Hi there folks,
I just picked a hefty bunch today and thought to read up some more on bananas.. I havent studied growing bananas but have about 100 trees.
I can provide pictures. I have some nice healthy huge trees in mounds of about 8 - 10 trees....wait dont get hyper, I just found out that you cant do that so i'll have someone tell me how to move some of them. But I just noticed something strange. After about three weeks of rain all of the trees have at least two branches that are developing black spots on the leaves which are turning yellow and drying brown. It seems as if the trees are acquiring some disease. Does anyone know what I need to do with this. The bunches of bananas are really huge and the bananas are fat and sweet. The trees all suffered from lack of water for a year and now I have a yard pump so they are getting some water every now and again. But the recent rains have eased my watering burden. I dont want to lose these trees. I have fertilised them all heavily with chicken manure as well over 2 months ago. Your advise would be appreciated. Forgot to add that i saw this happen before a few weeks ago and used a knife to cut all the bad leaves away and use them as mulch at the base of the trees.

Aloha,
From what you described you may have burnt your trees with the chicken manure. Chicken manure tends to be VERY strong unless it has been aged for a year. If this is the case (and it can take a while...ie 2 months, for the manure to effect the plants), I would move away the remaining manure from the plants and cross your fingers.

You mentioned that you have large clumps. This may help you in that the recovery will be quicker and all will eventually be fine. You may want to water heavily for a while to leach out the remainng fertilizer since the dry weather will only exasberate the condition. Wait until you have new leaves that are not burnt with black spots before stopping this watering regime.

I hope you will be able to stop this condition in time. Since you are in the Bahamas the manure may break down faster.
Keep me posted.
Aloha KAHOA

---

Aloha,
If you're wondering why you are watering more when you had 3 weeks of rain?
You actually had three weeks of overfertilization with the chicken manure you had placed 2 months ago.

It was the rain that activated the fertilizer and soaked it down into the soil. You'll now have to rinse away and dilute the same fertilizer to save the plants. In the end, this may benefit the plants once you strike the right balance of fertilizer around the plants' roots.

I truly hope this helps.
ALOHA KAHOA

---

Thanks for the tip. It sounds like you are right. I will take some time this weekend to dig around the trees and replace the existing top soil with some new soil and allow the mulch to break down in a separate mound elsewhere. Going on two weeks vacation august 4 so I need to attack right away. I spoke to a farmer today and he said I needed to apply
triple 7-10 fertiliser as the trees may be lacking some nutrients. I told him about the manure but he ignored that. But I believe you may be right.