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View Full Version : Some questions for SW Floridians


Floridagal88
04-10-2009, 10:16 AM
New to this site and new to growing banana trees. Read through alot of info on this site and see that I planted them wrong. I used potting soil thinking that would be best since there is only sand here but see otherwise now.

Will my trees be okay? How fast should they grow? Any other newbie advice would be great

Thanks!!

Richard
04-10-2009, 10:21 AM
Pile a lot of mulch on and you'll be fine. Make sure it is natural wood (not colored or painted), disease-free, and on average about 1 inch in diameter.

Patty in Wisc
04-10-2009, 11:03 AM
Being mostly sand, at least you will have good drainage under that potting soil. Better than heavy clay where the water just lays there.

Chironex
04-10-2009, 02:47 PM
They will be fine. You are doing things correctly.

Floridagal88
04-10-2009, 05:14 PM
Thanks for the replies

karunasagar108
04-14-2009, 09:05 PM
Hi.

Just a few things to know about bananas:

They can take more water then you can give them as long as the soil can drain (no prolonged flooding). Also, they can take more compost then you can afford. Otherwise, i mean, that to grow great bananas, water deeply daily, give lots of compost, heap on the mulch, and if you really want to give a boost add some liquid worm tea. Bananas love the attention. they grow better the more time you spend looking at them. In myh patch in Englewood, Florida, I put a bunch of coffee grounds and some worms on my saba clump. After some time there is a bunch of mold, occassional fungus, and tons of little red worms. Bananas are magic.

Floridagal88
04-15-2009, 06:42 PM
Thanks! I'm new to getting serious about gardening and I will be getting coffee grounds from Starbucks (my daughter wks there so I'll make her bring them to me). I'm looking into easy composting. I've been giving them so much attention my husband says he wishes he was a banana tree :ha:

Chironex
04-15-2009, 06:45 PM
I use the Starbucks coffee grounds from Pauly (Damaclese) They are nice and pelletized. He suggests using the plugs from the expresso machine. They will acidify your soil, so check its pH once or twice to be sure it's not getting too acidic.