Quote:
Originally Posted by Akula
Hey Kanana!
Yeah, that was two months of growth but I started with pups and not TC plants. I prepared the patch by digging it out and removing any competition i.e. roots from nearby trees, weeds, etc. and then backfilling the trench mixing in about 2,000 lbs. of black cow! This is a hobby not a commercial operation! Haha. I fertilized with Espoma Organic Citrus-tone during these two months applying 1-2 red solo cups per plant per month. I switched to synthetic fertilizer in September. Fertilizer is incredibly important to banana trees. I gave a four foot namwa pup to my neighbor in April/May and he didn't fertilize it and pups that popped up in my patch in June had eclipsed his plant by the end of August.
The green grass in the patch is actually St. Augustine grass clippings bagged when I mow my yard. I mulch with the grass clipppings to supress the weeds and provide organic material in the top layer of the patch. Works great. The fresh green mulch turns brown after a few days in the sun. Runners from the yard grass do get into the patch and I have to trim/remove the runners a couple times during the summer.
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Thanks for the info on the fertilizing and the way you prepped the area. 2000 pounds of black cow sounds like a lot. IIRC, I used maybe 1/2 bag filled in to each planting hole when I planted mine when they were big enough to go into the ground along with a liberal sprinkle of potassium sulfate.
Any suggestions on my back area with weeds? I initially covered this area which was part of my lawn, where I planted the bananas with a dump truck worth of mulch back in March of 2016 that sat there a year which I was hoping it would kill the weeds but it just made them come back with a vengeance the summer / fall of 2016 and I battle it every spring and summer here in SW Florida. I saw a few videos on using black plastic to smother and kill the weeds and I have yet to try this. A couple of years ago as an experiment I tried using this 10x20' thick blue vinyl tarp that was made from an old retractable pool cover to smother the weeds. It didn't actually kill the weeds as I could see roots forming from underneath the tarp and I had moved it around a few times during the hottest part of the summer. Seemed like the weeds laughed at it. I hate using roundup, and at this point I just weedwhack or mow, but the whole purpose was to just have a mulched area to avoid what I am dealing with.