indoors banana: pest? please help as it looks like dying

17 years ago

Hi all, my banana has stopped sprouting new leaves this summer and the ones that are left are folding onto themselves and dying. stems are covered by thick white stuff, looks almost like cotton.

the banana is indoors, close to the window, but another plant is in between the window and the banana

could it be a pest? what should i do to help it resume growth? my apt is quite humid and i keep the soil moist so i do not know what else could be going wrong.

thanks for your help!

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oppalm
17 years ago
can you post a picture ?

bananas are a favorite for spider mites. My guess is you have a bad invasion of spider mites. The white cottony stuff is their web. I am not endorsing a product but I use Shultz Garden Spray (Houseplant and Garden Vartiety) to control bugs if my plants have a bug problem. You can buy it at the big box stores or Walmart.

To prevent infestations, when you are at the store of your choice, buy a clear clean plastic spray bottle and fill it with water and spray/mist your indoor bananas (for that matter all your indoor humidity loving plants) daily or every couple of days. I write "water only" in magic marker on my spray bottle so no one puts anything else in it. It is also a good idea to run a fan in the room with your plants for air circulation and this too will help with bug infestations. Run the fan for a couple of hours every night when you get home from work. It does not have to run all the time but 4-8 hours a day would be ideal.

Go get those bugs!