skyrise

Hello Guys...

I am kind of new to growing bananas and would love some advice... I checked for forum a while ago and the reasons for slow growing are
1 not enough light
2 not enough / wrong fertilizer

Sadly the flat I'm in is a East / West facing.. But I have them in the west part of the house because that gets the later day light which lasts longer and its normally hotter..

I am confused about fertilizer though.. I read they like nitrogen so I have started using baby bio with has 10.6% and they say putting 10 drops in a pint of water and I give each plant 1/2 a pint every 2-3 days...

By slow growing I mean in the 9 months I have had them they have grown about twice the hight.. ) They are now about a 30'... Not very high at all, considering the rajapuri should grow about about 2' a week or something like that....

The questions are...
1 should I be using a grow lamp?
1.1 if so what would be a non expencive one and are the low voltage LED ones any good?

2 Is this anywhere near enough what I should be feeding them...

3 Have I missed something

Would be most greatful for any advice


Martin

Bob

First off what size pot are they in, we have somewhat of a freindly debate here but I favor the biggest you can manage. What type of potting medium? I use miracle grow mix and ammend with bark chips and perlite for better drainage and to allow some air to the roots. Ambient light is great and should always be made use of, still any additional high quality lighting you can supply is a bonus. Be careful with fertilizer, up until I joined here I used 5-1-1fish emusion or a 12-0-0 nitrogen source based on nitrogen= green growth. A balanced fertilizer say a 3-1-6 or equivalant,I'm using 5-2-6 out of convenience has provided better results.

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cowboyup4christ

is there a way to put them outside during the warm weather if so this may help I use a 10,20 20 fertilizer on mine since they really eat up the potash the last number so maybe try a different ratio for your fertilizer I use a grainular slow release and put a handful to each pot about every three weeks for my dwarf Orinocos and they seem to be doing fine. I also give them about a gallon or 1 1/2 gals of water a day to each pot unless it rains. then I don't water. that's my 2 cents worth.

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adrift

The idea that bananas grow fast is an oversimplification. But I really doubt anyone has a Rajapuri that grows 2 feet a week. They only get 6 or 8 feet of p-stem when full size so even under good conditions one foot a month is probably a much closer estimate. Actually, I'm not sure that any banana can grow two feet a week. Maybe one of our Saba or Kandarian growers can comment on the ability of those mega-plants.

True, an established mat can send a p-stem up at a pretty good speed, perhaps a leaf every 5 to 7 days. But new plants take a few months to get their roots grown before they go anywhere. It can take 3 to 12 months of warm, humid sunshine before a banana starts putting on the speed. Many times after the root system is developed the pups will start to outgrow the original p-stem.

As the plant's roots fill the pot, move it up to a bigger pot, repeat, up to the biggest pot you can manage. Use a light, well draining potting soil (stir in 1 part perlite for every 3 or 4 parts of bagged soil). Use a fertilizer that has as much or more potash (third number) as nitrogen and includes minor and micronutrients. Keep it above 60 degrees (unless and until you want to store it dormant over the winter.) Give it as much sun as you can.

And most important of all -- sit back and relax.

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bencelest

I still have to see a banana that grows 2 feet a week. As long as it is growing normally and the leaves are green and the pstem is hardy proportioned and if that is mine I should be thankful and enjoy. There is also a time for growth spurts and growth rest period. So just enjoy if everything is normal.
Bananas are almost all potassium so fertilize it with higher number on the the last number N P K such as 3 1 6. or close to it. plus micro nutrients. Sunshine temperature and soil medium are also very important.

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Banana Nut

Bob

Great point KJ, I haven't heard anything not grown by Ty TY that grows that fast. My remaining Ice cream pup however is almost the size of the 6 1/2 ft mother and has grown at an incredible pace. Only age and corm size will determine this.

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sbl

I agree with pretty much all the advice you have been given, but basically, you are probably under-fertilizing--think about it--you are giving each plant about 1 drop of N a week. I am a pretty experienced gardener, so I just throw a small handful of granular fertilizer in my pots every few weeks, but I do not recommend that to others since it is easy to burn your plants. What would probably be best for you is to use a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote or Dynamite. These fertilizers are applied according to container size--NOT PLANT SIZE--and you only need to apply them every few months. It is pretty much impossible to burn plants with these.

As others have said bananas use fertilizer in a ratio of 3-1-6 but it is OK to have a little extra of some nutrients--you may want to flush your container well once or twice a yr to remove extra.