Hello Banana Community!

In January I became the new owner of a beautiful banana plant. He's absolutely my favorite plant in the entire house. It grew beautifully for about three months, even grew two suckers, but then took a turn for the worse. The new leaves stopped growing and the old ones are looking shabbier and shabbier. In the last two weeks I've noticed a swarm of tiny black bugs flying around the pot.

I have pictures of the bugs and the plant here: http://kayte401.com/uploads/KaytesBanana.jpg Are these the dreaded spider mites I've seen everyone talking about?

If they are, what do I do?

If they're not, what is hurting my poor plant? And, what do I do?

I really, really love this plant and would be heartbroken if I lost him - please help!

Growing Details:

• The plant lives in Southern California


• Temperatures are warm


• I water deeply once a week outside


• He gets sunlight from a north-facing window the rest of the week