PR-Giants

Can a banana plant grow in a container of grass clippings without any soil?
I anaerobically compost my grass clipping and sometimes I use a 32 gallon container. I wondered if a banana would grow in the high moisture environment used in this form of composting.

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sunfish

Try it

Capitum

And if you have more than one potted banana, try adding nitrogen to one. IIRC, green compost sucks nitrogen, so you may have to augment it.

A better option may be to mix half green material (lawn clippings) and half brown (dry leaves, etc). May still need to augment the mix. Also, living in PR, use a soil thermometer if you have one- compost piles can reach fairly high temperatures, so make sure you don't cook your corm... it probably depends on how big your pot is, how you water it, and what your air temperatures are.

PR-Giants

I would think there is more than enough nitrogen, most of my plants have 12 to 20 foot P-stems and I only use green grass to feed them.
As far as high temps, that is not a concern. At most it is slightly above ambient temperature.
The point of this thread is to make you and others aware of this method. I have been using it with great success for 15 years, so it would be fair to say I think this is the better option for feeding and watering banana plants.

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I never had my topsoil tested and do not have any expectations that it would be considered high quality.

This is a photo of two small pieces of my topsoil taken from different locations.

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PR-Giants

The following photos are the bottom 10 inches of a pot that contained an ARH.

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PR-Giants

I originally did this experiment in the late 1990's to see the effects of using grass as the main source of nutrition. I recently did it again for the sole purpose of taking photos of the roots.

Anaerobic Composting takes much more time to fully compost and without the high temps of Aerobic Composting. There is no need to wait for it to be fully composted, the banana plant will feed on it while it is composting. More importantly this form of composting retains a high moisture level. which will provide plants with a constant supply of water.

In the late 1990's I planted two groups of ARH's, one supplied with grass and the other with chemical fertilizers. The group using the grass had larger plants, higher yields and flowered sooner. Although it was easier and quicker to use fertilizer than filling a hole with grass.
I attributed most of the success to the constant supply of water provided by the clippings and firmly believe the proper amount of water is more important than the proper amount of fertilizer. A plant with a steady source of water has the ability to send the roots out further in search of nutrients. The grass is basically acting as an inground sponge holding the water for the plant.

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Snookie

This is a photo of two small pieces of my topsoil taken from different locations.

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SON of a Biscuit Eater I'd hate to see what rocks/boulders in your area look like Sheit.....

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George Webster

I would like to understand how you go about this? I am thinking roots need oxygen, anarobic composting is a no oxygen envirement?

I like the idea of depending on compost for most/all nutrients needed. I mostly have oak leaves that have been chopped with some ground green woody material. I am doing good with tomatoes and other vegies.

PR-Giants

This is only my opinion and is based on my observation, and I would also like to understand more.
I might be alone on this theory, but believe it can be supported by other posts if you connect the dots.
You can read in the Org how sometimes someone has tossed a corm in a compost pile and it grew.
If it is growing, the roots are probably still connected to the corm and the person stopped turning the pile.
You should also be able to assume it is an active pile, if a viable corm was tossed in for composting.
Knowing that a properly aerated aerobic pile can reach high temperatures and if not turned will go anaerobic with much lower temperatures.
I can't say for certain but I assume the lower temperatures are better suited for the roots to grow in.

I think most of the confusion is in part to how some people define anaerobic bacteria as being "no oxygen" instead of "with little or no oxygen".

Here is some information that might be helpful.

"Anaerobic bacteria, or anaerobes, are bacteria that do not need oxygen to live."

"There are three categories of anaerobic bacteria: obligate, aerotolerant, and facultative. Obligate anaerobes need an oxygen-free environment to live. They cannot grow in places with oxygen, which can sometimes damage and destroy them. Aerotolerant bacteria do not use oxygen to live, but can exist in its presence. Facultative anaerobes use fermentation to grow in places without oxygen, but use aerobic respiration in places with oxygen."

What Is Anaerobic Bacteria?

Anaerobic organism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


"Composting without oxygen results in fermentation."

"There is enough heat energy liberated in the process to raise the temperature of the putrefying material. In the anaerobic dissolution of the glucose molecule, only about 26 kcal of potential energy per gram of glucose molecules is released compared to 484 to 674 kcal for aerobic decomposition."

"Anaerobic composting may be accomplished in large, well packed stacks or other composting systems. These should contain 40% to 75% moisture, into which little oxygen can penetrate, or 80% to 99% moisture so that the organic material is a suspension in the liquid."

"Both aerobic and anaerobic composting require bacteria. Some bacteria work better in one or the other environment. Compost piles under aerobic conditions may attain a temperature of 140° to 160° F in one to five days depending upon the material and the condition of the composting operation. This temperature can also be maintained for several days before further aeration is needed. The heat necessary to produce and maintain this temperature must come from aerobic decomposition, which requires oxygen. After a period of time, the material will become anaerobic unless it is aerated. There is probably a period between the times when the oxygen is depleted and anaerobic conditions become evident, during which the process is aerobic."

Compost Fundamentals Biology & Chemistry - Anaerobic Fermentation

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