proletariatcsp

The weather has warmed up nicely and my bananas are at full growth again. The first three leaves of the season emerged without issue, but the last two came up with some problems.

In the area of the leaf, approximately 1/3 up from the base, and 2/3 down from the tip, the leaf edges were not fully developed. There was a very white area about the size of a half-dollar in exactly the same place, on both leaves, and on both sides of the leaves.

It was not the fertilizer I fed it 2 weeks ago because the pups are all fine. I stuck my pH meter in and got a reading of 8.5-9 Alkaline.

Please tell me how to bring the pH down, something I can go pickup at the BigBox store for now? And, will a foliar amendment work faster?



Thanks

Chris in FL.

john_ny

One of the things that I used, when I had an aquarium fish import business, was vinegar. We had large concrete pools, in a greenhouse that had been used to produce little plants, for the Woolworth 5/10¢ chain, befpre we moved in. The concrete benches were alkaline, and it was too expensive to use the usual "Aquarium ph reducer", so we used things like vinegar (If you look in the stores, you can find vinegar, at double the strength, (percentage) for just a little more money. In extreme cases, we used plain acid, like muriatic, that is normally used to clean new concrete, or plain old battery acid, from an auto parts store.

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John

proletariatcsp

Sounds intimidating, I have muriatic acid, but also have a dog that is always eating the grass around the bananas. I know I can look for info online, but I figured all the banana growers here in FL probably have to amend their soils too.

Thanks for the reply John.

Chris in FL

Caloosamusa

Mulch, mulch, mulch!!! As water reacts with the biomaterial, acids are produced that will help modify your alkaline pH. (Long term)

When you plant the banana amend the soil with much organic material,
compost.

This should help.

Lagniappe

Not only will the breaking down of organics help but ,if you're not killing them off with fertilizers and/or pesticides and fungicides, the plant will attract fungi and bacteria that will modify the ph to suit their host plant (over the course of a couple of years). The best step forward is to add lots of organic material. Like C.musa said, Mulch, Mulch, mulch.

Bananaman88

You can also add granular sulfur. It will take a while to lower the pH, but should help over the long haul.

turtile

I'd also use sulfur since its much more effective. You should get a soil test completed as different types of soils require different amounts of material to change the pH due to the soil's buffering capacity.

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Caloosamusa

Due to leaching effects and the overwhelming amounts of OH neg ions already present in the soil, sulfur will not have the lasting effects you desire. Use the sulfur but the soil ammendments described previously will have longer beneficial effects.

Good growing!

proletariatcsp

That is on the top of my list, but the mulch from last season is still covering all the roots. This is a 10ft Ice Cream, that is why I was hoping to find something foliar that would work immediately.

There is a place near me that does soil tests for free(I think), maybe a donation. Would be worth looking into.

Probably what I'll end up doing.

Tap water seems to cut down the pests but the plants do not like the chlorine. I mostly water with rain water or tap water that has sat for 48 hours. The sprinklers I cannot avoid. The irrigation is from reclaimed water and I think it is picking up allot of ground salts.

I believe the root of my problem is the concrete patio 2ft from the base. I planted that close intentionally to give the roots more anchor in the wind. Last season the banan withstood 60mph winds at 6ft tall, and so far it has easily held-up to 50mph at 10ft tall. The leaves did not, and some were ripped right from their midribs. Its a lousy compromise but I have no wind protected areas here.

Caloosamusa

A foliar nutritional spray will help but there must be green leaves for the spray to adhere to, otherwise it is just another soil ammendment. I hope your Saba does well. Mine is over 12 feet now.

Good growing.