leasmom

I got my first banana tree, a Super Dwarf Cavendish the other day and I needed to ask how often do you water and whats the best organic fertilizer or technique to use? I don't have the best windows facing south so I had it under a lamp and then yesterday I put it in a window and it just sprung up. I need a basic guide to growing bananas. THanks.

Abnshrek

Sprung up is a good thing. :^) really watch your watering till it really heats up. As it gets warmer you water it more. Like 70F I water every 5-7 days, when its 90 or better I water every day.

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sbl

Watering depends on temp and growth rate. Bananas like moist soil when they are growing, but not wet feet. In winter, if your house is too cold for active growth (bananas do not grow below 60) keep them almost dry.

As for fertilizer, bananas like a rich organic soil or media, but it makes little difference if the fertilizer comes from organic sources or mineral sources, the banana plant (and all other plants) only take up fertilizer in the same chemical form. You can often supply N or P in sufficient quantities as an organic material, especially outdoors, but it is difficult to supply sufficient K from an organic source. It is difficult to supply sufficient quantities of N or K in a container since you are depending on the rotting of the organic material to turn into the chemical form that the plant can take up and you have very little space to provide that organic material.

Banana fuel is a fertilizer designed for bananas and has a NPK ratio of 3-1-6. Check out the WIKI link at the top of the page to learn more about bananas.

Bob

Agreed that the bananas dont " care" where the ferilizer comes from. I use organic method as do some of the members here. The espoma citrus and avocado has worked well for me ( not the perfect ratio but close enough for comfort) and I amend my soil with home made compost, and seaweed as well, not to mention the slow release rock phosphate, lime and greensand I use to amend the soil every several years. Sounds like whatever you're doing is right since it sprung up. wait till the warm weather hits and see how it does then That's when your plants will use and need it most.

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leasmom

I've got a mixture called Rabbit Hill Something Special and the main two ingredients is Rabbit manure and Worm casings along with other ingredients. Thanks any tips I can get will only help me. I just started and I'm already addicted!!!

Richard

Rabbit manure and worm castings are good for your plants, but the real question is what percentages of Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash (N-P-K) are in the products you obtained. The worm castings has negligible, so the Rabbit Hill package is the one to look at. There should be 3 numbers in large print separated by hyphens on the bag. What are they?

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sbl

A full size banana will need a full pound of N and a pound and a half of K in a yr--your SDS will not need that much, but just to show you how much typical organic fertilizer that is, if the N-P-K ratio is a typical number like 3-1-1, you would need 33 pounds just to supply the N, 6 pounds to supply the P and a whopping 150 pounds to supply the K.

With banana fuel, you would need just 5 to 6 pounds per yr. Your SDS would need just 2-3 pounds, even the if it were in ground.

Another thing you should understand, is that in a container, you should fertilize more acording to the size of the container than the size of the plant.

The danger of chemical fertilizer is that you can "burn" the plant--put more fertilizer on than the plant can tolerate. That cannot happen with organic fertilizers, but as you can see, it takes a lot more. The really safe way for beginners to use fertilizer is to use water soluble fertilizers that you mix with water (according to directions) and use for watering.

leasmom

Richard its 2-1-1...

sbl

You will have a hard time meeting the fertilizer needs of your banana with that. You can use it as a supplement.

leasmom

What would be the best product or mixture to use?

sbl

If you want to order online, there are many fertilizers out there. You can order Banana Fuel which is designed for bananas.

If you just buy a water soluble fertilizer at your local garden store (like Peters) you will probably not find the exact ratio of NPK for bananas, but you want to find one that is high in N (the first number), low in P (the middle number) and high in K (the last number). Mix it with water as directed and water your plant as necessary.

One other option is to buy some slow release fertilizer like Osmocote or Dynamite --I think both have one formulated at 18-6-12. If you use this you only add fertilizer twice a yr--the amount depends on container size. You should be able to find this at your garden center.

leasmom

Thanks. I appreciate it.