gaudesys

My Bananas got taken over by grass, which I mow, but one guy says I should remove all grass. If I remove the grass or dig it up and over, I wil damage a lot of banana roots. Will bananas fruit growing in grass?

edwmax

If you can if you keep the Cops out. Hehehe


I mow the grass around my banana patches every couple of weeks. I'd rather have the grass than the weeds or briers.

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Akula

I remove St. Augustine that grows into my patch during the winter when I unwrap my plants. Just finished the job this past week. During the season its not really a problem due to mulching with grass clipppings and shading from the umbrella canopy. I do it for aesthetics and to reduce competiton for nutrients. I use a four tine garden rake and usually hit a few roots near the surface but its not a big deal.

Jeff zone 8 N.C.

The banana will do ok, but not to it's potential, with the grass. Grass robs a ton of nutrients, air and water from the roots of the banana plant. I would mow it and then cover with a mulch. Cardboard, laid over the mowed grass will suppress the grass and probably eventually kill it and not damage the banana roots. Maybe put a bark or straw (not hay/it has grass seed in it) mulch over the cardboard for a better look and to help the cardboard break down faster over time. If using smaller pieces of cardboard overlap them a lot, if the grass is a running type as the grass will try to find every crack in the cardboard to grow through.

gaudesys

Thank you! Will do that with cardboard and mulch. Do you by chance know of some kind of "grassy plants" that are best to plant around bananas, which will not compete with bananas and protect the soil from weeds plus keep the soil moist?

cincinnana

In the backyard garden your plants will be shallow rooted......so most plants you choose will compete.

You may also spray your banana circumference with grass killer and then immediately lay a layer of your favorite colored mulch
this will not harm your plants.

We have no issues spraying the grow area of a plant with a roundup type spray.

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twotallgirls

Don't know what type of grass you have but I have St. Augustine that one can easily remove without damaging roots. I pull out any runners by hand and I mulch heavily with cypress mulch. That way I can control the occasional runner / weed. I would think you'd have difficulties fertilizing and would worry about damaging plant if mowing/weed wacking. When I add composted manure I just pull back mulch, add, and then recover. Did I say mulch enough times?

I'm putting in perennial peanut plants this year to test under one of my patches. I used it on a portion of side yard to keep my sandy soil in place (FL summer rains) and it worked great. Its a nitrogen fixer, adaptable, grows fast, blocks weeds, and competes little with established plants. If you are in a warm enough location, you might look into that.

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Blue Java, Raja Puri, Goldfinger FHIA-01, Mona Lisa FHIA-02, Sweetheart FHIA-03, Pitogo, Saba, Dwarf Cavendish, Super Dwarf Cav., Namwa, Brazilian, Mysore, Dwarf Red, and a mystery or two

cincinnana

You will have no issues with a roundup type spray or equivalent in your grow area....
Use good gardening judgement when you overspray..

A person with great spray skills is worth keeping.

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Kimberlibre

I think the easiest thing now would be to put artificial grass so that no one competes and your bananas will grow in a peaceful environment. Especially since there is itsartificialgrass.com, which will help you install artificial grass and tell you how to care for it to be in good condition properly. Even now, until the winter comes, you could install it quietly and not worry about it anymore. After installing this grass, I realized how good this decision was and how it would help me. Especially after installing it, I got more rest.

Janelle525

I use mulch to keep the grass away. Though it does take a lot of mulch so I am hoping to find a nearby arborist trimming trees so I can get a big load of it.

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Super Dwarf Cavendish, Dwarf and Tall Namwah, Goldfinger, Praying Hands, Dwarf Orinoco, Raja Pisang, Manzano.

Valor_X

Glyphosate (Round up) doesn't hurt Bananas at all? Not even the roots?

This is the first time I'm hearing about this...

One of my raised beds is getting taken over by weedy grass.
Even so... is it safe to spray that around the roots of the plant which will eventually give you fruit to eat?

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Varieties I'm Growing

From Corm/Pup
Dwarf Cavendish ○ Super Dwarf Cavendish ○ Grand Nain ○ Niño ○ Manzano ○ Raja Puri ○ Tall Namwah ○ Blue Java ○ 1000 Fingers ○ Praying Hands ○ Orinoco ○ Variegated Florida ○ PR Red ○ California Gold ○ FHIA-03 Sweetheart

Plantains
Puerto Rican Dwarf Plantain ○ African Rhino Horn

From TC
Truly Tiny ○ Manzano ○ "Blue Java" ○ Dwarf Namwah ○ Thai Black ○ Veinte Cohol

DiyaMeadows