red banana plant

Question

I want to know what is wrong with my banana plant. It is the banana plant that has the red toned leaves. It produces new leaves often and every time a new leaf is formed, I wait anxiously – hoping that this time it will mature into a healthy leaf. But, alas, no. It is not to be. Every time the leaf opens, it soon shows dry brown/black type areas and soon they become bigger and the leaf just dries up. Or if it doesn’t, I soon cut it off because it is not attractive.

My daughter-in-law has the banana plant that is just solid green and she does not have any problems. Hers is beautiful. I ask her what she does. She says she does nothing special with it. Is the “red variety” one harder to grow? If I only knew what to do to help mine become a pretty plant, I definitely would do it. Otherwise, I will have to take it out of the pot and discard it. If you can help me out, I will be very grateful! Thanks!

Answer 1

Your description suggests that the plant has root rot, brought on by insufficient drainage. Bananas can use a lot of water, but they really hate sitting in wet soil. If you can dig up your banana plant (bring up as many of the roots as possible,) and either move it, or put a better-drained soil mix back into the soil and build up the banana so it sits on a little hill, it might do better. A couple of articles with more information : https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/banana/growing-cold-hardy-bananas.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/how-to-improve-clay-soil.htm