[cjyhc4]

I bought my little banana plant a couple weeks ago and dropped it in a 10g. Since then one leaf has completely died and a new one has grow in its place. The three leaves I have now are all slowly decomposing.

Tank Specs:
Size: standard 10g
Lighting: 19w
Ferts: None
Fauna: 7 Guppies, 2 Bronze Cories

What can I do to make this plant grow better?

 

[aquanut415]

how cold is it right now in Rolla, MO?

 

[cjyhc4]

how cold is it right now in Rolla, MO?

Well, the high today is 38. Why do you ask?

 

[soh15]

Make sure you only have the roots 1/3 of the way in your gravel. And check the green roots to see if there are soft, If they are it is rotten and dead. 19w is not a lot of light so it may take a while to start going.

 

[cjyhc4]

Make sure you only have the roots 1/3 of the way in your gravel. And check the green roots to see if there are soft, If they are it is rotten and dead. 19w is not a lot of light so it may take a while to start going.

I know it's not a lot of light, but it's more than it was getting at the LFS, so i figured it would do alright. I actually don't ahve the roots buried at all. It's just sitting on top of the gravel.

 

[aquanut415]

Well, the high today is 38. Why do you ask?

cause banana plants go dormant in the winter months... nothing you do to the plant will make it grow if it is outdoors in the winter and 38 degrees. Also, if its indoors, ans you just repotted it in the winter, you are probably gonna have some root rot associated with stress during repotting. which will probably make the plant look bad anyway. bananas should be repotted in the early spring, not the dead of winter. baby it, and you can probably save it.

 

[cjyhc4]

cause banana plants go dormant in the winter months... nothing you do to the plant will make it grow if it is outdoors in the winter and 38 degrees. Also, if its indoors, ans you just repotted it in the winter, you are probably gonna have some root rot associated with stress during repotting. which will probably make the plant look bad anyway. bananas should be repotted in the early spring, not the dead of winter. baby it, and you can probably save it.

This probably sounds silly, but how does it know that it's winter? I has been at the LFS since the Fall in a heated tank. It came home in warm car and well-insulated bag. Then went straight into another heated tank. It hasn't been "potted" in the time that I've known it.

 

[aquanut415]

even in greenhouses with full automation, you can't stop a plant sensing the changing of the seasons. they are able to sense changes in pressure, temperature, humudity, daylight hours, etc..

and... maybe.. it was happier at the LFS? not to be mean. maybe it had better light? more humidity? better soil? so, then you brought it home, and it possibly had less light, or even lower temperatures. So now the plant senses winter, or possibly just a change..and then it goes dormant to protect itself from trying to make new leaves when is senses it might not be a advantageous time to do so.

often, just moving a plant from one place to another causes a lot of stress. especially during cold winter months.

 

[cjyhc4]

even in greenhouses with full automation, you can't stop a plant sensing the changing of the seasons. they are able to sense changes in pressure, temperature, humudity, daylight hours, etc..

and... maybe.. it was happier at the LFS? not to be mean. maybe it had better light? more humidity? better soil? so, then you brought it home, and it possibly had less light, or even lower temperatures. So now the plant senses winter, or possibly just a change..and then it goes dormant to protect itself from trying to make new leaves when is senses it might not be a advantageous time to do so.

often, just moving a plant from one place to another causes a lot of stress. especially during cold winter months.

Understandable. Can you suggest anything I could do to make it happier? Or should I just keep the most dead leaves trimmed and hope it perks up once it gets a little more settled?

 

[aquanut415]

patience, grasshopper.

remember, scissors are your friend! cut away dead or dying leaves. Give it lots of light, and then.. don't touch it. It shoud start coming back, but it will probably take a few months.

 

[mnsnowdaboy]

I got one in my 10 gallon with only a hagen Co2 yeast/sugar kit. Lighting is probably less that 19W because bulb needs replacement and it flickers at times :biggrin: Not very bright at all but for some reason my 10 gallon is flourishing. I just droppin it in and didn't even plant it. Over time the roots just dug themselves under and it is only going into some white sand. Behind it where the green plants are I got some Aqua soil but the Banana plant is not using any of the AS's nutrient. I just looked at it today and it's even better but I dont' have pics yet. Here's two pics I took, look for the dates also.

Jan 4th 2007

Feb 5th 2007

 

[cjyhc4]

Oh wow!! That looks great And so does the rest of your tank. Maybe someday mine will stop being so fickle, hehe.

 

[aquanut415]

hahahaha!!! i thought you were talking about a Banana plant... like the tree, monkeys favorite food.

when you said i dropped it in a 10g... i thought you meant plant bucket.. not tank.

 

[mistergreen]

so, your substrate is basically sand.. you might want to put some root tabs deep in the sand. Sand has no nutrients and banana plants need nutrients down in the substrate.

and that grass in the background will die eventually. I forgot the name of it but it's not a true aquatic plant. You can take it out and grow it in a pot when it starts to look bad.

 

[mnsnowdaboy]

Sorry to go off the threads direction but I'll explain the tank. I got Aqua soil in the back sides. The grass like is cyperus but only the very right of it is some petsmart crap I bought, don't know what it is.

The banana plant I didn't want but my girl friend thought was cute so I bought just one. After scaping I had no place for it so I just dropped it in the middle of the white sand to show it off. I was going to just throw it away but then it grew incredible leaves, even better than the pictures now. The roots dug themselves down and now it is stuck, well if I wanted to I could take it out. It's doing just fine without any nutrient from substrate. I'm beggining to think these plants are like java ferns ect ect, they don't need soil.

Well I don't know much about this plant and still learning more about plants in gereral but dam my low low tech 10 gallon is flourishing while my 30 gallon co2 injected so called high tech tank is not doing too good....:biggrin:

 

[mistergreen]

the bannana plant is related to the lotus plant. And it originated in the south, USA... Florida maybe.

 

[mnsnowdaboy]

Here's an update of my Banana plant. There was one leaf 2 weeks ago I thought was dying because it was pale yellow but now it has grown so long that it is like a lily pad when in the tank. Here's a pic with it sticking out just so you see how really long it is.

BTW this plant seems very easy to grow not sure why you are having bad luck with it but hope this gives you something to look foward to.

 

[philoserenus]

" is that leaf actually still grown bent like that?!

 

[mistergreen]

you can cut off that leaf. It'll help make under water leaves.

 

[mnsnowdaboy]

That is just a pic of me showing how long it is. It doesn't stick out of the water. I actually like it because it's like a lily pad with the stem going up to the top and the leaf floating on top of the water.