Bananas.org - View Single Post - Tips for growing bananas & anything else. Got any?

sandy0225 · 02-25-2009, 07:32 AM

The main problem I have is that since I use soil less mix,(containing peat moss) the ph of the mix seems to creep up over time. For anyone not familiar with that, it seems that the plants, even though you fertilize, they just don't look the same. They get yellowish very light green leaves and seem weaker and thinner. This usually happens when the plant is in the pot for long-term, over 6 months. Now they also will do that if you use the wrong (too weak in nitrogen) fertilizer too. So if you know you're fertilizing them properly, and they've been potted in the same soil a while, maybe adjusting the ph will help.
I'm currently using citric acid here to adjust our water ph. It only takes a few teaspoons for my 1:100 gallon batch that I use with my fertilizer injector. But before I started citric acid, I used vinegar. Easily available and very safe to work with. I used that for years. Until I was needing like 10 gallons a week and it got too expensive. I'm just getting the food grade citric acid, I purchased it off ebay. I used to get it from a greenhouse supply guy around here, but it turns out he was actually charging me WAY too much.
You can get expensive ph meters to test your water ph, but I've had better results just using these little full range ph strips I purchased from ebay. Of course if you're colorblind like my hubby, you might need an assistant!

02-25-2009, 07:32 AM	#17 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 487,677 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Re: Tips for growing bananas & anything else. Got any? The main problem I have is that since I use soil less mix,(containing peat moss) the ph of the mix seems to creep up over time. For anyone not familiar with that, it seems that the plants, even though you fertilize, they just don't look the same. They get yellowish very light green leaves and seem weaker and thinner. This usually happens when the plant is in the pot for long-term, over 6 months. Now they also will do that if you use the wrong (too weak in nitrogen) fertilizer too. So if you know you're fertilizing them properly, and they've been potted in the same soil a while, maybe adjusting the ph will help. I'm currently using citric acid here to adjust our water ph. It only takes a few teaspoons for my 1:100 gallon batch that I use with my fertilizer injector. But before I started citric acid, I used vinegar. Easily available and very safe to work with. I used that for years. Until I was needing like 10 gallons a week and it got too expensive. I'm just getting the food grade citric acid, I purchased it off ebay. I used to get it from a greenhouse supply guy around here, but it turns out he was actually charging me WAY too much. You can get expensive ph meters to test your water ph, but I've had better results just using these little full range ph strips I purchased from ebay. Of course if you're colorblind like my hubby, you might need an assistant! __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website!