Lavenderjade

Can anyone advise what is the best fertiliser to use for my young bananas and how often to feed during the growing season? I am currently using my MSU orchid fertiliser which I buy in from the US at great expense for my orchids, NPK 13-3-15. Seems ok so far and banana fertilisers I have seen on eBay have NPK 12-4-6. What do you recommend? I would prefer availability in the U.K. if possible!

Botanical_Bryce

Not sure if they have it in England but Osmocote for vegetables looked good.

edwmax

Read the fertilizer info at the forum wiki: Info:Fertilizer - Bananas Wiki

Fertilizers are formulated as acidic, neutral, or alkaline. Generally, for bananas you want a fertilizer that is acidic for gardening/vegetables. But this might vary depending one your soil. ... A vegetable fertilizer will have or should have the proper micro elements that bananas need. ... Knowing that mature banana plants need 1 lb of nitrogen & 1 1/2 lb of potassium per growing season (year), then one can calculate the quantity of fertilizer and/or any supplements needed per plant.

example: I use 10-10-10 available locally at $10 per 50 lb bag. For 1 lb of nitrogen, I need 10 lbs of fertilizer (1 lb/ 10%= 10 lb) per plant. The same 10 lbs will furnish 1 lb of potassium. Thus, a potassium supplement is needed. Using potassium sulfate (0-0-50) about 1 lb is needed (.5lb / 50%= 1 lb). ...

Knowing how to calculate the quantity of fertilizer needed, you can then use off-the shelf products and compare cost.

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cincinnana

Lavenderjade

What is your grow zone in the UK.?

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Botanical_Bryce

Unless I misinterpreted the question I think the person is looking for a specific product as opposed to a general lesson on fertilizer.

Lavenderjade

I would be in 9a

Lavenderjade

I guess what I am after really is the N-P-K ratio best for growing banana plants and then I can equate that with a product I can find here in the U.K. I have read the fertiliser wiki link and it's very useful, thank you!

I really will struggle to get fruit I think because of our climate but even some small ornamental or just a healthy beautiful tree will suffice

edwmax

A single bag product would be 20-5-30 Banana Fuel or similar, but that is not likely an off-the shelf product in the UK since Banana farming is not a big operation in the UK. Banana Fuel is a custom blended fertilizer here in the US. ... Common gardening/vegetable fertilizers should work well for you with either supplements for nitrogen or potassium as needed. The micro-elements can be bought separately as a supplement if needed.

I'm not in the UK so I can not just point to one particular product and say use that. As I posted, I use a triple balanced blend (10-10-10) and supplement the Potassium. I'm sure a triple type is available for you.

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cincinnana

Zone 9 in a great zone to be in I take it your coastal?...
Do you have an area you can plant those Basjoos ....they are going to get big

Since your plants are small you could use a common/inexpencive water soluble fertilizer until you plant them in the ground when they get larger. Your chances of over fertilizing are diminished if you use a water soluble. You could get by with what your using until you introduce your plants in the ground.

But once the plants get some size and they are planted in the ground and established you may switch to a common granular /garden fertilizer like another forum member(Botanical Bryce) has suggested.

These common garden fertilizers are somewhat inexpensive and can be used on all your tropicals and garden, even your lawn if you wish.

Any triple npk above 10 will work as Edwmax has suggested.

I surmise you will be growing for the tropical foliage look so specialty fertilizers are not needed.

I use triple 19, 15, 12, 10. in the Jungle.

Basjoos are heavy feeders once mature and will reward you well with massive growth and pups with 19-19-19- .......but the other fertilizers work just as well.

I buy what I can afford/on sale and can use as a dual purpose fertilizer for your other plants if possible.

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Lavenderjade

No costal but south East, we do get frost however and cold cold rain in the winter brrrrrr and yes, i have an area for the basjoos lol

cincinnana

Awesome......you will need it...
Happy growing!!!

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jf1963

I was reading a post earlier (maybe 10 years old or so) about a mixture of fish emulsion and Sul-Po-Mag. Any thoughts on this mixture?

Lavenderjade

Hopefully any bananas wont taste fishy

Well so far I have used my orchid fertilizer and organic seaweed fertilizer as well as my orchid probiotic...I honestly dont think they care either way lol

Kanana

Thanks for the explanation of the weights and the ratios. I have a question though. In the example of the potassium, you need 1# of 0-0-50 for a 1/2 # of potassium sulfate. What does the other 1/2# consist of?

edwmax

Potassium sulfate is K2SO4. So the other 1/2 lb is SO4. or sulfur & oxygen.

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Kanana

What is the volume of 1\2# of oxygen?

edwmax

Duh ... Really, more than you can hold.

But in regards to K2SO4, there is not a 1/2 lb of oxygen in a 1/2 lb in the remaining SO4 & impurities. The SO4 combines with water to form a weak sulfuric acid and help to acidify the soil. Sulfur, itself, is beneficial to plants when it further breaks down. The 0-0-50 fertilizer is not pure and has some fillers or impurities as the percentage of potassium varies from different manufactures.

Another source for potassium is Muriate of Potash or Potassium chloride. However, chloride can be detrimental to plants if not flushed (leached) away and builds up in the soil.

Other than that I suggest you do your own chemical molar balance equations for any additional questions you may have as to the chemical make up of K2SO4.

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Kanana

I was just worried the rest of the mixture was salts and I want to avoid that.

edwmax

That wasn't what you asked. However, you would have to look at the manufacture's analysis to see what the fillers or impurities are.

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PlantHoarder

I've been using water soluble fertilizer from Miracle Grow and a mix suggested by Haifa fertilizer co for micro nutrients.
Any water soluable fert that is 20/20/20 seems Ok, i'm still figuring it out as I go. If you can only find 10/10/10 thats OK too, in fact it's probably best because you can dilute it easier for use on other plants.
At present the mix i've been using is an 18/24/18, not ideal but close enough.

Update:
I found a better one today that is 18/18/21, that more closely resembles what the 'nanner plants need. It's heavier on the K spectrum which is appropriate, it's a generic water soluble mix called "Plant food - Vegetables and Herbs" by miracle grow. It wasn't too bad, I think I paid 8 bucks or so for a pound of it. If your collection is small this may last a while.