)Last summer I got a young red-leaf banana tree off eBay... it was a good healthy little plant, and grew really well. It looked lovely all summer, and then we decided it was doing too well to cut back for the winter... instead we brought it, (in it's massive pot) into the sitting room. (No Christmas tree for us- no room! The nana had fairy lights strung around its pot instead
).It did ok- got a bit pale and was leaning half-way across the room by spring, stretching towards the window but was still producing leaves, although much more slowly.
I moved it back outside in May, and then there was that hot spell for a few days, and even though I put up sheets on a clothes line over it, some leaves did get a bit scorched. THEN there was that last cold snap in May- sheets up over it every night to keep it from freezing, so it had a few rough patches that month, which might have weakened it somewhat.
It started growing again and was looking good, when early this week I thought the leaves looked odd... they were standing more upright, and not relaxing into an open spread like they usually do. I checked it, and found what looked like dust on the undersides of the leaves, which were becoming brown and tattered-looking. I also found some tiny, tiny little black dots that turned out to actually be microscopic bugs.
I started misting it like mad, every morning and every evening when the sun was no longer on it, and started doing research online, and I'm pretty sure it's got this:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/banana/closeup_photos.asp
The 'bunchy top" they describe is the leaves standing upright- and that definitely looks like the same bug. I've looked and looked for ANY reference to this hateful aphid being in Britain, but can't find it.
It seems to be a scourge in Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia... anywhere where there are bananas cultivated in large quantities- the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) website says:
"Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) is the pathogen which causes banana bunchy top disease of bananas. It is transmitted by the aphid vector, Pentalonia nigronervosa and is considered to be the most economically destructive of the virus diseases affecting bananas worldwide.....
BBTV is one of the most serious diseases of banana. Once established, it is extremely difficult to eradicate or manage. BBTV is widespread in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Taiwan, most of the South Pacific islands, and parts of India and Africa. In Hawaii, BBTV was first observed in 1989 and is now widely established and a huge threat to the Hawaiian banana industry. "
What now?? This sounds serious, (and how did my poor nana get this?
)I recently did a herbalism course, so I've got a good supply of herbs to hand, and at moment I've got a concoction on the cooker made up of all the herbs I have that aphids hate.... it's a mix of nasturtiums, stinging nettles, and basil. Once the sun moves so that the tree is in shade I'm going to wash the leaves first with a washing-up liquid solution, then my herbal brew, and then last thing tonight I'm going to mist it thoroughly again, with just water. I HATE aphids!!
Anyway, any advice from anyone else would be more than appreciated... I am really fond of this tree, and would hate to loose it- and this is also to warn anyone else with banana trees to keep on eye on them- if any of you are growing nanas to sell, this could be a disaster.
Will keep you updated on how my herb brew works...
thanks!
jaenor
