Question
I recently purchased a dwarf cavendish banana tree. Can I keep it in a sunny, unheated south-facing enclosed porch area over the winter in PA.? Also there is a small amount of clear liquid that appears on the leaves....what is it?

Answer
Alexandra,

Yes you can keep you banana tree in the sun-porch as long as the sun porch is above 40
degrees. If the temperature on the porch is going to drop below that for the night you need
to bring the plant indoors for the night or a few days. I have a porch like that and
fortunately it  has a door to it right beside the wood burning stove so on the really cold
nights I crack open the door so it gets some heat and my plants stay happy. On sunny days
the 2 doors from the sun porch into the house come open and it helps heat the house so my
husband can't complain too much about heating it on the cold nights.

As for the water on the leaves, water evaporates from the leaves and other parts of the plant above the ground. The evaporation of water from the plant is called ''transpiration''. It occurs mainly through the stomata. However, as quickly as water is lost from the leaves, more water enters the roots
and flows up the stem.

The water flows up the plant in narrow pipes, rather like capillary tubes. These tubes make
up the xylem. Water rises up the stem mainly by being ''pulled'' from above. The ''pull'' is
created by the evaporation of water from the leaves. The drier the atmosphere, the greater is
the rate of transpiration. In very dry weather, water may evaporate from the leaves faster
than it is replaced from the soil. The plant then suffers from water shortage. Sometimes
the plant transpires so much water that small drops form on the leaves, that is what you
are seeing.

Normally a plant's cells are full of water, and all the cells are pressing against each other
within the epidermal covering. This helps to support the plant and holds the leaves out flat.
If a plant runs short of water, the cells lose water and go flabby. The plant then droops.
This is called wilting. Plants living in dry places have all sorts of adaptations for
preventing this.

If you have more questions feel free to  write again. Good luck.


Darlene