I have 10 musa basjoo, one is about 3' tall, 6 are 18" and 3 are 6". The big one and a couple of the small ones, edges of the leaves are turning brown. Not a crispy brown, a soggy brown. I water them about every other day. The big one is putting on 1 new leaf about every 5 days now, and it drinks water like a camel. But a day after the new leaf pops out, the edges go brown. Whats going on here?

Hi tropicalks,

I might have the same problem as you- I have a couple of Basjoos I've just recently bought, about 3' high, a Cavendish I bought in the Keys on a road trip right before Hurricane Wilma, and 2 small Dwarf Cavendish (I think) I just picked up at a local store.

I recently repotted these plants with a mixture of 1/3 soil, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 perlite, because my previous soil was draining too slowly and I lost a plant due to a rotted trunk. Ever since using this mixture I get the wet, soggy brown (and kind of curled in)edges which then get crispy when the leaf is fully out. My most recent Cavendish leaf is looking very narrow, not broad like the rest.

I'm thinking they aren't getting enough nutrition due to the low ratio of soil. I'm thinking of repotting with more soil and no moss. I just started fertilizing with tomato food this week, too soon to see a result.

Anybody have any ideas?

Btw, great site, I've been hanging around for a while getting tips, decided it was time to register!

Also, I'm in Northern New Jersey, so for now everything stays in pots!,

Thanks,

~Joe

Joe,
Im using a mixture of 1/2 high drainage soil (bark chips, perlite, etc), 1/4 organic humus (decomposed manure), and 1/4 sand. It drains really fast. I also use superthrive with every watering, and give them a 31-11-11 fert watering once a week. Im going to cut back the watering a little and see when the next leaf pops out how it responds. It should be fully out tomorrow, so Ill know within 2-3 days.

well the new leaf looks ok. There is a spot on the end where its thin and flimsy compared to the rest of the leaf. Ive been watering it less too. I dont know whats going on. It sprouted another pup though. Ill get some pictures of it, once it stops raining here, and I get it out of the greenhouse and put into my yard.

Ryan

well, it keeps doing it. and my small ones are following suit. I sprayed some fungicide down in the spear area, and it looks better after a few days. But 2 of my smaller ones, the spear is all shriveled up, thin and brown. Is it possible that too much water will make the leaves soggy? im going to stop watering for 3-4 days and see how the new growth looks.

one cool thing ive noticed about these basjoos, the pups grow WAAAYYY faster than a baby basjoo grown from seed. Crazy stuff.

Mine are doing much better... they were newly transplanted (in pots) and the roots weren't able to deal with the water and fertilizer I was giving them. I let them get quite dry between each watering, and stopped using fertilizer for a while. The main problem was sunburn however. When I moved them to a shady area they grew fine with no problems, but displayed the problem when they were moved into full sun. They have now slowly graduated to an area with about 70% full sun with no problems at all.

As for the shriveled spear the only time I ever saw that was my first Cavendish I got from the Keys, before I knew about different soils. I was using full heavy potting soil, which never dried (for weeks it was literally soaking wet). The spear went brown and soon afterwards the plant died and fell over with a fully rotted trunk. Luckily for me the plant sent up a pup as a last ditch effort to save its self, and in new soil the pup is alive and well.

I'd definitely let your soil dry for several days and see what happens. Good luck!

~Joe

the bananas still arent doing well. The basjoos ive had since feb are doing good, and are adapted to full sun. The ice cream banana died. My 3' basjoo is looking bad. Every leaf is burnt and mostly brown, and the new spear is very slow growing and turning brown in spots. The 1' bajoos are looking pretty bad, so I cut them back to the non brown growth, and they are growing, but the growth looks bad. I have them in an area now where they get full sun till about noon, then shade till about 8pm. I water them every 4 days or so, and 2 nights ago it rained, so they are good for awhile. I cant figure them out. The 3' basjoo has 2 pups about 10" tall each, and they are looking absolutely awesome. Growing very fast and looking great. The mother plant looks like it lost a mud fight with a bunch of elementary school kids.

"I have them in an area now where they get full sun "
My experience with Basjoo in Kansas is that the summer sun is too strong and burns them. You need to keep them in a place where they get filtered light thru other, taller, shade trees.
Also, You didn't say anything about feeding them, you must feed Basjoo almost every time you water which I can tell you right now needs to be more than once every 4 days.
I have mine under shade trees in my landscape, water them every other day and feed them "Peter's" food every other feeding and they have grown about 2' each (3 of them) and the new leaves look GREAT!!!