Toward the beginning of March I had a knock on the door from a chap down the road asking if I wanted to try and bring a banana plant back to life.
Like most plants, there was some sentiment attached, and so I took up the challenge to see if I can put ones botany skills to the test.
I’ve documented what happened just to quench my own curiosity.
March 12th 2021
The plant was in a less than desirable state. There were a lot of dead leaves, there were dead parts of the stem, where outside leaves had started to rot, and this has stunted growth and stopped a new set of leaves from opening up and photosynthesising.
I cut off the the dead leaves and stripped back three or four layers of the plant, getting back to the healthy un-rotted stems. Granted this does look quite brutal, but it was really to open up the plant and cut back to where there are signs of life.
March 21st 2021
Over the course of the week, the plant (I think) was getting over it’s amputation and making use of the room for growth.
At this point, I watered every other day and kept a close eye on what would happen next.
The plant was a pale green, and I was encouraged that there was growth coming up out of the middle of the plant.
March 29th 2021
I noticed that the plant was turning kind of yellow-ish, which is a sign of too much water and/or poor drainage. Therefore, I held off watering every other day and let it do it’s thing.
The middle of the plant grew faster than I’ve expected at this point, and I couldn’t wait to see it open up with fresh leaves. Rather significant as these were the first fresh set of leaves.
11th April 2021
The first leaf was well and truly opened up, and the plant as a whole was a nice deep green colour. This means the watering routine (approx. 3-4 pints every 2-3 weeks – and or looking dry) was paying off.
That said I did notice the banana plant was leaking fluid. The stem at the base and the end of leaves had droplets, which is a sign of slightly too much water.
18th April 2021
Freaky looking mushrooms have grown at the base of the post in the last week or so..
Have removed these as I’m not keen on mushrooms in places on where they shouldn’t be.
Mushrooms will give off spores, with can lead to mouldy plants. I actually don’t know these types of mushrooms – if you recognise them, let me know in the comments below.
18th April 2021
My work here is done…
The watering became a bit more stringent in these last few days and it certainly paid off.
The plant was a deep green and the second set of leaves were a lovely and broad and deep green in colour.
The stem was also just as green with no dead or rotting in sight.
Before and After
I think the results speak for themselves, and it only took a month and a half!
Do you have any plant saving stories? I’d love to hear them in the comment below 🙂
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