Tytaylor77

I get my fertilizer in bulk at my local feed store. 50lb bags of urea is about $12. Other nitrogen is a little more. If you use urea water it in good so you don't loose a lot to gas. Potassium 50lb bags are about $15 called mutate of potash. Be careful if you have clay I hear it hardens the soil. Does great in my sand. If you don't have sand I would use the more expensive sulfate of potash. Go very easy then put more it's so easy to overfertalize with these strong %s.

I never ever use fertilizer on plants younger than 4' or so. Depending on the variety. I only give them manure and compost.

That's what I do. I have a lot of plants in the ground and don't believe expensive products or methods are nessarry. And I think I have been very successful for my zone.

Good luck.

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Starstryke

I have started using Stokes Tropical time release banana fertilizer on my bananas. Hasn't hurt anything so far but we will see when the weather warms up a bit.

Caline

I use Stokes slow release also. In addition I put BlackKow composted manure and Florimulch on my sandy island soil.

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aruzinsky

"Chemical" and "natural" are not mutually exclusive. You can buy potassium nitrate that is mined and, as such, it is a natural chemical.

aruzinsky

I could tell you how to make it but it involves a lot of algebra. The individual components can be bought at a reasonable price here:

https://hydro-gardens.com/product-category/fertilizers/

But, you should worry more about macro (Ca, S, Mg) and minor (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo) elements than the exact N-P-K. When you consider the work that it takes to add macro and minor elements, you are better off buying a complete mix such as this one:

https://hydro-gardens.com/product/ho...s-bag-10-8-22/

I have used an older version of this (the formula has changed) for years with excellent results.

Another fertilizer that is very good is this:

Peters Excel 15-5-15 Cal-Mag Fertilizer, 25# Bag - Water Soluble Fertilizers | Greenhouse Megastore

My cannas. which are musa relatives, have grown better with this fertilizer than any other fertilizer that I have tried.

Usually the price per pound of fertilizer goes way up for smaller quantities but a small quantity of this fertilizer is relatively cheap:

Dyna Gro Foliage Pro 9-3-6 8oz Fertilizer Plant Food Nutrients | eBay

Again, this is a very good fertilizer with complete macro and minor elements but larger quantities have a higher price per pound than the other aforementioned fertilizers.

RoundRockMan

This morning I went to our local Feed & Supply Store and talked with the fertilizer expert there. He suggested to use 50# of 18-10-5 and add 30# of 0-0-60. This would give me a ratio of 6-3-12. He had a good time and enjoyed figuring this out for me. He was really helpful. Maybe this will help someone else out.

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aruzinsky

No, that would give you 11.25-6.25-25.625.

N = 50/(50+30) * 18 = 11.25

P = 50/(50+30) * 10 = 6.25

K = 50/(50+30) * 5 + 30/(50+30) * 60 = 25.625

RoundRockMan

Then what combination I would need starting with the base of 18-10-5? With adding 0-0-60?

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edwmax

One mature Banana plant needs 1 lb of nitrogen and 1.5 lb potassium total for the year. This to be applied during the growing season. The mature plant needs very little to no phosphorus (P).

Using 18-10-5:

Nitrogen = 1 lb /.18 = 5.56 lbs for the growing season. Divide this by the number of applications.

Potassium: The same 5.56 lbs of 18-10-5 will supply (5.56 X .05) .225 lbs of potassium. You need additional potassium from the 0-0-60 (potassium sulphate ?). !.5 lbs - ,225 lbs = 1.28 lbs potassium needed; 1.28 lbs / .60 = 2.13 lbs of the 0-0-60 total for the growing season.

So the total 18-10-5 for the growing season is 5.6 lbs; and 2.2 lbs of 0-0-60 (** rounding up this small amount will not hurt)

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aruzinsky

You can't get 6-3-12 or the OP's 6-2-12 with just those two ingredients because the ratio N/P = 18/10 = 1.8 is fixed whereas you want N/P = 6/3 = 2.0 and the OP wants N/P = 6/2 = 3.

But suppose you also add urea 46-0-0 as follows:

2.67% (46-0-0)
61.47% (18-10-5)
35.86% (0-0-60)

That combination would be 12.3 - 6.15 - 24.6 which is in the ratios, 2:1:4 that you want, although more concentrated.

aruzinsky

On further thought, I have come to the conclusion that your feed store employee's recommendation is practically close enough. I apologize for my previous unnecessary comments.

Tytaylor77

11.25-6.25-25.625

This is fine. It doesn't have to be exact. You will loose some due to gas loss and other ways so don't overthink it. Also consider how much compost and other organic matter you are feeding them. They are also getting some from your natural soil.

Don't let it stress you out and always start slow and build up so you don't burn the plants. Especially when small.

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Tytaylor77

Sorry didn't see this. Thanks for your posts though.

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150+ Varieties!!. See profile for list. Help me add more!

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sputinc7

That comes out very close to the ratio he was going for. Fertilizing bananas isn't rocket science. Getting that close will do fine. You just use half as much as the 6.3.12 he was going for.

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https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.