beam2050

looking for somebody to tell me the best potting soil for gran nains, ice cream and Cavendish bananas. I know they do not like peat.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

Mark Dragt

Welcome to the org. beam2050.

The best potting soil is a matter of opinion. One thing is clear, it MUST drain. Soggy banana roots will rot. I like to use the Miracle Grow cactus mix. If the plant is small, I use a cheap Tera Cotta clay pot. NO GLAZING. The plain pots will breath much better than a glazed, or even a plastic pot. If the plant is bigger, you can get by with the other pots.
Just my opinion. I would expect to get more.
Good luck!!

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

beam2050

hi. new to this this. I am trying to get banana plants started from seed. the ones I can get seeds for. so far I have one snow banana to come up. I do have ice cream and gram nains in pots, they are small. I do have snow bananas, red bananas, Burmese blue, Cavendish, rainbow, giant [40 ftrs], and paw paws in seeds in bags and in pots. I have 9 plants I have separated ice cream and gran nain, had a few more but I lost them using cow manure and compost , how I start all my trees in the ground. I have found out that red bananas, Cavendish, gran nains and ice cream do not like potting soil much. one of the reasons I joined was to find out what potting soil will work with these.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

Mark Dragt

Small plants don't like the soil too rich. Whatever soil you have, you can try mixing in a bunch of sand to take the richness out of it. Plus it makes it drain better.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

beam2050

I live on a sand hill, great drainage, water goes down guickly until you put in a pot. holds water wont drain. tried wood chips, top soil, and sand, does fairly well but I have read the wood chips while decomposing will somehow mess up the fertilizer. I have gone to stores that sell potting soil and everything has peat in it. a light ratio of peat probably will not hurt but which ones to use. my snow banana came from seed by planting in 2 1/2 inch pot with potting soil, vigaro. I put 10 pots with one seed in each and put them in a pan with paper towels under the pots, watered from the bottom with an eighth of inch of water. watering only when the water in the pan was almost gone. my first one came up a week and half ago and it is nearly 6 inches tall. snow bananas are ok with peat. so are the rest of them except for Cavendish, gran nains, ice cream and red bananas.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

cincinnana

Welcome to the jungle....

Many Florida forum members grow their plants in highly amended sugar like sand rich in organics.
It usually takes some time to condition your sandy soil.

Peat moss is an excellent ingredient for a quality soilless mix.
Peat is usually the base ingredient of many mixs
Do not shy away from it.

A miracle grow type mix will work for you, better yet you can custom make your own from what you see on the internet.




A great source of information can be found on Youtube Keywords "soilless mix"
:growing bananas from seeds"


Good luck

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Tytaylor77

I take the plain yellow bag of miracle grow and mix it 50/50 with perlite. Drains really well and stays light and fluffy.

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150+ Varieties!!. See profile for list. Help me add more!

www.bananapups.com

Kat2

What the heck is sugar sand? I have sand in my yard that migrates onto my floors inside and even into my bed even though I remove sandals at the door and brush off my feet before coming inside--always. Is this the special sand of which you speak? I top all beds with compost and do it over and over since it seems to seek a lower level while the trash 58 years worth of people living on this lot continues to rise. Yesterday I found a small transformer from the 80s in my yard; it was not there a week ago.

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Snarkie

Hi Beam-

Welcome aboard the Banana Express.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

edwmax

@Kat
What the heck is sugar sand? ... It's real fine sand, like sugar vs. a course sand like used making concrete.

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beam2050

got my first Burmese to come up from seed yesterday. 1 down bunches to go

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

Snarkie

It's also typically white, like the sand you find on Cape Cod. It looks just like sugar. I wouldn't recommend putting it in your coffee though...

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

Kat2

My sand is not coarse but it isn't particularly white; if I washed off the organic material it might be but isn't most sand white then? I though clay was annoying; I was wrong.

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Snarkie

Most sand is beige or red.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

edwmax

There is 'black sand' also. Punaluu Black Sand Beach, Hawaii Island

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cincinnana

@yall's sugar sand looks and feels just like white sugar; but when you walk on it ...it burns like hades...

@ yall....sand around the Great Lakes is superfine and white just like the Caribbean.


@ yall' s brown sugar is a bit larger and looks like brown sugar.

Sugar sugar .....The Archies...

Brown Sugar.....D'angelo, Rollng Stones, others..

Clean course sand ....The Sheeples..

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Kat2

When the fire ants stir it up, it's pretty white but otherwise just kinda grey. Matters not. Thanks to sand I don't need a sump pump for my basement and thanks to sand I don't have a basement.

Sorry Beam for hijacking your intro thread. Add your approximate location to your profile so the rest of us know where the sand hills are. Sahara? *grin*

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Kat2

Maybe I do have sugar sand. If I walk out in my "yard" barefoot at midday, I immediately start dancing. Grass is hot? Ouch!

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cincinnana

This is my Sugar sand in Cincinnati Ohio......

Glacier clay.



Untitled
by
Hostafarian, on Flickr

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Kat2

They throw pots there, don't they?

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