

    Garrett.

  • eyezofjada
    12 years ago

    gastone21,

    Thank you for the words of encouragement! I was starting to get bummed out that I may not be able to save this and have to start over year after year. It looks wonderful by our pool and completes the landscaping. I would be disappointed if I had to purchase a new one every year and not be able to benefit from the natural reproduction of this amazing plant!

    Thank you!
    Whitney

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