My neighbor has banana trees that he doesn't do anything to at all, and they need help. (He likes to plant things and then doesn't want to care for them, lol, so I do) The leaves along the bottom are dead/dried up but are just hanging there. And they haven't beared any fruit yet. He planted them about 4 years ago, and they are about 4 feet high. Should I cut the dead leaves off? Then what... any other suggestions? Thanks in advance. :)
Cut the dead leaves off at the pseudostem using a sharp knife or sharp scissors (they can be kind of tough). Then, commence to feed the plants something! They're probably starving. Soluble algae cream is good, as is any balanced time-release fertilizer (Osmocote, etc).
Thanks for the advice, I will do that. I saw your name/website on a different post and it caught my eye because of the description, something to do with "everything you wanted to know about bananas". But the link doesn't work. Is that website still up? I'd love to see it.
Yikes - thanks for bringing that to my attention. It's a typo (which I'm off to fix in a moment.) The website is indeed still up; the magazine is in its fourth year, and it's at www.bananasquarterly.ec
