Quote:
Originally Posted by edwmax
Don't forget the roots & corm still needs to develop & grow, so ground application is still needed when transplanting and about 45-60 days later for 30-40% total of fertilizer needs for pre-shooting growth.
Usually foliar spraying starts about 60 days after transplanting. ... Me, I would give the plants a boost a few days or 2 weeks after transplanting in addition to the ground fertilizer. ... Heck, make-um nanas FAT.
From your photo, if you are using the irrigation lines to apply the fertilizer, then you are doing more Fertigation than foliar spray after the plant leaves get above the lines. ... Are you using separate spray equipment to spray the top of the banana plants?
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We do not transplant the corms directly into the field anymore, we nurse them for two and a half months in grow bags, under a 400m2 50% shade hardening tent in the warm season and in shaded greenhouses in the colder months. During those two and a half months they get all they need and grow to about 3 feet in height and the stem can easily reach 1 & 1/2 inches in diameter.
Only then are they transplanted in to the fields.
The raised irrigation pipes could of course be used for fertigation and the system is already preinstalled for this but there is currently no need for that. We have high pressure spray equipment that we use for all the farm, in particular for our hundreds of Longan and Mango trees for which the folear treatment technique has been perfected for many many years now (our area is the World's top producer of Longan). The system is a compact tractor driven 200 liter tank and spray engine/pump that we use for spraying all our plants and the ground around the plants and the bunches from under the bags to protect the bunches from pests.
Our GM bananas look pretty good these days so I would say the system is working. We are getting top prices at the market for them and cannot supply enough for the demand. We have 6000 plants in the ground or ready to go in right now and aim to double that in the next twelve months if all goes according to plan. Concentrating mostly on two cultivars of GM.
