Bananas.org - Need to fertilize

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Need to fertilize

I am a first time banana grower in southern WI (zone 5). I am still (not so patiently) waiting to plant my two pups I ordered outside....they are doing quite well, and as soon as a new leaf unrolls, a new one is starting to pop up, so I imagine they're happy, despite some brownish/drying on some of the lower leaves. Probably from being inside. I am putting them outside on nice days for some sunlight, preparing them for when I can put them in the ground, and keep them by a window. Needs to be a west-facing window...to keep my cats from chewing on them.

Anyway...I'll most likely need a banana-suitable fertilizer for them, and am wondering if anyone can suggest what to use, and if I can order online? I'm not sure if I'll find anything locally in stores. Should I wait to fertilize till I get them in the ground (hopefully in another week or two)? I want to do right by these guys, I can't wait to watch them grow!

Thank you!
Angie

Re: Need to fertilize

I should add that we do have horses, and I do have some composted horse manure here....I could mix in with the soil. When I plant things, I typically use a miracle grow potting mix to mix into the soil, so I should ask...is composted horse manure suitable, and is using the miracle grow potting soil and horse manure mixed too much? Should I just go with regular dirt? I have all the manure I care to need here...but if they require something special, I'm willing to get it!

Thanks!
Angie

Re: Need to fertilize

Composted horse manure and regular dirt is plenty good for in-ground plants.

Info:Fertilizer - Bananas Wiki

Re: Need to fertilize

I've used composted horse manure in potting mix, for ages. I use something like a third each of composted manure, peat moss, and perlite. I usually add a little fertilizer because, while the manure is rich in organic matter, it is relatively low in nutritional value. (The composted cow manure that they have in stores has an NPK value of just 1-1-1 to 5-5-5.) I adjust the pH for whatever I'm planting. I also add some moisture retaining crystals, and a wetting agent, like Aqua-Gro.

Re: Need to fertilize

seeing perlite mentioned so often lately, I definitely think I need to learn what this stuff is! Thanks!

Re: Need to fertilize

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailGaiter (Post 161934)

Try chicken manure, it has been referred to as the rocket fuel of fertilizers and it does not kill the microbes in the soil like regular bagged fertilizer. As for pH, frankly, I have not bothered with it since I got a pH testing kit when I was 14 or 15.

In the exceedingly poor soil of the Florida Keys, I had bananas next to Barbados cherries, next to star fruit, next to mangoes, ferns, Key Limes and so forth. All got the same treatment, chicken manure and kitchen scraps. Not a disease to be found and nary a hostile insect in the lot of them. I left the caterpillars on the Key Lime because they become butterflies and their bite injects a little tannic acid into the plant, which helps with its health.
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