Thread: Winterizing
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Old 03-13-2012, 04:10 PM   #6 (permalink)
Richard
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Default Re: Winterizing

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Originally Posted by DoctorSteve View Post
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?
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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