nickmccann

Im taking a survey on what others use for fertilizer (granular/soluble or home made)…...given the fact that bananas are heavy feeders lets see some suggestions and compare...thanks Nick

pitangadiego

15-15-15 when plants are actively growing.

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matt18e

I use Miracle Gro tomato plant food (18-18-21). I mix the powder in a 1 gallon milk carton with water and water the bananas with it once a week. I've also done hydroponics which is a whole other monster that resulted in some serious growth. I contributed to the hydroponics post on this a few years ago. I'm going to try it again here soon.

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momoese

Manure, fish carcasses (dug in around the mats), So-Pul-Mag, organic fert like EB Stone or similar, sometimes liquid seaweed, fish emulsion, rock dust, worm castings.

I like to build the soil microbes.

pjkfarm

BIG issue with manufactured chemical fertilizers is "How much is enough"? Nice thing about compost and such if allowed to age (no fresh horse manure type thing) is that one cannot really "over" compost (though pure compost does hold a lot of water, so drainage can be an issue). But with chemical fertilizers one can kill a plant if too much used.
Too little and you lose the growth potential, too much and you can kill it. Hitting the happy balance is not easy, especially with all the variables - size of plan t (which keeps getting larger so more needed, but how much more :-), soil conditions, leaching, etc.
Experience seems to be the best quide, but takes time, so back to how much is enough for the chemical (manufactured) approach.

nickmccann

I use 15-5-30 because phosphorous isn't that important with nanas , the nitrogen and especially potassium are the ones that really matter,,,,,for the record, the University of Florida, who sponsor the Master Gardener programs recommends 6-2-12

bushwack

Heard or read somewhere , a 2-1-4 ratio is the ticket

Art_R

Every month I give each plant two cups of the following mixture: 1 part (by volume) urea and 3 parts Muriate of Potash. I supplement with water soluble Miracle Gro for the other nutrients.

edwmax

That is true for large scale cost conscience banana plantations. But for banana hobby growers the price of the 50 lb bag and what is readily available for use is more the controlling factor. The extra elements are not used by the plant. Thus not a big expenditure loss for us as it would be for a larger banana plantation. ... So the 2-1-4 ratio is nothing special but simply the economical sweet spot of very large orders of fertilizer for banana plantations.



I use 10-10-10 ($15 for 50 lb) and supplement potassium with Sulfate of Potash (SOP) or Murate of Potash (MOP) applied to the ground in the spring. Later in the season I start foliar spraying a custom mix of nitrogen & potassium. These are easily obtained locally at an economical cost

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crazy banana

Fruit Fuel (16-8-24) all the way. I put way too much time and effort in growing my banana plants and want a decent harvest.

edwmax

I'm not knocking your product which is in the 2-1-3 NPK ratio with proper micro nutrients. It is a great all-in-one bag fertilizer with the micro needed by the banana plant. ... I've come to the conclusion for our grow zones & short grow season the amount of fertilizer needed is double the normal recommended amount of 1 lb of nitrogen & 1 1/2 lb of potassium.



I fertilized my nana patches this past year (80-100 plants) for less than $50 and produced 20 plus bunches. About 8 of those were harvested while the others came on too late in the year and 4 or 5 bunches died from the drought. I had more bananas than I could eat.

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Akula

Urea, potassium sulfate, and grass clippings. I get big plants and big bunches in my marginal zone.