Banana Plant Problem

Hi I have recently bought a young banana Plant which I am growing ina pot But the problem is I think it is dying, since the leaves are turning brown and falling off. It seems to be affecting the new growth as well. Has anybody had this problem? and if so what is the answer? Any advice or suggestions would be helpful please.

Thanks 

Hi Pete , I've recently bought one as well - just a baby really as it's no bigger than 12 inches. From what I've been reading , they like to be kept warm and don't like a lot of water at this time of year. As mine is a young plant, I've decided to keep mine in the house. It sounds like your plant is either too wet or too cold.

Where are you keeping yours ?

Banana leaves do die off so there may be nothing wrong.  Can you see a new leaf forming in the centre?  If it has been outside during the summer I would inspect the roots as I have had vine weevil grubs eating the roots of mine in the past. 

I am Keeping it in the House as well My wife has been watering it but only a little and only just recently, but the leaves were dying off before and we thought that maybe a lack of water was the problem. Idid notice some time ago that there seemed to be some insect life in the soil, do you think that they could have affected it?

Peter 

What sort of insect life ? Are they grubs or insects? If they are grubs it could be Muddyforks suggestion but if its in the house ..........................

I did keep it outside for some weeks in the summer so there could be grub damage to the roots, I will repot and inspect roots and will let you know what's the problem.

Pete 

Good luck Pete.  Hope it's not the dreaded vine weevil grub.

What do I do if it is?

Pete 

Take it out the pot . remove all the compost and get as much compost off the roots as you can. I usually wash the roots as well before re-potting . As I said this is my first banana plant so I'm hoping this method will apply to those as well  I don't know if you can use Provada on these plants so I'm hoping someone who is more familiar with growing banana plants answers this post  . I would also like to know ( just in case )

Hi,

My advice is to get yourself a Japanese Hardy banana variety such as Musa basjoo. I live in the midlands and have had one planted in the garden for about 10 years now. It even survived the severe frosts we have been having over the last couple of years. It does die down in the winter and I used to wrap it to keep the main stem tall. I don't bother these days as it was getting to about 10-15 feet in 1 growing season (and fruiting) which is too big for the garden. I now let it die down to the ground and it still grows to about 6-8 feet in 1 season with many smaller trunks. I have also been succesful in taking the smaller ones off and giving these away to family and friends. I did try to grow a less hardy variety in a pot but this was not successful for me.

Thanks for all your advice, I will let you all Know as soon  i know it has survived the winter.

Petew