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Old 27-12-2002, 01:38 PM
 
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Default Unhappy Banana Plant

Nanas are a devil to keep looking healthy in winter due to their
preference for very high light levels, heat and humidity. Almost
inevitably, plants kept in the house will look much sadder than those
kept in a warm greenhouse, simply because light levels indoors at this
time of year are so low as to be almost useless to such sun-lovers.
They simply lose more and more leaves, reducing to a feeble-looking
'trunk. Your best bet is to keep the plant in a cool, brightly lit
spot for the rest of the winter and allow the compost to nearly dry
out between waterings. This will enforce semi-dormancy until
conditions are more amenable to strong growth.

In spring, when your plant appear to be making concerted efforts to
grow, move it to a warmer, well it spot and increase watering
gradually. Once several new leaves have been produced, pot on using a
much larger container. Place plenty of drainage material in the
bottom and infill around the roots using a 50/50 mix of mutli-purpose
compost and John Innes No2. You should add extra sand, fine grit or
perlite to keep the medium porous and free draining. After about 3 or
4 weeks, you can resume feeding using full strength Miracle-Gro or
similar.

HTH

Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK