ja4s

Hello,

I recently bought a number of Musa basjoo Banana Trees and was going to plant them in my backyard. I want to make sure that they are being grown as best as possible, so I've done some research and wanted to run by the experts before making soil/compost purchase.

Im not 100% sure on the soil in my region, but it is rather sandy & rocky. We live in South Texas, so I figured I'd rather just be on the safe side and just replace the questionable soil and put it new soil mixture all together for the bananas.

I was going to be using this , but instead of digging individual holes, I was going to be dig out a whole row for 12 banana trees, separated 2 feet apart, apx. 1-2 feet deep and wide.

For the soil, I was going to place at the bottom 40 lb Cow Organic Cow Manure for each ( Shop Hapi-Gro 40 Lbs. Cow Manure Compost at Lowes.com )

Then on top of the manure compost, I was going to mix in some Organic Peat Humus ( Shop Hapi-Gro 40 Lbs. Organic Peat Humus at Lowes.com ) and some Premium Top Soil ( Shop Timberline 40 Lb. Premium Top Soil at Lowes.com ) ... About Half and Half. I will be adding perlite as well.

Then place the plant in the ground, and surround it by another bag of manure compost providing it adequate water, fertilizer, and sunlight.

So a quick recap, Manure Compost at the bottom, Peat Humus and Top Soil Mix combination on top of that with some perlite. Plant the Bananas, compost surround it with fertilizer.

It's a whole weekend job and I want to do it right, before making the purchase and doing the work.

What do you all think?

trebor

Id mix it all together with soil from the hole you dig. But Im in Florida my plants are in sand so we need to add organic matter to get good fruit production.. But I bet some one here is close to your area and will give you better details
I compost in trash canes everything I can get my hands on. Then apply it to the soil and when I walk by the cow manure compost at Home Depot I pick up a bag or 5 of that also . I only have 12 plants planted in a row across my back yard

__________________


If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

TommyMacLuckie

The reason you don't dig a hole and replace it with other soils is because when the roots of said plant reach the native/existing soil they stop.

You can blend in organic matter with a tiller as deep as you wish but you're best bet is to plant in the existing soil with a fine pine bark mix tilled in and just fertilize and mulch them well.

Or remove 18 inches down 10 feet across by however long and replace with all new soil and enough of it that it's mounded up quite high rather than simply making it replace exactly what you removed.

Velutina

Banana plants do not grow well in the native soil in my yard. Even a 50/50 mix with native soil/compost doesn't work too well. I decided to to dig a hole (~5'x5'x2.5'deep). I added about 10" of small rocks to the bottom and filled the rest with manure. I was very happy with the results. I guess it depends on the soil you're starting with. Mine happens to be terrible.

Here is the hole filled, with corms planted (April 2011)


End of season 2011


May 2012. The squash planted in this hole are easily 10x larger than those planted in other areas of the yard with native soil.

__________________
Adam

RandyGHO

I am not an expert. I just got on the banana boat myself. I was taken by how close together you are, or have, planted the banana plants. Two feet seems very close.

__________________
Thinking outside the peel always.

ja4s

That's awesome! Your soil (although 1,000~ miles away) looks to be very similar to mine. I think I'm going to do something very similar to you.
A row about 20~ feet long, 3-4 feet wide, and 2.5 feet deep. I'm gonna fill it with a lot of Cow Manure Compost and the rest Organic Peat Humus, and about 1/3 or so of native soil, for reasons mentioned in this thread.

Bob3

Yep, I agree.
2' spacing is very close, considering the plants will begin to throw pups & be multiplying on their own over the course of the year.
By next year you could have a solid banana wall! (not necessarily a bad thing)
How about 4'?

How's your drainage?
"Sand and rock" sounds like it should drain OK but if there's much clay mixed in with that, it could be a whole different ball game.

__________________
Recipes & links for Cajun, Creole, & other goodies.