I just lost my 12 foot Ae Ae to rot. Same symptoms as yours. One day, it was putting out a new leaf, the next day, it had died for no apparent reason (we were in a warm period of the winter when it should have been growing). I dug it up and most of the corm was rotten. Sadder, it had 6 pups ready to break the surface. This particular banana was felled by Hurricane Rita. I was able to right it and stake it back up and it continued to put out new leaves until the first cold front in November. Apparently, during the week or so it was on the ground, being in a weakened state, a fungal infection developed in the corm and by the time I recognized something was wrong, it was in bad shape. My suggestion is to dig it up and examine the corm. With a sterile knife, cut out all of the rot. Even if you only have pieces of the corm left, you might get growth from them. Soak the remaining viable corm in a fungicide with copper for an hour or so, let callous for a day and then plant in sterile potting mix and keep it just moist. You might get some pups from pieces of the corm if there are a few roots left. Probably a 50/50 chance.

Steve

That's my concern, it's not to the corm yet (I don't think). This plant has lived in a pot all it's life and overwinter 2 winters prior. The plant is rotting from the top down and I am afraid it will make it into the corm and destroy he attached pup. Sorry to hear about the loss of an AeAe. That's just terrible. With suggestion of fungicide should I just keep cutting back until it is all clean growth and then treat with a fungicide? Seems like the only way to stop what is started considering nothing has helped yet. Thanks for any help.

I would still unpot it and examine the roots and corm. Definitely keep cutting back until you get clean growth. If there is corm rot, cut it out. Submerge the whole thing in a bucket of water/fungicide mixture for an hour. Put a dinner plate or something with weight to keep the whole thing submerged. Hi Yield makes a copper fungicide. I think its 4.5 teaspoons per gallon. Then let it sit dry for a day. Pot in the sterile potting mix and keep moist, not wet. Be patient. Don't expect to see much activity until temps are above 50 F at night. Bananas are pretty tough cookies.

Steve

Thanks. I had hoped it wouldn't be this difficult. I will cut back till clean growth. Hopefully not that far. Maybe put it outside for a few hours now that it is warming up. Something to dry the cut area. It won't stop weeping but it is indoors. I'll cross my fingers and let you guys know how it goes.