Question
QUESTION: My banana has brown spots, that are kind of large on the pseudostem, or trunk.  Do I need to be concerned with this?  It is in a pot indoors, until it is warm enough to plant outside.
One of the spots seems to be kind of a mold.  It has a little white on it.  I haven't checked to see if it is soft to touch.  Do I need to cut it back?

ANSWER: Hi Holly, What is happening, which is very prevalent in potted Bananas, is the roots become very stressed, they need a very large root area to develop the underground Rhizome (know as a Corm), the container cramps this and then root problems develop with each watering , eventually root rot sets in and this is what I suspect is happening to yours. The fact that its winter, which is another stress on them only exacerbates the situation; it should be removed from the container and put back in a larger one (after cutting it back) and put in the ground in spring. Nick

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QUESTION: Even though the roots weren't very deep at all when I got it, and it is now in a 2 or 3 gallon pot, the roots grow that fast and I should still re-pot?

Answer
Holly, Bananas are my forte, and believe me when I tell you that they will not grow well contained, even the "Super Dwarf Cavandish" which is the smallest Musa out there, will not do well in a container; they like to be in a moist surrounding, but the Corm will rot if remains wet and in a container, it can't get adequate irrigation to thrive because the amount of water needed can't drain off quick enough and ends up pervading the Corm and rotting it. I have experimented with even very large containers and after a year of doing quite well, they began to stress and then the tell tale signs of root problems, the pseudostem and petioles begin to turn brown and the petioles then bend or break. I would love to be able to tell you it can be done, but the fact of the matter is, they just are not cut out for container growing. Nick