brod

We all know mulch is good for water retention and eventual soil improvement.

So I have heavily mulched my plants with sugar cane mulch, grass clippings, chopped up banana leaves, palm leaves and other garden scraps.
This has kept my plants in good condition despite a 6 month mini drought.
Thank goodness that has changed with heavy rain falling now.

However I was reading that mulch should be kept at least 50cm/20 inches away from p-stems to discourage corm borers.

Having already had a problem with the corm borer, mainly from an already infected sucker from a near neighbour I was keen to remove the mulch from the stems of my plants.

On removal I noticed a lot of roots were growing above the soil level in the mulch, so I put some soil on top of them to stop them drying out and dying.

My question is, would a layer of stone or pebbles in this 50cm area up to the stems discourage corm borers. It would help with moisture retention which is my main aim.

What has been your experience in this matter.

Cheers
Brod

kom

thanks for the question...you can try this for some sort of solution..:-
Kultura way: Use only healthy suckers as planting materials. Run treatment by cutting around the bulbs and dip in hot water temperature of 55oC for 5-10 minutes. Installation trunk trap old banana cut into pieces 2-3 feet cut open and upside down. Beetles will hide under the banana tree parts. Collect beetles and destroy them. by mixing poison Dieidrin of 0.1% ai at the base of a banana tree which was attacked and cut rhizomes surface when remove suckers. Dip the stem-suckers into the solution mix pesticides Dieldrin with 0.1% ai


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I've been using this method for 16 years with great success, and the 20" clean zone is very important.

As far as the layer of stone or pebbles, which would work fine the first year but will eventually give you an area filled with stone or pebbles, I instead use coarse sand.

For increased moisture retention, I also cover the thick layer of grass clippings with 2-3 inches of coarse sand.

For rapid root growth and plant development, which in turn will hasten harvest, I extend the the thick layer of grass clippings to encompass a 30 foot area surrounding each plant.

This might seem excessive, but with close spacing multiple plants can successfully share the same root zone. I also do some other things to assure optimal moisture levels without the use of irrigation, and it appears you are definitely on the right track - GOOD LUCK.


Some ants are also very useful to control the weevil population.

African Rhino Horn & the Banana Corm Weevil

"Patterns of predation by natural enemies of the banana weevil (Coleopt" by Agnes Matilda Abera-Kanyamuhungu

www.infonet-biovision.org - Banana weevil

Banana weevil borer | Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry | Queensland Government

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If I had a bobcat I'd get some horse manure and wood chips and spread it on the farm.

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brod

Thanks all for your comments.