Quote:
Originally Posted by sputinc7
The main advantage that I see from planting corms in sand in pots at first is ease of checking for rot and growth.
Kudos for being your own person and going your own way. (and admitting it) If it works, it ain't wrong.
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Most bananas can tolerate being planted in many different mediums, so my comments are focused mainly on the variegated corm.
I grow thousands of these plants and all plants being shipped are planted in a generic potting mix because of the lower weight for shipping. My loss rate in this generic potting mix due to rotting was about 35%, those numbers came down substantially after switching to the AGP pots but it's still extremely high when compared to the near 0% loss rate using sand. Many of the rotting bananas from the generic potting mix can be saved after a thorough cleaning and replanting in sand. Now there are much better reasons for using sand other than just the loss rate but most folks only concentrate on clearing the first hurdle.
Many times folks can get a better understanding by looking at photos. I just took this and it shows a banana that had failed in the generic potting mix was then cleaned and transferred to sand about a month ago to recover. It's recovery was evident this morning when it showed new growth. Soon this beautiful banana plant will get one more opportunity in the generic potting mix.
