Why is my Musa basjoo new growth distorted ?

[Dave in Warrington]

The subject says it all.

It generally occurs as the leaf is finally un-rolled

basjoo distortion

A severe case is where the whole length of the leaf is distorted

Distortion on rolling out

So any thoughts on why is my Musa basjoo new leaf growth is so distorted

[mushtaq86]

Dave have you changed its feeding or watering routine in the last two weeks.The new roller coming out seems OK.

[Dave in Warrington]

Feeding is much the same as it was but there is less rainfall but my supplementary watering remains 'more or less' as it was.

They are really pushing out growth fast and the rollers popping out OK hence the mystery

[mushtaq86]

Feeding is much the same as it was but there is less rainfall but my supplementary watering remains 'more or less' as it was.

They are really pushing out growth fast and the rollers popping out OK hence the mystery

If they are pushing out growth fast,its most likely to be bruising coming out of the p-stem,like i said the new roller seems to be ok.

[Dave in Warrington]

i think it is only the soft growth that is 'bruising' on the one side of the rolled up leaf.

I think it's simply excessive fertlizer pushing the basjoo to the limit, and I didn't think I could over do it with my multi-purpose fetilizer.

Some-one said you can't give a banana too much feed. Now I think you can

[Yorkshire Kris]

Looks like too much feed. I got over enthusiastic with chicken poo and miracle grow earlier in the year (May) and got a few leaves like that. All ok now probably because the plants can cope with the level of feed now.

[Dave in Warrington]

The leaves on the larger stems on mine look OK too.

I've also remembered there's home made compost dug around the 'banana mat' and this had rotted horse manure in too.

[Dave in Warrington]

This half way down this German page shows an extreme case of what happens to over fertilized Musa basjoo

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... rungen.htm

[mushtaq86]

you must have really been hammering on the fertilizer Dave

[Dave in Warrington]

I've found the limit

Although the banana mat was cut down to the ground by the frost, the leaves on the tall stems at eye level, are 4ft long and growth of new leaves are now clear of distortion.