Re: Bananas in raised beds
Hi Ray
We live on the slope of a young volcano, Kilauea, on Big Island Hawaii. Most of our acreage is only 2,000 years-old lava flow, so not much soil has formed. We currently have over 150 mats of bananas, all planted in raised beds. Our experience has shown that bananas' roots will travel 12-15 feet in search of nutrients (Remember, all musas are "heavy feeders".) Essentially, we provide a massive raised bed that covers enough room for the roots to travel as far as they want!
The results are fantastic ... our plants are voluptuous: reaching full developmental heights, and giving great harvests of fruit. Most mature mats (2-5 years old) have 5-10 pseudostem stalks of varying stages.
I hope this helps.
ALoha, Marvin
|