OllieB497

I understand That people may not care about this stuff. But it’s a place to log stuff plus maybe help someone with some similar issues.
So, my bananas were suffering. I fertilised and it looked like over fertilising. However, weeks passing. It shows they have all the NPK they need. It’s the micronutrients that I’m lacking. Mostly, boron, calcium and maybe iron. The symptoms are bad on some and okay ish on others. I used all the same soil form my garden Centre fro all my bananas. So it must of been lacking in certain aspects. However, I’m do a trial. I’m using organic methods of treatment on some and inorganic on others. To see which does better and which recovers. This is stuff off Amazon etc. So a little experiment if organic methods can treat micro deficiency’s better than inorganic. All my banana have clear symptoms, so let’s see what happens, I’ll update this with photos soon.
Never underestimate how hungry banana plants are!

Akula

Ollie, documenting the benefits of organic vs. chemical fertilizers should be interesting and a worthy pursuit however your conclusion based on your problem is most likely not correct because overfertilization with N leads to fast growth which leads to deficiencies in calcium and boron and other micronutrients. The plant is not capable of picking up the calcium and boron present in the soil due to the fast growth. The issue can be compounded by less than optimal ph level of the soil. The problem presents itself commonly as damaged leaves. This is rarely due to lack of micronutrients in the soil although possible. There are numerous threads on the .org over the years addressing this problem.

OllieB497

Hi,
I have a soil test and will have the results soon. So ill be able to comment on the NPK value of my soil. This will be done by the RHs. So should be accurate. The ph of the soil will also be adress. However, my soil from my test ranges from 6-7. That’s from taking my soil. Wetting it with distilled water and adding vinegar and bicarbonate soda. To see what reacts. This is samples from the same area but 2 different experiments. But the RHs will be more precise. It’s just to give me an idea. I also have a soil ph meter. Which is saying similar but I don’t fully trust it. Well, my bananas have clear boron deficiency. Leaves are white/lacking green pigment. Growth of leaves is irregular e.g, growing more leave on one side. This is happening to my Siam ruby which is in a pot and I’ve only fertilised with organic 7-5-7. I did this Cuase I didn’t wanna risk it turning green. I followed the instructions plus it’s orgnaicn. And I didn’t add anything else at all. I wouldn’t consider it a high NPK value also. So this in my eyes adds evidence ot
My claim . As it’s not even with the other bananas abs is still suffering.
Also, boron is used up by bananas wuicky, it’s a really important micronutrients. Realistically , I didn’t have the space to space them
Out properly so I probs put them all a bit too close together abs they are all competing for it. Plus before I added this border/polytunnel. This area was under a trampoline so it was really poor soils as it never got rain/ the trampoline was there for years. It was clay dense. I couldn’t barely cultivate it all thag time ago.
But I get over fertilising is a issue. However, I’m organic. It’s all granular so takes a bit to break down anyways. It feeds the soil not the plants. Reducing the risk greatly of over fertilising. That’s why I chose organic. Cause non organic I wouldn’t probs kill them. But I also researched fertilising burn on bananas and none of them are showing any burn at all.
I understand what you mean, but I feel like the situation I’m in now. Presents more of a deficiency. Once the soil test is done. I’ll have more concrete proof of what’s happening.
But, just incase. This is an experiment on my end. So if people did follow this thread, then please ask other on advice don’t follow this thread. Don’t wanna kill ur bananas. I’m taking risks and trying to do experiment as I’m
Generally interested
Cheers

Akula

Sounds good. Good luck!

OllieB497

Thanks sorry I wrote that on my phone. So there’s lots of typos. But you get the gist of it.
I’ll do an update next weekend.

Have a good weekend

OllieB497

Hi,
So an update. A lot has happened in a week,
To keep it sort-ish and sweet this is the run down.
Organic
So I used the organic stuff for 90% of my bananas. The Orinoco has taken a shine to it. It’s back to full health, the new leaf looks completely fine. No stripes at all. The manzano is the same apart from, the new leaves are now yellow. Shows a lack of sulphur. But looks okay to how it did. The namwah, is still the same looks bad. Gros Michel has recovered. Musa Siam ruby has done okay. Not the best. But it’s in a pot. Still had signs of deficiency

Inorganic
St. Helens also recovered. Need further treatment,

It’s coming up to
Fertiliser time again so my plan is to add orgnainc 8-5-5 to all bananas. No mixing. This is a base line then add ammonia of sulphur to
Add the sulphur. The add coffee grounds and some ash from my wood fire place.
I’ll be also
Digging out my gros Michel and getting it ready yo
Come inside in October. Then yeah.