Quote:
Originally Posted by pitangadiego
From what I have read, it should be 9-3-27. I was unable to tell a difference between that formula and 16-16-16 on my bananas, and the triple-16 is a whole lot cheaper. I fertilize every couple weeks from April to October, and sometimes every week.
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If you want a soluble fertilizer that's very inexpensive, try to find a supplier that carry the Peters and/or Champion brands. Peters has a 15-10-30 formulation, while Champion has 15-8-27. I bought 25-lb bags from McConkey Co.(McConkey has warehouses in Calif. and WA, I don't know if they have them anywhere else.) The Peters cost $11/25-lb 5 years ago, and I still have over 15-lbs left. The Champion cost me $8/25-lb last year, and I still have 6-1/2 bags. The reason I got the Champion super cheap was that they were the last batch that they had and they were closing them out.
I find that since bananas are heavy Potassium feeders, any fertilizer that has the K component the highest, the N second, and P the least, would be advantageous since the majority of the banana make-up is Potassium. In any case, I don't think that the "P" component should ever exceed the "K". Like the Miracle Gro Rose formula can easily burn your plant if you use it like you would, say, their All Purpose formula. Obviously, they do need some Phosphorus, because it is essential for root and bloom formation.