Quote:
|
but they occasionally get some good charcoal ashes from the grill
|
Oooh, I would stop doing that. These barbecue ashes make the soil highly alkaline, and as far as I know volcanic soil is slightly acidic because of the sulfur. So that's probably why your Ele Ele is looking pale as a Finnish guy in the middle of winter.
(Actually, that's how my great grandmother would make soap in the good old days. She would mix water with ashes from the stove, and then mix this with animal lard. Best soap north of the equator! 
)
Anyway, I think all bananas love a pH on the slightly acidic side. 5.5 to 7 is probably in the ideal range.