why are my banana plants turning purple?

[Tom__in_Maryland]

why are my banana plants turning purple?

[Garren]

Attaching a photo may help will help with getting your question answered properly. 

[Tom__in_Maryland]

 

what is the life cycle of banana plan?  Why does it have bananas?

 

 

[Daniel]

That is a good question and I am not completely sure of the answer. What I do know is that the bananas are rhizomes that store starches that the plant uses as food. My guess is banana plants store food for the same reason we do. When I have collected banana plants in their natural habitat, not all banana plants have bananas. Some banana plants have normal roots that extend into the mud. Here is what they look like in the wild.

 

[Tom__in_Maryland]

Tthat is a very good answer!  I wish Cory would do a video on them cause he does sell them.

[aquatoid]

2 hours ago, Tom__in_Maryland said:

 

what is the life cycle of banana plan?  Why does it have bananas?

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Daniel said:

That is a good question and I am not completely sure of the answer. What I do know is that the bananas are rhizomes that store starches that the plant uses as food. My guess is banana plants store food for the same reason we do. When I have collected banana plants in their natural habitat, not all banana plants have bananas. Some banana plants have normal roots that extend into the mud. Here is what they look like in the wild.

 

That looks like some growth, maybe algae on the bananas. Not saying that is bad necessarily, but might not be the look you personally would want in your aquarium. How does the "purple" surface feel in comparison to the way it felt before? Can it be scratched loose revealing the "normal" color?

@Daniel Since you have handled the natural banana plants with same sort of coloration, did it feel like there was something external to the plant on it? 

[Tom__in_Maryland]

here is one that is all purple?

[Daniel]

If it is a purple film on the bananas, it could be cyanobacteria.

Also, the leaves of banana plants naturally vary from green to purple on the underside. This is caused by pigments that are inside the plant leaves, it is not external. I have never got to the root cause of this but I have noticed this phenomena on many, many plants. My hypothesis is that it connected with how light is absorbed but I have nothing to back this up. Here is some previous discussion on this:

 

[Casual aquatics]

Will bananas propitiate there selfs what thereclife cycle?

[Daniel]

8 hours ago, Wisnasky-tank said:

Will bananas propitiate there selfs what thereclife cycle?

Typically to propagate banana plants you break off a leaf near the base of the leaf stem (petiole). Eventually if you are lucky, roots and then a new banana plant will grow from here.

[Tom__in_Maryland]

Since they are difficult to propagate  it seems like you just have to collect them or  buy them from a store like aq, co-op.