JCA433

I am using 6-2-12 fertilizer and the oldest banana plant is already 8 feet tall. I fertilize every two weeks and want to make sure I am using the correct quantity of fertilizer. I read you should use 1 cup for 1 foot, 2cups for 3feet, 3 cups for 5 feet, 4 cups for 7 feet etc. Others recommend only 1.5 to 2 pounds fertilizer per month. That is about the amount I have been using. What is the correct amount?

I do not want to burn the banana plants by over fertilizing. I injured one of my mangoes even though I did not apply much fertilizer. It has recovered and healthy now. Mangoes are very sensitive it seems.

venturabananas

There's no simple answer to your question because there are so many variables that affect the amount of fertilizer that should be applied. If you search around, you can probably find a pretty good estimate of how much of each nutrient a banana mat of a certain size will use, but the other side of the equation is how much is already available in the soil. In my heavy clay soil, what you are using would be way too much fertilizer. In really sandy soil in an area with a lot of rain, it might be too little. Having over fertilized before, I now err on the side of too little. You can always add more, and the only thing that happens when you under fertilize (provided the ratio of nutrients is correct), is the plants grow slower.

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sunfish

Go organic

JCA433

For mature plant I spread the fertilizer in circle about 3.5 to 4 feet from trunk. Four feet is the drip line distance. Is this too close or about right?

venturabananas

That's about right.

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Nicolas Naranja

At 2 lbs per month you will put out 2.9 lbs of K, which is about 3x as much as is necessary. That being said, I have had a bag of fertilizer spill over next to a mat and had no ill effects.

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JCA433

I think you mean for 2lbs 6-2-12 per month the total for the year would be 2.9lbs K? I certainly do not want to use more fertilizer than necessary. According to my calculation only 315 grams of 6-2-12 would be applied each month if only 1 lb K is added each year. There is a wide range of recommended fertilizer amounts to apply each month on internet. I guess it is trial and error. I am only starting with two banana plants and plan to expand to at least 12 mats over time. I am new to growing bananas. Eventually I will master this and be set.

venturabananas

It has been for me. I think if you look around, you can find solid estimates of how much of each nutrient a banana plant actually uses per year. From this, in theory, you should be able to figure out how much should be applied each time you fertilize -- provided you know how much of each nutrient is already present in your soil. That requires you do a soil analysis. And these estimates of nutrient use apply to plants of a certain size and probably differ a bit among cultivars.

My approach is to use lots of mulch and some organic fertilizer. I don't have anything against chemical ferts, except that they tend to provide very short pulses of nutrients, which can result in micronutrient deficiencies. I like the slower release of organics. With lots of mulch and some organic fertilizer, you can be pretty sure your plants are always getting some NPK, even if it is less than they might be able to use.

Guys like Nick and Keith can tell you a lot more about what works for growing commercially. Apparently, Keith doesn't follow any of the rules (I'm exaggerating), but he still gets impressive yields.

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PR-Giants

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of growing bananas slowly, it's simply not cost effective.

Your plants will grow much quicker if go organic.

I mainly use fresh grass cuttings and weeds, it keeps the soil very loose and the roots will grow faster and longer. Your soil will also retain more moisture for a longer period of time. That's enough reasons for me and the fact that the plants have more nutrients then they'll need is just a bonus.

Knowing that banana roots will grow 30 feet long, it seems a little foolish to only fertilize between 3.5 and 4 feet from the plant.

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Nicolas Naranja

If we had a choice we would grow quickly, it's those pesky winter months that get in the way.


My advice to anyone on the sandy coasts of Florida is to add manure. Organic matter is the key to growing bananas in Florida. I have some rocky/marly/sandy soils on part of my home farm and I keep adding organic material to try and save myself from fertilizing.

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RandyGHO

And water. More fertilizer means higher water needs. Don't forget the water.

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PR-Giants

Nick, I'm envious of your soil but not your vista.

Fresh organics enables faster root growth - faster plant growth - earlier harvest.

BTW, I'm comparing my results to other farmers in my neighborhood.

Pesky winters and hot summers can make it difficult, but poor soil management certainly doesn't help.

I have rocky/sandy soil, probably the worst of any member here, and compacted soil is my largest problem, fertilizing doesn't help and adding manure is of little help. Whereas adding freshly chopped organics loosens the soil and gives the bananas more than enough time to fully expand their roots before the soil becomes compacted again.

The fresh organics is the conduit for the roots and nutrients for the plant.

Having good quality roots is the key to growing bananas on my farm and probably everywhere.

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JCA433

This is bit off topic, but my oldest banana plant is over 8 feet tall or 100 inches and the pup is already 5 feet tall. How tall should the banana stem be before allowing pups to grow? I try to keep only one pup per mat. I think I might be allowing pups to grow too early.

The pups seem to grow really fast!

venturabananas

What you're doing with pups is fine. Especially when you are establishing a new mat, you want a big healthy corm, and keeping the pups attached will achieve that. Repeatedly damaging the corm by removing pups only reduces the energy stored in the corm.

Now, there are good reasons why the standard commercial practice is to keep only one follower (pup) per mat, but keep in mind, those plants are generally being grown in the tropics (and so grow actively all year round); and the commercial goal is generally to maximize the finger size and bunch weight, not to maximize total fruit production per mat.

If your plant is in a good spot with full sun on all sides, I wouldn't worry too much about pup pruning until you've got a good vigorous mat with a big fat corm.

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Nicolas Naranja

The follower should be fairly large and ideally would flower shortly after harvestin the mother. Desucker when you harvest, but dont touch a corm that is fruiting or close to fruiting

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sunfish

You can let more than one p-stem flower at a time

Nicolas Naranja

If I walk on top of the dike in my backyard, I've got 25 miles of open water. It's quite beautiful.

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PR-Giants

That view hurts, I lived on Lake Erie, Michigan, and St Clair and when I saw water like that it was time to water ski, too bad you've got gators.

Lakes are OK but don't compare to an ocean, on a nice day the view here goes to the BVI.


It is almost impossible to give the correct advice without knowing the cultivar, but doing nothing is usually safe. If it's a tall cultivar and you wanted to start a separate mat, you probably would be fine to separate and let the next pup be the follower.

In a single planting my follower normally flower 5 to 6 months after harvesting the mother. Which is probably slower than if I had separated it earlier, pups seem to stall a little when left with the mother.

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JCA433

I think I have tall namwah banana or blue java but it is likely namwah. How many suckers should I allow for good fruit production? This plant produces many suckers and often. These mats are less than a year old. The first banana was planted July 28, 2012 and the second October 9, 2012. These bananas were not damaged by frost this winter and have been growing all winter. The lowest temperature here was only 42 F this winter.

I am going to plant FHIA 01 Goldfinger next week.