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Old 09-11-2006, 09:15 AM   #3 (permalink)
momoese
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Default Re: preparing soil for bananas outside

You pretty much said it yourself. You need to add LOTS of organic material. You can get free compost from the city that would make a nice base to start with. Then add composted chicken or steer manure, I use both. Composted horse manure works well too. You can also include a lot of different organic things like seaweed, worm castings, organic plant food. You might even consider adding some perlite to help keep the soil loose down the line when the compost breaks down.. Some will also say that the addition of gravel and a drainage system in the bottom is needed for good drainage but that really depends on the existing soil that will stay under your prepared soil and how it will drain. I have hard Clay here in so Cal and I put some gravel in the bottom of my beds but no drainage system and I've never had an issue with water sitting for too long even in the worst of weather.

Edit: I forgot to mention the addition of Sul-Po-Mag and Green Sand is very good for Bananas. You may also need to add some source of lime depending on your soil. There is no way to keep soil real nice for 5-10 years without the constant addition of more organic material as it constantly breaks down and gets used up by the plants. A heavy top layer of compost helps to maintain moisture and soil temperature as well as adding to the soil as time goes by..

Last edited by momoese : 09-11-2006 at 09:36 AM.
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