Is it possible to grow bananas in sandy soils?
algreen
18 years ago
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algreen
18 years agoRelated Discussions
do all vegetables like sandy soil?
Comments (11)Soil retention isn't a problem with container gardening. Water and nutrient retention is the problem. And sand in a container mix only compounds that problem. But I never suggested that you should use garden dirt in a container. Do you think Al's Mix is the only other option? And yes I am well aware of what is called Al's Mix, that it is unique to the Container Gardening forum here, that it is just 1 person's opinion on what is ideal, and that it has several recipes depending on what is being grown in the particular container. Some on that forum do "rave" about it and some do not. Nothing against Al as he works hard to help lots of people over there. But as I said above thousands of us, gardeners all over the world, have container gardened quite successfully for decades without using it or even knowing it existed. There are hundreds of recipes for making your own soil-less container mixes. Al's Mix is just one of them. And there are probably 15-20 varieties of commercially prepared soil-less mixes available to use, several of them superior to any homemade mix recipe. So don't assume that everyone here uses Al's Mix or even agrees with it? If you choose to use it, fine but then the issues or questions you may have about it need to be addressed to that person, that forum as they might understand why you'd be adding sand to a container mix. As Greg said above, an in ground sandy garden can be made productive with lots of work, lots of amending, and careful moisture monitoring. Containers are something else entirely. Dave...See Moretopdressing KBG in sandy soil to raise low spots over time
Comments (5)The stuff you are reading about 'topdressing' applies to either greens on golf courses, or warm season grasses like Bermuda or St. Augustine. For you and me, cool season grass lovers both of us, the principal goal should be to raise the level of topsoil, and keep some grass growing on that newer, higher, level of topsoil. KBG (and it's pals, PRye and TTTFescue, grow upward more than outward, generally speaking. The roots will do fine, they need topsoil to grow in: not sand. The crowns will do fine, they need to be about a half inch above the soil (not sand). Sand screws up a bunch of things, when dealing with clays and cool season grasses. One does not, unless you are a greenskeeper, need to fool around with sand, although it is surely true that if you have an elevated platform (odd enough) and grow bentgrass (even more odd) that you want to keep 'maximized' (odder still) with huge amounts of fertilizer, one can certainly get it done by adding sand to get up to a half inch (usually less) of height, here or there. But you're looking at an elevated green on a golf course. A half inch seems like the Cliffs Of Dover, and an insurmountable challenge, if you are a golfer or a greenskeeper. You and I are not. We're talking about dirt. We're talking about dirt in the yard. If you've got a low spot, and there are a few, for lots of good reasons that I won't go into here, you want a 'permanent' raise in the height of that spot, and you want bluegrass growing over, looking basically level, or on the same slope as the rest of it. "Permanent" should mean only one thing to you: NO PEAT. No organic material. No 'compost'. No 'super' soil. No 'enriched' soil. All of that happens in the top two inches of soil, where the grass is. The stuff down below is just dirt. And, if you're lucky, it is not sand. It is native topsoil, and looks just like the rest of the neighborhood's native topsoil. And, since there's no peat, there's nothing to rot away, and goof up your level. So here's the best way to achieve that, in my yard and yours. Cut your own sod. Cut the sod, with a shovel, so that each piece is about two to three inches deep, at whatever size is comfortable for you to move twice. My fave is about 9" x 9", and about three inches thick. At that point, your roots have their soil attached. And are very happy. Move the sod. Fill the low area with native topsoil, thus leveling the area, filling in the low spot, bringing the grade up to where it should be. Then put back the sod squares, at their new height. Tamp them with your foot. You're done....See Morebananas in sandy South Florida
Comments (5)Cattman, Got several pups including the Kru and Red Iholene. They are still in the ground. Some are big and need to be picked up - shipping would be too expensive. Have been a member of this forum and bananas.org for some time. Have been growing naners for 30 years. Since I live in zone 9B, Port St Lucie, Fl recently decided to replace all the reds with more cold resistant varieties. Last winter killed off all the big ones except Goldfinger and Hua Moa. After 2 years of no frost. All the pups survived though. I invite you to drop by and save yourself the shipping and dealing with wimpy TC seedlings. As for neighbors complaining about untidy appearance all that is needed is trimming off leaves as they turn brown -- weekly during the growing season. Resending this message as a post as email from this website is iffy. Give me a holler, Dan...See MoreSandy Soil Improvement Using Crowded Seedlings
Comments (13)Thanks for the feedback, everyone! > What you are doing is growing a green manure crop I absolutely agree. I'm just trying to accelerate the process, from seasons to weeks. > Choose vigorous, fast, deep rooted plants. I've been planting cowpea, primarily. It has deep taproots as you recommend, and the seeds are large and contain 25% protein which will add significant nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil. I'm also trying wheat because it looks nice like a lawn grass when crowded, and it's also high in protein, though the seeds are small. > The flaw in your plan is that these plants will be unable to leave behind any minerals or nitrogen that was not already in the dirt I'm using a ridiculously large number of big seeds which are rich in protein. I believe that the amount of nitrogen, etc added from the seeds alone would be significant. > The main disadvantage I see to your plan is time scale. It'll take a LONG TIME to improve your soil substantially by simply cover cropping. I hope to achieve very fast results with the deliberate crowding of the seedlings. The top portion of the soil could be saturated with little roots within 2 weeks, creating lots of channels for water infiltration. It'll probably take much longer for the roots to rot to the point where they'll help the soil to hold more water and nutrients, though. > How deep? How far do you have to dig before you get to a different material? I've not dug deep enough to get to a different material, but it's more than 10cm deep. > you have no earthworms is you have compacted sharp sand. I thought so initially, but since I started watering the soil, I've been seeing earthworm casts at the edges of the area, where some weeds have also started springing up. > Was this a real garden bed once? If so, how did it end up with so much sand? The owners gave up on growing things there and just wanted it to look 'neat' with no weeds....See Moretropicallvr
18 years agoalgreen
18 years agotropicallvr
18 years agoPicoAzores
8 years ago
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