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Heyoehkah
10-10-2009, 11:46 AM
Hello,

I am new to the forum and my search for this topic showed no results. I am considering planting about a half acre of banana plants. Currently I have about 50 plants from about 10 varieties. I would plant just for the enjoyment of the plants and not with any business intent. However, water is very expensive here.

I found on youtube that in commercial plantations they irrigate 40,000 gallons per acre per week if there is no rainfall. just for my half acre that would translate to $350 per month. Add that to my already high bill for the avocado and ouch.

I tied drip irrigation in my mixed fruit orchard and it failed. I went back to sprinklers with alfalfa and clover cover and got instant results. I do know that if orchards are started in drip they do much better.

Does anyone have experience with drip irrigation for banana? i would greatly enjoy knowing your experience.

Cheers,

David

sunfish
10-10-2009, 12:26 PM
I think the biggest problem with drip systems is that it's hard to get the whole root zone watered. It would take to many emmiters to do it right. You are better off with micro sprays or a bubbler system.

chong
10-10-2009, 02:15 PM
Have you checked out what it takes to drill a well? If the water table is high in your place it might not be too expensive to drill a well for your purpose. Just a thought.

sunfish
10-10-2009, 02:23 PM
I am only watering my bananas twice a week at about two gal. each watering. I know they would do better with more water but they are doing ok as it is.

Eric
10-10-2009, 10:06 PM
Welcome aboard, David :) ! I've heard about fresh water problems in CA so I have to go with Chong on the Well idea. I have eleven 12-14' Blue Javas & almost killed some using a drip system - had to go back to sprayers. And with as many nanners as you have, the Well would probably save ya lots of money in the future.
Anyway, it's a very friendly & info-packed site. If ya have any questions about using the forum, just ask.
Enjoy!

Richard
10-10-2009, 10:10 PM
Welcome from Rancho Penasquitos!

:woohoonaner:

cherokee_greg
10-12-2009, 09:58 AM
wow thats allot of money for water welcome to the best banana group around

lorax
10-12-2009, 12:03 PM
I have never had any luck with drip irrigation on either small or large scales for bananas - they tend to get rotted out or starved and as somebody astutely pointed out it's very hard to get total root system watering with a drip system.

A well is a very good idea, as is a rainwater catchment system that you can pump through your sprayers in the dry times - this is what I ended up doing when I had about a hectare of mixed bananas in the Ecuadorean high altitude desert, and it worked like a charm except when earthquakes disrupted my tubing system - then I had to water all those nanners by hand... :eek:

LilRaverBoi
10-12-2009, 01:02 PM
Welcome to the site! I wish you the best of luck with your plants. Sounds like you're just as addicted to bananas as the rest of us here....I'm sure you'll fit right in!