Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

Just wanted to say thanks to all those who contributed to the fertilizer page on the Wiki - very valuable. I've been brainstorming fertilizer options as I consider what I will use in the spring. As I have about 10 or 12 mats going now, I will require an increasing amount of fertilizer (not to mention what I need for everything else!).
One option is to buy 50 lb bags of 6-2-12 from Going Bananas, but they don't ship (wouldn't be cost-effective anyway) so I would have to go down there or catch them at one of the gardening events nearby. It seems like I could still use more potash. I've been trying to find something like Muriate of Potash or another high-potash fertilizer available in the area, without success. If any Central Floridians know of a supplier, please let me know.
If anyone has any other ideas, let me know. So far, I've been using granular Sunniland Citrus alternating with Espoma Citrus. I've also used Going Bananas in the past, but it's just not as readily available, as mentioned. I've not used water-solubles up to this point.

Re: Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

Muriate of Potash is for swimming pools. It contains unacceptable amounts of chlorine for plants.

Re: Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

I think diamond R fertilizer in Fort Pierce will sell directly to a consumer. I get my stuff from Helena in Fort Pierce, but I have to order 1 ton. You may want to also consider sulpomag, which doesn't have any chlorine. If you soil has a high pH you could also use Potassium Sulfate

Re: Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

Valuable info, Richard. I happened upon a "fact sheet" from Just Fruits & Exotics in North Florida in which they mix a custom blend of banana fertilizer using 1 part Urea Ammonium Nitrate and 3 parts Murate (sic?) of Potash. This led me to believe that it would be safe, but I've since found other sources that warn against it. http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/JF%20Banana.pdf Some of the info presented in the fact sheet seems a bit odd, so this doesn't surprise me.

Re: Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

Thanks, Nick. Curious: what "stuff" do you get? I think Sul-Po-Mag might be my best bet as I could probably find it most readily around here.

Re: Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

If they recommend potassium chloride for bananas, it probably will not harm them (but it may be wrong!). I haven't tried a chloride salt on my bananas before so I don't know if it causes any harm.

Plants like tomatoes will be heavily harmed while others such as prickly pear cactus will be fine.

Sul-Po-Mag is great due to the fact that high potassium concentrations can cause a deficiency in magnesium. I use a mixture of potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate. Another chemical you can look for is potassium nitrate but it may be harder to find since it's an oxidizer. I know I've seen all of the above on Ebay but you'd have to pay shipping of course.

Re: Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

I use muriate of potash, but my soil at the farm has a tremendous buffering capacity and has an abundance of magnesium. I have some sandy/rocky/ marly soil near the house in the backyard. It is a garbage mixture of fill and rubble from an old house. There, I basically spoon feed my plants a 50/50 mix of ammonium sulfate and muriate of potash. Basically 1/12 lbs/week. All the micronutrients go out as foliar nutrition.

Re: Thanks for the fertilizer info on the Wiki...
 

Ace Hardware always has separate blood meal for nitrogen and potash and potassium