Quote:
Originally Posted by Sataroth
Hello guys!
Bought my first banana plant, it was mentioned as Dwarf Cavendish.
It was in a quite tight container so i had to replant it asap.
As I had 0 exp with bananas, I red somewhere that "universal soil" should be good. But seems like it's not as I'm reading now...
What I have: banana plant in in a pot under HPS lamp + additional CFL in a soil "Compo sana Universal" which is mostly peat I think. It feels very soft, lush and well ventilated, and doesn't feels dry even when it's actually dry :-/ Also it becomes quite dense after watering, so I'm loosening it up after watering with a wood stick.
Banana is alive and looks happy as never before. It came to me with huge lower leaves and very small and "stuck" 6 youngest leaves. After 1 month new leaves in my pot increasing in size steadily and growing longer stems, which is a great sign.
BUT! Do I need to do anything with my soil which might not be too loose for banana? I don't want him to get root rot  Maybe I have to extract it to add some sand? Or leave it be as long as it's happy?
Also, would appreciate advice about fertilizing. Using 1.4-1.0-2.0 plus 0.6Ca and 0.5Mg organic liquid fertilizer for palms each week. Sometimes I'm using wood ash mixed with water instead of this fert (1 big spoon of ash for 1 litre of boiling water and leaving it in a warm place for a week).
Is it OK, or I should change my plan???
Is it ok? |
I'm not familiar with the soil mix you are using. But the manufacturer's description indicates there is a high % of perlite (???). ... Generally it is recommended to use a commercial soil mix & perlite (or course sand) at a 50/50 % mix. ... You need a very fast draining mix for potted bananas.
I suggest using a long stem moisture meter to check the soil moisture in the middle and bottom of the pot. If these are very wet while the top of the soil is dry, then add more perlite to the mix. And water only when the meter indicates the middle & bottom of the pot soil is near dry. ... For bananas the pot MUST drain excess water and needs drain hole in the bottom. Self-watering pot are bad for bananas.
For fertilizer the mix you are using has fertilizer for 6 wks per the manufacture. After that I would use Miracle Grow per directions for potted plants foliar spraying the leaves about every 10 to 14 days. ... Read the forum wik for more info about fertilizer.
Info:Fertilizer - Bananas Wiki