Banana tree pruning usually begins with brown leaves, and most of us reach for the clippers. Fair enough, because a leaf that is completely brown is finished and can come off. What matters more is what the brown is telling you, and whether it has been cold lately. You can trim a banana leaf once…
A banana tree in a pot can live indoors, outdoors, or move between the two with the seasons. Indoors all year, only a dwarf variety in the brightest spot you have will do well. Give it a deep, wide pot with drainage holes and a loose, rich mix. Keep it moist but never soggy, and…
For a home garden, the best mulch for banana trees is usually a coarse organic material. Think wood chips, bark, straw, shredded leaves or chopped banana leaves. Spread it 2 to 6 inches deep in a wide ring around the tree. Pull it back about 3 inches from the pseudostem so the base can breathe….
Banana trees are heavy feeders, yet that reputation leads many gardeners to feed a plant that is actually drowning. The usual starting point for banana tree fertilizer is a high-potassium product, roughly a 3-1-6 ratio such as 6-2-12, with some magnesium, applied in small doses through the warm months rather than all at once. That…
The best banana tree soil is deep and loose. It drains fast, holds a little moisture, and is full of organic matter. Aim for a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. Drainage matters most. Stunted, yellow plant? Suspect soggy soil first. University of Florida extension specialists rank drainage as the top soil factor for bananas. They…
Most banana tree problems come down to water, potassium, or cold, and the plant usually tells you which one before the damage becomes permanent. If the oldest leaves are yellowing at the edges while the center stays green, suspect potassium before you reach for a general fertilizer. If the soil stays wet and the newest…
Plenty of banana plantings stall for reasons that were settled before the shovel came out: an offshoot that was too small, soil that was still cold, a corner of the yard that floods after a week of rain. If you want to plant a banana tree that actually takes off, those choices matter more than…
Start with your thumb. Rub one of the dusty patches on an outer leaf, then flip the leaf and check the underside. If the white film smears off like flour and you find more of it on the back, powdery mildew is the most likely answer. Powdery mildew on lettuce is a fungal disease caused…
Aphids on Lettuce Slide a fingertip along the underside of a lettuce leaf. If it comes back tacky, aphids are the first thing to check for. Sticky, curling leaves plus tiny soft insects on the undersides or deep in the heart usually mean aphids. Look closely to be sure, cut off the worst leaves, clear…
What’s Eating My Lettuce? Slugs get blamed for a lot of holes in lettuce leaves. Sometimes they’ve earned it. Other times a tiny beetle did the work, or a caterpillar is sitting deep in the head where you can’t see it. The damage tells you which one you’re dealing with, so read it before you…
Schefflera Losing Leaves Pick up one of the fallen leaves and turn it over in your hand before you reach for the watering can. The leaf itself will often tell you which way to look. A green leaf that fell with a dark, soft base usually points to wet soil and unhappy roots. Yellow leaves…
Schefflera Plant Problems Lift the pot before you do anything else. A schefflera in soggy soil feels like a bag of wet sand, and one that has dried out completely feels almost silly light. That one test sorts out more problems than staring at the leaves ever will. Most schefflera problems trace back to watering…
