jengberg

Has anybody else noticed that the slow release fertilizers only reference the nitrogen being time released. This would mean that the nitrogen would still be feeding the plant after a month or so, while the potassium would be gone. I could be mistaken, but I thought the ratio of the 2 was fairly important. It would seem that this ratio would change substantially over time. I am looking at making my own fertilizer with urea and muriate of potash to use with my current fertilizer. I will be using a ration of 1 part nitrogen to 1.5 parts potassium. I am just concerned that ratio will change over time with only nitrogen being time released. I don't want to make my own mixture if I don't fully understand. Any thoughts on this?

Island Brah

Hi jengberg,

Are you applying the fertilizer to a banana plant in a pot or in the ground? If it's in the ground, don't use slow release fertilizer and fertilize more often if you're concerned about this. If it's in a pot, fast/normal release could cause issues and is the reason why some folks use a small amount of a balanced slow release fertilizer. You don't need to fertilize in a pot if you have a good long term potting mix.

I make my own fertilizer mix and I've learned to just stick to the basics and keep it simple is the way to go in my banana patches. You'll learn to tweak the schedule/application depending on the cultivar/variety.

Hope this helps!

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Growing: Basjoo, Blue Java (The Real One), FHIA-01 American Goldfinger, Manzano, Tall Orinoco, Raja Puri (USDA TARS), Veinte Cohol (USDA TARS), Patupi, & SH-3640 High Noon (USDA TARS)