Dave Poole writes
There's something very wrong there Kay. The Strelitzia shouldn't lose
its leaves like that.

Snip

Thanks.

My friend suspected he may have overwatered and had allowed it to fry
out. When I saw the plant, the compost was dry at the surface and barely
moist underneath. It if that was the problem it'd take time to recover,
so that looks a very likely candidate. It seems to be in a very fibrous
soilless compost, so it looks is if a soil change at the time of root
inspection would be useful.

It seemed firm in the pot, so if VW damage, not yet at the level when I
usually pick it up, ie when the cyclamen or primrose comes clean out of
the soil ;-)

No sign of the powdering you often see round the rim of the pot at soil
level if you have root mealy bug, but that's not to say there isn't any
- with cacti, the plant often looks fine and no sign of anything, yet
when you lift it out the roots are covered in it.

--
Kay