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Backyard Frost Protection « Papaya Tree Nursery


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Dalmatiansoap

Hmmm, this gives me a few ideas...
good info

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Richard

In mid-October I fed all my outdoor perennials 5-10-40 so they could spend the winter making enzymes in their roots.

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sunfish

Cool

DoctorSteve

I know I am little late to this one but I heard somewhere that some root crops are sweeter if you wait to harvest them as the months cool down. They get sweeter to prepare for winter because the sugar they produce helps prevent freezing damage. I was wondering if there may be something to help bananas produce or store more sugar to help in winter. Does anyone know?

Richard

Potash. In the year leading up to fruit-set, you want to supply them with net 1.5 pounds of potash. If the plants are small at the beginning of this period, then you need to start with a small dosage and "ramp up" as the plants (particularly the corm) gains size to obtain the total for the year.

The quantity of a fertilizer needed to obtain "net 1.5 pounds" can be computed by dividing 1.5 lbs by the listed percentage of fertilizer. For example, sulfate of potash contains 50% potash by weight, so 1.5/50% is 3 lbs. If you are using a complete fertilizer such as 20-5-30, then 1.5/30% is 5 lbs.

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Nicolas Naranja

I have recently been reading research on silicon and my thoughts were that since most of the cold damage is from cellular rupture anything that you could do to make the cell walls stronger would be beneficial. The potash makes the water more difficult to freeze, but in theory calcium and silicon would make it harder for a cell to rupture.

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Richard

I should clarify that my response here is with regard to the production of sweeter, better quality fruit and plant structure, not to winter hardiness per-say.

Many bi-annuals and perennials engage in natural processes of factory-like production and storage in the roots during cool and cold weather. The production of sugars, glutens, and carbohydrates in general is driven by the availability of potash in proportion to other minerals. When warmer weather comes and if the roots (or corm, or bulb) survived, the reserves will be utilized for a variety of purposes depending on the plant. A caution here is that there are limits to the amount of potash a plant can uptake: to much potash will lead to potassium phytotoxicity.

During the cooler and cold weather, the external portions of the plant above-ground are essentially static and bear the impact of weather with little or no input from the roots. Nicolas makes the excellent point that for some crops the introduction of certain silicate compounds during warmer months can help the plant build more robust external structures. There are some cautions to observe: Silicates (esp. potassium silicate) need to be used in moderation because too much can kill the plant; also observe that while silicates can help build more robust structure this can also have a negative impact on fruit quality and taste.

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sunfish

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Dalmatiansoap

Right on time Tony

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Snookie

QUESTION????

Am I the only one getting a headache trying to follow the math involved in these fertilization ratios? lol

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sunfish