The mother plant died completely and pups were popping out like crazy! Now they're not in such good shape. Why? Pups: Mother plant:
Hi Coop, did you grow the mother plant up to that original condition or was it moved in from another location looking that good?
That's sunlight damage - direct bright sunlight on leaves when they're damp or have water on them can cause burns. Chills from the glass can do the exact same thing - what you're seeing on the leaves of the pups is damage that's happening to the rolled leaves before they open. I'd move the pots back a bit from the window so that the light the plants get is more indirect.
Hi Lorax! Hey I'm really sorry to disagree with you, I hope you'll forgive me, but that would be the very worst thing possible for this banana, and probably the fastest way to kill it for-sure. Bananas are not like most houseplants. You literally cannot give them too much sun in a house behind a window, with a roof over them and even a big awning above the window like that. Temporary sunburn on mature leaves only is possible if moved from the shade to direct outdoor sun, but it's just not possible in that location. And even if it was, the solution would still be to move it directly to much, much more direct sun immediately and just grow it thru the minor sunburn (I've done this many times for overwintered bananas). The new leaves get their sunscreen properties late in their development, just as they are unfurling, and will adjust easily to even drastic changes to brighter light. Old leaves that sunburn will stay firm and rigid (not flopping over like that) and show much more bleaching before it gets that much crispy edges. That's definitely not sunburn. It's the same with the old mother plant photos. Those chlorotic yellow areas are not sun bleaching. Sunburn on a banana turns the whole leaf very pale, almost white, fading to a dirty light gray, then finally to crispy; but never large areas of that bold yellow color missing the chlorophyll like on the mother plant above. Low light is the cause here, not high light. I would recommend adding a very bright LED light above the window to supplement the inadequate light it is getting.
I totally agree with Tom Hulse. Besides, how could water indoors possibly get onto the banana leaves? And how those bananas can grow in their natural habitat, where rain is often followed with bright direct sunlight, that is much brighter, than the Sun shines at Canadian lattitudes + through the window?
There are lots of ways water could get on banana leaves indoors - misting the leaves for example or even a leak in the ceiling. :-) And don't underestimate the strength of the sunshine 'at Canadian latitudes' especially magnified through windows. Much depends on the angle it is coming in at. (Even outdoors, I've had plastic pots melt due to the intense rays.)
Margot, the water-on-leaves-can-cause-sunburn thing has been debunked as a myth. Windows are flat, not curved, so they can not magnify sun, they only reduce and filter it. Canadian sun is definitely a severely limiting factor in growing bananas as a houseplant, it makes it tough. Don't underestimate how much sun a banana needs. But that overhang and awning outside the window are the worst factors here, this plant really does need a lot more sun.
I was not clear when I spoke of how water could be on indoor banana leaves to say that I know that would not be a concern regardless. I know that is a myth. https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/leaf-scorch.pdf . I certainly defer to your expertise on banana culture.
Margot, don't underestimate the strength of the sunshine in the equatorial zone, where is true home of banana plants. And nobody is pouring water on banana leaves, under what is pile of books. I suppose this is serious forum here, not a place for joking.
My sincere apologies for a failed attempt at humour - from now on, I won't even smile as I post a question or answer.
I defer to Tom in terms of growing bananas indoors in Canada; my fairly extensive expertise with bananas is entirely with the plants outdoors, in-ground, in extreme equatorial conditions (I am currently doing a high-altitude push for local cultivars) where the concerns I listed are indeed at the very top of the list of diagnoses.
