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View Full Version : Nutrient Deficiency - Got It Figured Out


voyager
09-12-2017, 03:09 PM
Photobucket has stopped doing 3rd party hosting.
So, all the photos in my OP about this are no longer with the thread:
http://www.bananas.org/f2/what-going-these-tall-brazilians-46653.html

It has been a while since I first posted about what looked like a nutrient deficiency in my tall Brazilians.
I have now figured out what the problem was.

I was going to order cinder soil to make the planting area for those bananas.
I choked on the price they wanted for a truck load.
So,I got a load of fine black cinders instead and ordered a couple of loads of green-waste mulch to mix with it.
I was stingy with the mulch that wasn't fully composted yet.
Basically, they were planted in cinders with little to no nutrients in it.

I added borax, dolomite, and fertilizer with little good coming out of it except that they didn't die.
But , other than the 1st one to fruit because of being next to the composter, the others didn't fruit successfully.

For the last few months I've been hauling COMPOSTED MULCH from the green-waste facility in my Dakota, been loading up to a ton into that little 1/4 ton p/u.
It grunted, but has been doing the job nicely.

I've been spreading mulch under everything and am taking a break from it right now.
Everything, bananas, avos, oranges, tangerines, longans, lime, and lemons have all perked up and are growing and/or fruiting the best they ever have for us.

I guess you do have to feed them.

JoeBanana
09-13-2017, 12:50 PM
My neighbor just got her banana tree to produce after 10 years of nothing.:woohoonaner:

Richard
09-13-2017, 01:52 PM
I've been spreading mulch under everything and am taking a break from it right now.
Everything, bananas, avos, oranges, tangerines, longans, lime, and lemons have all perked up and are growing and/or fruiting the best they ever have for us.


The mulch is supplying Nitrogen. To get good quality fruit you'll also need to supply potash. Ashes from true wood (not fireplace "logs") will work. Another organic option is Sul-Po-Mag.

Alternately, a 5-lb bag of Fruit Fuel 16-8-24 is an all-in-one concentrate that might be enough to feed all your fruit trees for a year. It is sold by a few members here.