mcflied

I'm looking for a place that sells organic fertilizer that matches the same n-p-k of the banana fuel that can be found here:
(Wholesale) Grow More Banana Fuel 20-5-30, pallet of 80 25-pound bags

If there is no place that sells it, can someone help to provide a simple recipe how to make?

This should be a sticky item I think -Organic Fertilizer. I have reviewed all the posts in the forum and haven't found a simple recipe using bulk items.

What I am looking for is:

1) What bulk items to buy (name, part, link, etc)
2) The correct mixture of the items to create 20-5-30 (2 cups of x, 4 cups of y, etc)
3) How much/often to use that mixture (2 cups per plant twice a week, etc)

Thanks all in advance for your help!

crazy banana

If it only would be that easy....
The Wiki about fertilizer gives you a good idea on how to mix your own custom fertilizers. Important: it goes by weight and not by volume!
I also think that it is not only important to have the right N-P-K percentage, I am a strong believer in micronutrients as well.

PR-Giants

WoW

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mcflied

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crazy banana

There are only 215,282 posts on here at the moment.....

PR-Giants

Why do you want to match those percentages?

Are you having a problem with the math?

I made some organic 20-2-31-3-3-2, using 2 items that can be found in Walmart.

Organic fertilizer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer


This link will explain exactly how to make the above mixture.

http://www.haifa-group.com/files/guides/banana.pdf

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Merc

Hey PR-Giants,

Thanks for posting that guide from Haifa - great info. Any chance you might list the two products you use that you got from Wal-mart? Thanks for your help.

Merc

Snookie

Yea What he said

What two products...PLEASE

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jeffaroo

Interesting

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Richard

A truly organic fertilizer for bananas that breaks down slowly in the soil with NPK ratios of 4:1:6 (e.g., 20-5-30) is a poor idea due to soil processes. Instead you are looking for ratios of 4:4:7.

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mcarroll

As with most things that seem too good to be true and usually are - this was too good to be true. Lots of cultural info - nothing on DIY fertilizer, let alone organic fertilizer from two Walmart products.

This link is generally very interesting, but only promotes Haifa branded fertilizers. There is no "construction formula".

Any chance the formula could just be typed into the thread along with the two ingredients mentioned?

-Matt

Richard

The N-P-K in fertilizers is percent by weight of Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash. Consequently, mixing fertilizers to obtain a certain result must be performed by weight, not volume.

Let's suppose you mix 1 lb each of 10-10-10 and 20-20-20. The result will be 2 pounds of 15-15-15.

Now let's suppose you mix 1 lb of 10-10-10 with 9 lbs of 20-20-20. The result will be 10 lbs of 19-19-19, since
((1 x 10%) + (9 x 20%))/10 = 19%.

With regard to the question in this thread: you cannot create an organic fertilizer with 20-5-30 because there is no organic source of nitrogen to achieve 20% nitrogen in a fertilizer mix.

Further, as a I said two years ago - the "20-5-30" was a water soluble formula made from dehydrated minerals. It is processed differently in a soil than an organic fertilizer. A better choice of N-P-K in organic fertilizer for bananas would be 4-4-7.

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sputinc7

So, theoretically you would need to mix a 12-0-0 and a 0-12-0 with a 0-0-21 equally to get the 4-4-7 you are speaking of?
Say, blood meal3 lb ( Jobe's Organics Blood Meal Fertilizer, 3 lbs - Walmart.com )
And bone meal 4lb (Jobe's Organics Bone Meal Fertilizer, 4 lbs - Walmart.com )
and potash 6 lb (Espoma PO6 Potash Garden Fertilizer-6LB POTASH - Walmart.com )
In equal parts, this would result in a mixture of a 0-0-60 with a 2-14-0 and a 12-0-0 which would be a 7-7-30. Seems to me that 2, 3 lb bags of blood meal, one bag of bone meal at 4 lb and one 6 lb bag of potash would get pretty close to what you are wanting... right?
Plants aren't really that picky anyway, so it will work great with compost and manure and scraps and such you are most likely already putting around your plants ...

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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.

Ripsaw

I would recommend to anyone to read that Haifa Guide you provide. I finally read it and it has some helpful information on not just fertilizers, but how the plant looks when it has deficiencies. It includes photos.

Good resource and worth downloading and saving for future reference.

Richard

Good for tropical environments with volcanic soils. Florida is neither.

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aruzinsky

Why? The most important selection criterion is adequacy and the second is cost. In containers, excesses of N, P and K are eventually leached away therefore the exact ratio is only important insofar as excesses are a waste of money. In the ground, of N, P, K, only excess P is likely to be retained for a long time. I suspect that I have an excess of P from decades of using Miracle-Gro 15-30-15. I'm uncertain of the effects of chronic P overdose on plants. Otherwise, applying additional P in any form would probably just be a waste of money. Maybe, I should have my soil tested.

Calculating the elemental ratios or percentages, from the weights or percentages of ingredients, is easy. Calculating the weights or percentages of ingredients, from the elemental ratios or percentages, is much more difficult, but software makes it easier. I covered this here:

FYI, How Professionals Select Fertilizer Ingredients

Incidentally, better free LP software surely exists, but I don't have time to find it.

obdiah

Richard is correct as to natural n sources chicken liter is about the highest and usually runs from 3 to 4 % N I have nothing against organic but nitrogen is nitrogen I use 30% amonioum nitrate with great results bananas arnt real picky plenty of N and potassium and their usually happy I fed my basjoos over 10 pounds straight ammonium nitrate this summer and their huge with one bunch of fruit hanging



<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62447&ppuser=18928&sl=o><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62447&size=1 border=0></a>

aruzinsky

Theoretically, pure urea with 46% N can be extracted from urine, in which case, it can be called "organic." I see "organic urea" sold in China (Alibaba).

The word "organic" is ambiguous in that it may also refer to any carbon based compound, in which case, synthetic urea is "organic." I mention this only to alert you to potential Chinese deception because I assume that is not what the OP means by "organic."

Tytaylor77

I’m trying to think which would smell worse. 5 year old pee from China or the chicken houses next door lol. I think I will stick to my clear urea instead of the yellow kind. Lol

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obdiah

take it from me ty the chicken houses smell like crap the chinese pee probably inst much better when my amonium nitrate runs out I guess I will switch to urea as ammonium nitratr is not avaible. any more they get urea in 250 gallon Ibc totes at the place I work part time running a pellet mill making pelleted cow manure

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