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Water is the most important factor a grower can control that affects how quickly a banana plant grows. And it's not as simple as irrigation or watering more often.

Speed is directly linked to root pressure or water uptake. Most members have noticed growth spurts after heavy rains, especially if they use top mulch.

Top Mulch

A top mulch that holds a significant amount of moisture is very desirable.

A good top mulch will provide more nutrients than the banana will ever need, making fertilizing completely unnecessary.

My top mulch of choice has always been grass clippings, it's easy to collect and grows back faster than I use it. After getting a horse to help control some of grass and weeds I started using Horse Nuggets as a top mulch to see how it compared to the grass clippings. There wasn't any improvement and it was quite obvious it was because the nuggets would dry out too quickly.

I had forgotten to cover a large container of Horse Nuggets and after several days of heavy rains my nuggets turned into a slurry and it was applied in that manner. The first thing I noticed was that the undigested grass fibers held the mass together as it contracted and expanded based on the amount of moisture it was holding. It behaved like a huge sponge that quickly absorbed any water poured on it making it an ideal top mulch.

The test group grew at a much faster pace than the bananas using grass clippings as top mulch so there had to be a significant increase in root pressure. After examining a core sample of this new top mulch it was loaded with feeding roots, apparently it was a near perfect environment for the roots to thrive.

Maximizing healthy feeding roots increases water uptake and because water transports the nutrients, the more water the more nutrients. All this leads to a faster growing banana without the need for any fertilizer.

This will be helpful to growers in the northern US who plant in the Spring and harvest in the Fall.

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Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Thanks for sharing that info. I have used a mix of grass clippings and straw but not with a manure slurry. I will try it. When the circus used to come through here every spring I would drop off a trailer with a ramp for the elephant keepers (and a case of beer) and they would fill the entire trailer piled high with elephant manure. It lasted all year. I have not used horse manure before because everyone says it is full of weed seeds. Does the water soak kill the seeds?

all43

Interesting mate and very nice variegated plants, any tips to get the plants to do their thing in our short sessions is gratefully received!

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For members with short sessions, time is even more important. Understanding that growth speed increases as water uptake increases means focusing on water uptake and learning how to improve uptake should be paramount.

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beam2050

my place runs really really dry. and the droughts we have been getting [just went thru a doozy] have been killing me.

one thing i have been doing for few years now is i have been digging large holes and been burning the equivalent of a very large tree or better. when i am done burning i use the ash to create a large bowl of ash under where i am going to plant my banana, about 3 to 4 inches thick. but before i plant i fill the area with leaves then some of the soil, enough so when i put in the compost and cow manure the ground will be level. the ash holds moisture above it.

some bananas are not impressed. but some love it. the praying hands loves it among others.

i have done over 36 holes and doing one right now.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Do you also end up with some charcoal in that final burn? I have been wanting to try making charcoal as it can do wonders for soil. I did not realize that the ash would hold moisture like that.

beam2050

i get a bit of charcoal thru all of it. if when your fire is getting to all coals use water to put it out, charcoal.

i am going to start a new hole next to big pine tree stump. i probably will not be able to burn up the whole stump but what will be left is a good amount of charcoal. and then what is not charcoal should start rotting quickly, that should be pretty good too.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5