Alastria

Wow! Thanks for the pictures, they're helpful. I was thinking, since it's a bit overwhelming to think about doing the whole area at once, that I'll start off with just the soil around the plants. I read somewhere to do 3 feet around each plant. Then over time I'll connect them all together until the whole area is done. I've been jokingly calling it my banana forest but I guess that's basically what I'm going to be making. And to think before I joined this forum, all I wanted was three banana plants - one yellow (dwarf cavendish), one red (dwarf red), one blue (ice cream). I just wanted a few pretty colors, and now I have a bananasplosion in the works. This forum is full of enablers.

The post you linked to was interesting, too. Shrimp shells for free from a local shrimp processing plant, I never would've thought of something like that. I read that aquarium water makes good fertilizer, and I did love having fish when I was younger. So getting a freshwater tank set up is on my list of things to do, along with getting a compost bin. I've seen plenty of ads for free wood chips locally. Do you buy the leaves and horse manure? Or are you able to get them for free somehow, too? I wish I could use parakeet manure. My 11 featherbutts are poop machines.

Rmplmnz

You are most welcome! Yep start small, your soil is very compacted…..so when you plant it helps to loosen the soil as wide as you have the energy…not crazy deep…a foot or two. The first couple of years I moved an insane amount of dirt. Where are you located? Hernando county..you are close. You have an invite to come over and pick up some plants.

Yep…all compost is free. In 24 years (the pictures I showed were from the side yard we acquired in 2005) we have never paid a single penny for fertilizer, insecticide or compost/mulch. A local stable used to deliver the horse poo for free (to get rid of it). We also layer down cardboard (after removing all of the plastic tape and labels) newspapers (excluding the glossy paper). The leaves are tough as we have to pick these up. I have picked up so many 100 pound bags of leaves I cannot recall. The City has a 40 pound weight limit; but with oversized bags, rainwater and dirt…some of the bags are well over double the weight limit.

I could show you some pictures of Sabas 25 feet high and 5 feet in circumference that grew where the shrimp shells were placed. But…I do not want to highjack your thread and go off topic (You can do that not me) . You lay newspapers down in the bird cages?? Compost!

Good luck!

Alastria

I'm gonna solve this by taking it to PM.

Alastria

I thought I'd give you guys an update. I got the last of my 12 plants in the mail yesterday and got them all in the ground. I've started digging up the grass and connecting the dots with mulch, but I still have a long way to go. And no, I haven't washed the fence yet. I'll get there, lol.

Here's the view from my living room window:


And again with everything labeled:

JP

Nice!

hydroid

That's gonna be nice when they start getting lush and full. You won't even know there's a house behind you. It should also dampen some of the noise from that direction. Good job!

HMelendez

Congrats for your collection!



Nice job!...looking good!.....

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sunnyface1947@gmail.com

I've heard that banana trees need support. My sis said to plant mine so I could use the fence as support. Unfortunately, I do not know the variety.

merce3

I would not plant against a wooden fence... the mat will grow and destroy it in no time.

Alastria: any updated pictures?

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Alastria

If a fruiting plant needs support, you can make a brace out of pvc pipes or something. I wouldn't want to use a fence as support, personally. I'd be afraid the weight would damage it.

My schedule is crazy this week but I'll try to get some pictures this weekend.