Heater

I am currently deployed in Qatar. I have planted two banana plants (one was a pup from the larger of the two).

To prepare their growing area, I used a pick and a shovel and dug two holes. The ground is mostly well compacted rock (thus, the pick) but there is some degree of sand in there. Nothing that will help bananas grow, really.

It took me about two hours to dig these holes. When I had them finished. I filled them with topsoil that I mixed with some very fine grained sand. I let that sit for a few days and then I put the bananas in the ground today.

Clearly, I am bathtubbing the plants in those holes, so I need to be careful of overwatering and spoiling the soil.

But aside from proper water intake, what other advice would anyone have regarding bananas in a desert like this?

I planted them because I am sick and tired of seeing nothing but sand and rock. So broad-leafed green plants would be great...what better than bananas?

Obviously, it get really hot here in the summer (115 degrees) but in Qatar, it is humid, so that helps. But right now, the highs are in the 90s so it's not so bad. I am able to provide as much water as needed for them, no problem.

Advice for these two little guys?

mango_kush

do you know what variety of banana or have a pic? there are African varieties that would be more suitable for your conditions.

personally, i do not think you will run into the problem of over watering them

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island cassie

Wind protection!! and oleanders will be good for this. One decent shamaal and those lovely big leaves will be crisped. Or trellis with bougainvilla would also be good. Good luck!

Gabe15

From the basic description of the soil you provide, a large quantity of compost or composted manure, or even just manure, would be immensely helpful. If you can, a wheelbarrow or so full for each plant would be excellent mixed into the holes you bud, and since it is early there will be no consequence of pulling out the plants to do this and replanting. This will provide a lot of nutrients of course, but will also improve the ability of the soil to hold other nutrients for use by the plant, improve water availability and many other beneficial things.

Also, plant the pups deep. It is even beneficial to have the bottom of the sucker 2ft or more below the soil surface, provided it is tall enough to stick out a little bit. This allows the plants better access to a more even water supply and helps keep the roots cool in such hot temperatures. But this will only be helpful if the hole is very deep. If you could make the holes about 1m wide and 1m deep, put in the wheelbarrows amount of manure, and mix in the other soil you have added and some of the native soil, you will essentially have created an in ground container large enough to fruit the plants in, and they should grow very well provided enough water. Even if you are not there long enough to see them fruit, they will grow extremely quick.

And lastly, mulch the soil surface with something to keep the soil surface cool, keep water in, and keep weeds out (since you will be watering it, you should expect other plants to take advantage of that too). This can be as fancy as woodchips or bark or as simple as cardboard with rocks to hold it down. Also cut grass leaves work great too, just sometime to cover the soil surface is always helpful. Banana leaves are excellent, free and easily available once they get going and start shedding old leaves.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

sunfish

Don't forget to mulch .

Scott

Hi Heater.....
Been there...done that... We brought a few palms in from Diego Garcia and the dry air ruined them. We were at Camp Andy....hard to keep tropical plants growing in that brick environment. Good call on the soil. Gabe hit it though...nutrients nutrients nutrients. So if you can score some fertilizer, that will help your plants.
Doubt you can get manure onto the base....
Good Luck...we tried to 'green' it up. Just to hot.
I was there when they were building the hard barracks....but we lived in the tents
Stay safe and keep 'em flyin!

This is a pretty good look at the soil conditions Heater is living with:



oh yippy:

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Jack Daw

Do you use Union Jack? What variant is that. As to the advices, I too would be careful about suddent winds. It can tear plants apart, and I'm not even talking about duststorms, that you might get there, just regular wind storms.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



Zeitgeist - Corporatocracy 101 (~2hrs)

Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (~2.5hrs)

Nicolas Naranja

I dont know how different Oman is from Quatar, but they do grow bananas commercially in Oman

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Heater

I don't know the variety. Here's a pic.

Heater

Scott absolutely NAILED it with the pics of the "dirt" and "soil" conditions I am dealing with. There simply is not dirt or soil that is available unless I buy it at the Wal-Mart equivalent (which I did).

Many of the things advised are typical for Stateside and normal weather/soil, but this is extreme in the summer. When I say I needed a pick to dig with I am not kidding. It is very, very hard and compacted rocks.

I have them positioned where they will each get about half a day of sunlight. I am not sure that's a good thing during the summer...the temps are so extreme. They will need a lot of water and I am able to do that. I will look for a Miracle-Grow type of food for it.

I have them close to a building so they should be relatively shielded from the winds.

As for the heat, we are headed into winter and the temps should be in the 80s and 90s until spring. By then, they should be very well established and able to take on the stresses of the extreme heat (I hope).

Thank you all for your help. Any others?

Jack Daw

Manure and proper mulch retain lots of water, it should make your problems go away. When it is 30+C here, mulch keeps the moisture within the soil very well, the soil is moist even after many days without irrigation. But I have no experience with the kind of climate you're growing it in. But you can't do better than mulching and manure.

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Thnx to Marcel, Ante, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar and Francesco for the plants I've received.



Zeitgeist - Corporatocracy 101 (~2hrs)

Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (~2.5hrs)

Scott

Heater will have a rough time getting manure....remember....Oklahoma City 1995 _______ (7 letters)..Don't want to use that word....Truck full of nitrates/manure.
And to get a 'local' to bring some in may get that 'local' arrested.
There is NO green where Heater is at. And sand storms will keep you inventing new protection. In fact, making a little tent for shade and wind shelter may help.
Good Luck Heater!! Thank you for serving in the pit bro.

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Heater

Here's a shot of the soil/dirt I am dealing with. The hole is a little bigger than this but this took an hour to dig/pick.

Nicolas Naranja

It almost looks like typical Homestead, FL soil.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Magilla Gorilla

Good luck with the plants. Thank you very much for all you do!!!!!

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Andrew

Velutina

Any updates? I'm always looking for desert success stories.

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Adam

Heater

The update is that the naysayers are correct. The sun just beat the poor plants down. I think they can handle the heat alright -- given extra amounts of water to gulp down. But the sun is so intense it was just frying the new leaves as they shot out.

So I bought pots and I have moved them inside for the summer. I sit them outside for an hour a day in the early morning -- it's still in the 90's -- to keep the sun from destroying them but still getting them some sun.

They are doing well in their pots so far. I will leave in mid-September and go back to the States for good -- but I will plant them back in the ground before I leave and have someone care for them. Hopefully, they will.

Scott

Glad you're coming home.
Think about your plantations you'll be growing by next year! That Qatar rock is just to tough to grow anything in. Good to have the pots and some good soil.
Good luck out there!!
Safe travels home in September!!!!!

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