Help! Need potting advice for blue Java banana tree.
#bluejavabananatree #bananatree #bluejava #pottedbananatree #pottedbananaplant feel like I'm doing everything wrong with my banana tree since I got it. It doesn't help that I don't have a green thumb and I'm learning as I go. When I first got my plant, I cut off the brown parts of the stem back to green, but now all of those edges keep weeping and browning or rotting themselves. My leaves are also not doing great though the plant itself is OK. I just took the tree out of the pot that I had moved it in which is a 5 gallon pot and it's not waterlogged like I thought it might be so I'm not sure what the problem is. I do think I compacted the soil a little too much and maybe originally gave it too much water. So now I bought a ton of stuff to try to fix it and have no idea what to mix and the ratios and everything online is overwhelming and confusing. Here's what I have if anybody can tell me what ratio to mix and what to add in that would be wonderful.: coconut coir, pine bark mulch, potting soil, cow manure, perlite, vermiculite, earthworm castings,
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Best Answer
@DreamMachine @JennyC Nadia, you crack me up! I have way too many bananas! π You can check out my oasis, but I think I have over twenty different varieties, all in buckets, two of which are planted in the ground! So, first, Iβd like you to post all the photos of anything you think looks wrong or have questions about. Then, we can create a tailored plan for it.
First things first, bananas are actually berries and are closely related to raspberries. They can tolerate full sun, but I personally donβt keep mine in full sun because I live in a desert state with dry and hot conditions. So, theyβre not tropical-friendly. However, I have bananas in my house, greenhouse, garage, and even a few at the homes of family members I care for.
Now, letβs get into the details. Depending on the size of your root system, a 5-gallon pot might not be sufficient. I highly recommend using a chunky mix. I personally use Tezula #5 potting mix and then add it to volcanic substrate, along with any good soil medium you prefer. If you create a mix similar to this, I know people like the mollys you can buy on Amazon. You just want something with orchid bark and perlite, any good chunky mix, mixed with a little extra medium, and the other ingredients, and then place your banana in a ten-gallon planter or something larger so they can spread their roots and breathe better. But still only water like itβs in your 5 gallon; until you see some good new growth π I hope that helps. π€ let me know and post pics so we can help more
Leaves will regrow pretty easily if theyβre getting what they need. You can add some horticultural charcoal and lava rocks, mix everything together with your soils to create an atmosphere that resembles their normal native conditions. They do a little more humidity. If youβre experiencing yellow or discoloration, you probably need to boost your food. Bananas love a good cal-mag and will benefit from having it during the growing season. Please let me know if I can assist you further.
First things first, bananas are actually berries and are closely related to raspberries. They can tolerate full sun, but I personally donβt keep mine in full sun because I live in a desert state with dry and hot conditions. So, theyβre not tropical-friendly. However, I have bananas in my house, greenhouse, garage, and even a few at the homes of family members I care for.
Now, letβs get into the details. Depending on the size of your root system, a 5-gallon pot might not be sufficient. I highly recommend using a chunky mix. I personally use Tezula #5 potting mix and then add it to volcanic substrate, along with any good soil medium you prefer. If you create a mix similar to this, I know people like the mollys you can buy on Amazon. You just want something with orchid bark and perlite, any good chunky mix, mixed with a little extra medium, and the other ingredients, and then place your banana in a ten-gallon planter or something larger so they can spread their roots and breathe better. But still only water like itβs in your 5 gallon; until you see some good new growth π I hope that helps. π€ let me know and post pics so we can help more
Leaves will regrow pretty easily if theyβre getting what they need. You can add some horticultural charcoal and lava rocks, mix everything together with your soils to create an atmosphere that resembles their normal native conditions. They do a little more humidity. If youβre experiencing yellow or discoloration, you probably need to boost your food. Bananas love a good cal-mag and will benefit from having it during the growing season. Please let me know if I can assist you further.
This looks like just the post that @Idplantthat can help with! If anyone can help @JennyC with bananas, itβs you girl!
Also if you edit your post and add a bunch of hashtags at the end or really anywhere in your post, it will help it be visible to more people. When I first started I just typed # and then selected almost every hashtag that popped up. Examples being: #HappyPlants #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #Banana #NewPlantMom #OutdoorGrowing #GregGang #GreggersSupportingGreggers
@DreamMachine I was having so much trouble creating posts and couldn't find a way to edit or add images. I think the app keeps glitching maybe?
