williambhadley

I am new here, and looking forward to building a useful arsenal of information for my banana growing needs. I recently purchased two Dwarf Cavendish banana trees from my local nursery. I'm looking forward to getting these planted and on their way. I do have the notorious Texas clay, so I need to do a lot of research on how to properly prepare the soil.

I murdered a dogwood last year by digging a hole and putting good soil in, essentially creating a bowl for water to sit and rot the roots. I won't make that mistake again. I would love to do a banana circle, but don't have enough trees right now. I plan on building up a large bed about 15" on top of the clay and then including a lot of fertilizer and compost. I just need to come up with a good soil mixture.

Anyway, this is the beginning of my endeavors!

HMelendez

Welcome to the banana gang!.....

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nph

Hi there fellow Texan!
I live in Plano and have grown bananas here for about 6 years.

Cheers

Tytaylor77

Lots and lots of sand or perlite in a raised bed like you are describing sounds great. I'm lucky to have sand here. Perlite makes the soil very light and fluffy bananas love that. Good luck and welcome. There is lots of information here. It's always good to see another Texas banana grower!

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edwmax

Yep! That'll do it. A french drain will help too, if you can drain the water away from the plant hole or the raised bed (sloping ground ??).

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williambhadley

I think what I really want to do is the banana circle. Everything I have read indicates one of the most important steps is the ground prep, so I figure I need to do it right because it will be more difficult later or my plants will be dead. I found someone that I may get a few Orinoco plants from so I will have 6-7 to go around the circle.

The center will have a compost pile; however, my wife may require me to use a composter so it's not open for the dogs and critters of the world. I did find one on Amazon that has an open bottom, so I figure that should allow the plants to get the nutrients they so desire. I will add lemon grass, sweet potatoes and something else to the raised outer ring.

Speaking of the outer ring, I think I will use some of the clay I dig out from the center pit; however, I will mix it thoroughly with some sand, perlite, and manure. This way, it should drain relatively well where the roots are. I will cover the ring with a good layer of compost. I emailed someone that has some good videos on YouTube, and he told me banana plants are unlike regular trees and that you can pile up compost along their pseudo stem without it causing any problems.

I like your idea for a french drain. The only problem for me right now with that is I don't have anywhere good to run it to. The side of my yard is part of the natural runoff for where I live, so when it rains heavily, it will pool up to about 7-9" of water spread out over a 1/4 of the yard. My brother is a soil scientist in PA, so I've been bouncing ideas off him to take care of that problem without giving my neighbors my runoff.

Oh the joys! Thank you for the ideas and everyone else for welcoming me to the nana thread!

JBijl

Welcome here William

williambhadley

What kind of banana plants are you growing in Plano?

Snarkie

Hi William-

Welcome aboard the Banana Express.

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The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




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Snarkie

Dogwoods do not transplant well, even if you know what you are doing (and I am not insinuating that you do not). The best way is to "sweat" them. Also, keep as much undisturbed dirt around the tree as well. The more it cracks and falls apart, the worse it's going to shock them.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

williambhadley

It was certainly an epic failure on my part. To make things worse, about 20 minutes after I planted it, we had a random downpour. It filled up the hole and made the entire tree float up and fall out. It was definitely amateur hour!

williambhadley

Thank you! I must say, this is one of the few forums where it seems people like to go out of their way to really help others out. It has been quite welcoming!

Snarkie

That's probably this isn't a forum where chest puffing gets you anywhere. Therefore, most people who regularly visit this site do so because they really love bananas and other plants, not because they are bored.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

Kelly00077

Another Texan here about to transfer from pot to ground - I was curious how everyone’s nannas are doing

CraigSS

Welcome to the Banana Group.

Craig

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