Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

All of my banana trees are in containers; one is a couple inches in diameter and the others an inch or less. In an attempt to cut down on the multitude of products to have, use, keep up with responsibly, I am wondering if my Jobe's Palm Spikes will work and in what quantity etc...

I polled the citrus forum on GW and came up with: "Yes, you can use them but with care on container plants as they might burn the roots" (These are the large kind driven in the ground with a hammer, not the ones as small as a golfers pencil...).

The Analysis is as follows...
it is a 10-5-10 With: 10% Chlorine, 12% Sulphur, 2% Magnesium (soluable), 0.5% Iron (soluable), o.5% Zinc (soluable), 0.5% Manganese (soluable), and 0.5% Copper (soluable).

I would sincerely like to not (NOT) have to use one more product. Have manure available, pine bark mulch and fish emulsion too... Am hoping to get opinions/reviews of this and or similar products from banana people.

Thanking you in advance, Mick -- Abilene, TX dolphin_79605@yahoo.com zone 7b :sumbrero:

PS: I posted this on a different thread the other day; regrets for the duplication, but welcome input. Thanks, paxetamor!

PPS: I never found a source for 7.5 ounce "ripstop" polyethelene, but one Garden Place gave me (with a trade) a sheet of used rip stop they had. It is 8' x 80' approximately and in useable condition with a few tears and former installation screw holes. I have decided that I am not going to use it, but mightttt be convinced to offer it to a worth cause. I wanted to pitch it out for discussion and or interest here before I went anywhere else...

PPPS: We received rain today, whoo hoo!!!

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

All I have to say if I used them on my Lime tree, and it died within a week. I don't know why or anything else, thats just a fact.

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

Inside or out, a banana growing in a container will benefit from a slow release fertilizer, with a ratio similar to 3-1-6 (ex. 6-2-12). Make sure to check the label for micronutrients. When applying the fertilizer to a containerized banana stay on the lighter side for bananas growing in shady locations, and a little heavier for those growing in full sun.I have heard good things about the spikes,but for in-ground plants only.good luck.

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

Even though the directions usually tell you to put the spikes 3-6' or something away from the base, I have heard of people using these spikes in containers without any problems for bananas. Jobes does have a spike which has a higher potassium count if you look around and they have a good assortment where you are buying.

Personally, though, I just use slow release Osmocote or similar (Dynamite, MiracleGro) that is a balanced 1:1:1 ratio. No problems there and it is cheaper per lbs for the concentration you getting in general compared to spikes. It'd be nice to find a higher potash ratio slow release but I haven't seen anything myself since most things have more nitrogen if anything.

Laurence

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

Spike fertilizers are not recommended for citrus feeding either in pots or in ground for the fertilizer is concentrated to a narrow area and can burn roots. So I would not use them in my bananas also.

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

The Osmocote I just bought is 19-6-12. I tried to get 12-6-12 but I couldnt find it. Is this okay, or should I return it? Did you use the Vegetable one? I (might) use the Outdoor or Indoor plant food.

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

If you look through all the granular slow-release stuff, here is what I have found that is common with a balanced ratio:

Osmocote 13-13-13 (I think??)
Dynamite 13-13-13 and 16-16-16
MiracleGrow 10-10-10

If you can't find balanced Osmocote you can look at the other two brands which are similar. I think Vigoro has a bunch of slow release stuff as well that would be in a ratio you could use.

Laurence

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

Laurence,

So return what I have to get Vigoro etc. Can someone tell me the difference it will make? I dont know if I understand anything about any fertilizers except manure.

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

Taylor,

Have you seen this link yet?
http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Info:Fertilizer

Basically, the commonly accepted breakdown of what the NPK numbers mean is:
- Nitrogen (N) is for foliage/vegetation (grass uses tons of N)
- Phosphate (P) is for roots and flowering (starter fertilizers are usually high in this number)
- Potassium (K) is for fruiting

As for what ratio is best for bananas, that is somewhat subjective and there are tons of opinions on this as you can see from the Wikipedia entry here. I use a balanced fertilizer (meaning all 3 numbers are equal or very similar) because bananas generally seem to do fine on this and it is relatively easy to find and usually cheaper than other stuff marketed for specific uses. BTW I did a search and Vigoro makes a 17-17-17 slow release to compete with Osmocote.

Many people prefer a higher potassium ratio since banana plants consist of more potassium than N and P. 6-2-12 is a popular ratio given this logic and if I could easily and cheaply find this I would use it too. The blends that Going Bananas and Stokes Tropicals are all about this ratio.

Finding something along the lines of 10-5-10 (like the Jobes) or 10-8-10 (I've seen this for Palm fertilizers) would all work too since Phosphorus is generally considered the least important # for bananas. Vigoro makes an 8-4-8 slow release palm food which is another possibility.

The one thing I think is overlooked is the magnesium content. IMO I think most fertilizers are lacking this but this is easily supplemented using Epsom Salt.

As for your question about what you should do with what you have... personally I do not like to use fertilizers that have high N ratios like what you have (24-8-16 and such) unless all you care about is the foliage (maybe on a Basjoo or something.) This also includes the use of Fish emulsion 5-1-1 and such. If it were me I'd just return it and get something balanced.

Laurence

Re: Curious about Jobe's fertilizer spikes...
 

Thanks for the info. Ill probably return it. We have 10-10-10, but I dont like it. It doesnt really work very well on flowers, just on vegetables. I like all osmocotes because, well, they just work better. Ill see what I can do.