@Idplantthat thank you so much!! I had some trouble creating the original post. But I was just able to edit it. Add hashtags and add photos. οΏΌ so to answer some of your questions, I received the plant and a 1 gallon bucket and waited a few days as per the advice of the nursery and then moved it into a 5 gallon fabric bag as it has plenty of room for its roots to grow right now. I do have a 25 gallon fabric bag that I intend to move the tree to, but I was afraid moving too soon would create a waterlogging possibility. I just changed the soil to a mixture of about 40% organic potting soil, 10 to 20% per light, a couple handfuls of cow manure, a couple handfuls of earthworm castings, and about 20% coconut coir. I then added about half a gallon to a gallon of water to soak the plant until it seeped through the bag. The tree is also placed right in front of my kitchen windows. And I also have a grow light that I have put on for a couple of hours while I'm home. Right now, my dog is sick and so I've been in and out of the house and Not paying as much attention to the tree. You can see in the photos that all of my other plants are also inside because the temperature is dropped here in New Jersey so it's a little bit colder and I just had to turn the heat back on because I woke up to 56Β° in the house.
@Idplantthat I should also mention that I do have quite a few different options for plant food that I purchased, but since I put cow manure and earthworm castings in the mix, im not sure if I should add anything else. One last question for you, should I place the pine bark mulch on top? Or wait until it's outside when the weather is warmer?
@JennyC Okay, you are great! So well prepared, I love it! π©΅ Okay, so you could plant it in that massive pot and just water it like it was in a three-gallon planter. π But itβs honestly great how you have it. You donβt need to fertilize or do anything like that yet; letβs just let everything settle in. Your mix sounds great; Iβd maybe do some more chunks of the mulch and, if you can find it, horticulture charcoal and lava rocks chunky style. π Bananas benefit from well-draining soils, but the good news with that is pretty simply put: chunky mix and a self-watering pot. Iβd add your grow light π‘. Your tree looks very happy and healthy; if you want to do anything else, just give it a diluted cal-mag or some potassium. The yellowing comes with age, and the brown tips with lower humidity. So donβt stress there. Potassium deficiency can also cause some yellowing π π€£ Bananas will stop growing if the temperatures drop below the mid-thirties; then they do kinda hold still when they hit into the 40βs. In the 50βs, they grow slower but still grow. 60-low 80βs is prime growing temperatures. So donβt worry about that 56. Mulch bark, good question; you can put a little on and gradually add the mulch as the summer grows on, so your roots stay cooler and moisture retains easier. Remember when mulching to make the mulch a donut, π©. You donβt want to pack it against the trunk; you keep the mulch pulled away from the tree trunk, making it basically look like a mulch donut with your trunk being the center. Keep it a few inches back. You can start giving it diluted feedings starting next month and doing it every month till around the end of summer; then in fall, maybe once, and winter π₯Ά do not feed at all and just make sure the weather maintains moisture in the soil till spring when it wakes up again. Bananas are a berry, and the plant is all leaves, so just remember they can bruise kinda easily. π€£ Oh, and something kinda good to know: your older leaves you can snip off those leaves and chop them up and put them in your plants as a form of potassium! You also can use the leaves to cook meats in or use the leaves in homeopathic remedies. I hope your sweet pupper starts feeling better; thatβs terrible itβs not feeling good. π©΅π«Άπ»πΆπΎ
@Idplantthat I love and appreciate the novel. You are good! And thank you about my dog. He cheated death on Thursday but prognosis isn't great. For now, he bounced back and I have him on Chinese herbs and mushroom extract but he's old and I'm just taking every day as a gift. Also. really? My plant looks healthy? I thought for sure I was killing it ha. The stems that I cut before stopped weeping. Is this because I fixed the potting soil? I also read you should cut your leaves so the plant can nourish the healthy ones and creates new ones? I'm afraid to cut them. Do I have to?
@JennyC you donβt have to, donβt feel you have to. You absolutely can cut the leaves and the plant will then focus on creating new growth and repairing itself. Banana leaves wilt at the first sign of any stress; it could be that you watered them and they perked back up, or it could be from the changing soil conditions and itβs adjusting to its climate. π but yes; your banana is healthy thatβs how I know my bananas are thirsty because the leaves droop π€£
It looks as though it needs potassium. Bananas need lots of potassium and they are very heavy feeders. Get some potash and mix a cup in a gallon of water....your yellowing won't turn back green but the green will be greener and will prevent future cannibalism. Potassium is highly mobile, so the plant cannibalizes potassium from older foliage to support newer growth when deficient. That's the quick fix...I would then make potassium tea by soaking chopped banana peels along with other kitchen scraps used coffee grounds etc. the coffee grounds are also rich in nitrogen so it's a well balanced tea to water with. (Also a quick fix.)
Also pay attention to the PH...The potash is more neutral and can raise the soil PH above what the tree needs to absorb potassium. 5.5-6.5 is optimal for healthy banana trees...when soil reaches 7.1 or higher, it inhibits the tree from absorbing much needed nutrients. I would check pH first before adding potash.
I'm in zone 7b and my trees are planted in the ground...I have harvested bananas with careful babysitting techniques...I talk to them and tuck them in at night. π€£.