Hi Cara,
Burnt/ brown looking leaves on a banana plant mean that it has been exposed to temperatures colder than it would like. It's very common and nothing to be overly concerned about. Plants usually go on to recover fully, the fact that you've had new leaves since the first browning indicates that this will be the case.
It's best to leave the current leaves on to give added protection to the stem base. Once you have new leaves emerging, you can remove these older brown ones.
To avoid this happening in the future, you may want to try insulating the plant by wrapping it with fleece, or chicken wire with straw stuffed inside (removing any old or browning leaves first so they don't rot inside the insulation). This is usually only done when the plant is left outside, but it sounds as though your conservatory is fairly cold so may be worth a try.
Having said that, if you're going to go to the trouble of insulating, you could try cutting out the 'moving inside' stage, and simply do this with the plant still in the ground. This tends to be sufficient, and would save you considerable effort.
If you do wish to keep bringing the plant inside, a rough guide is that they need to be kept out of drafts and watered regularly. Make sure it is potted in a fairly rich, well drained soil (try putting gravel or stones at the bottom of the container to aid this).
Hope this helps! Let us know how you get on.
Katy
Replied: Thursday 4th of February 2010 04:12 PM
