Nancy Greene

Hi, My name is Neiki. I lived in Santa Barbara, CA for 20 years and never had any problems growing several species of Banana Trees. I am now in Nipomo and surprised that I am surrounded by agriculture fields, and experienced endless problems with my banana trees. My natural soil is sand on top with clay layer on the bottom. I mix potting soil and fertilizer deep into the clay part of the soil, this has not done anything to help save my banana trees. The leaves are yellow, then crispy brown on the top leaves. Some have brown speckles at the base. I am wondering if applying a heaping mound of peat moss would help. They are in full sun, and cover with shade cloth when it is too hot and cover them at night since there has been some very cold mornings here. Any suggestions? I am literally going "Bananas" with these problems.

Magilla Gorilla

Aloha Nancy,
I lived in Santa Barbara for 13 years and still own a home there. The weather in Nipomo is vastly different than Santa Barbara. It is colder in the winter and warmer in the summer. I don't have clay soil at my SB house. Like any location you need to amend the clay. You should be able to gets lots of input on amending clay soil here. You should also be able to get free mulch in your area to help with amending the soil. If you brought plants from SB and they are burning from the sun then you need to acclimate them.
I hope this was helpful and welcome to the forum!

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Andrew

Abnshrek

I'd consider building raised beds. :^)

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)