Quote:
Originally Posted by viti2106
Ugh... and i bought for them supposedly a special banana potting mix and mixed it with seramis clay granules and thought they would thrive.  I don’t have perlite, can I use Seramis clay granules instead?
Thank you so much for your time! |
The perlite should be available at the big -box garden centers. You can use course sand (not play sand), course pine bark, or small pebbles mixed in the soil.
i'm not familiar with Seramis clay. Doing a google I found their info. Quote 'Our clay granules can absorb large amounts of water, store them and return them to the houseplant. The small, porous clay grains suck up the water like a sponge. ...' This is exactly what you DO NOT WANT!
Peat also 'sucks up water like a sponge' So you need to keep peat in the mix to a minimum and mixing in the perlite helps to reduce this.
Banana plants need fresh water not stagnate water. The pot needs to drain and the excess water discarded to prevent water from pooling in the bottom.