Banana trees in peril.......

Thu Oct 15, 2009 2:32 pm

Hello all,
I live in San Diego and have been growing a dozen or so banana trees in my raised beds for about four months now. most of them are about 4' plus and very healthy. well, they were healthy.
About 10 days ago I transplanted them all to my yard. My soil is a hard clay and rock. I added mulch to the mix and watered them well. I water them every other day and saturate the soil.
So now my trees seem to be dying. the leaves are wilting and turning yellow. I am completely lost. these are my first green thumb project and I cant bare the site of their impending doom.

does anybody know what I can do to save them?

All help is appreciated...

Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:53 am

Keep in mind that you have a clay based soil which has very little porosity and the water will pool forming anoxic zones. So, with your soil it sounds to me like you are overwatering your plants. Don't water on a schedule, check the soil and if it is still damp, you don't need to water.

You can also ammend your soil with organic matter with a high carbon to Nitrogen ratio such as leaves, cocoa bean hulls, wood chips and so on. Add some sort of green (low C:N ratio) like manure, coffee grounds, grass clippings and so on to ensure that there is enough Nitrogen for your plants.

Good luck with them!

Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:33 am

Re. cocoa-bean hulls: TOXIC TO DOGS AND CATS, even in small quantities. I posted this maybe a year ago--

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp contains a discussion about the toxicity of cocoa-bean mulch.

This product was evidently sold at Home Depot in Spring 2003 and many questions arose. It still IS sold, and the bags generally do NOT say anything about the death they can deal to our four-legged friends. :evil:

"Snopes" (known as Internet myth busters) discusses the case of one Labrador Retriever whose fate confirmed the toxicity of such mulch. :-(

Another place to confirm/seek out info on toxicity of plants is the ASPCA's Poison Control. www.aspca.org, follow their links to Poison Control.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9