I am considering the purchase of a few Grain Nain banana plants from www.goingbananas.com but am concerned about the possibility of pathogen contamination. These banana plants will be coming from Florida and most all of the state is under canker quarantine. Can the pathogens that cause canker hitch a ride on the banana plants and therefore infect my citrus collection or am I unduly concerned? During the winter they will be kept in the same room. During the growing season they will be kept in the same location. I can move the banana container to the other side of the yard but would rather not if possible. I would rather err on the side of caution and ask about this BEFORE I spend my hard earned money on something that may totally destroy almost 1K worth of citrus plants. Hopefully someone will put my fears to rest and just call me over protective.
Andi

Andi, no harm in being cautious...I would be too wtih such an investment in citrus. They call it "CITRUS canker" but I never read that it doesn't spread to other plants such as bananas. Good guestion.
Maybe Malcolm Manners can add to this (?).

My thought on the matter...
The citrus police would have burned other than just citrus trees with in X area of an infected tree if it could be harbored in another plant..

But then maybe that is why they didn't take care of it??

But regardless.... I would put any new plants in a seperate area for observation for a few weeks.. help protect yourself from other things..

Just my .02 worth of observation..

Gina *BabyBlue*

So bananas are exempt, technically they are herbs and not trees. So they should not be burned where there is citrus canker. Nope, never heard of citrus canker affecting bananas. Although bananas have a plethora of pahogens all on their own.

But believe me, some bananas can grow taller than 65 feet. It is called Musa ingens, in the moist highland rainforest of Papua New Guinea. These bananas have to compete with very tall trees, and they did just that. With pseudostem diameters greater than ten feet across, they can tower through the forest canopy and reach those heights. What an herb!

Andi, I don't think you have anything to worry about. - Millet

Thank you all for your replies. I will go ahead with my order and keep them quarantined for now.
Andi