Question for all you banana and EE growers (Jim?)

12 years ago

Is it possible to over-fertilize bananas or elephant ears? I want my bananas to grow as quickly as possible, and I'm willing to fertilize twice a week with miracle gro if needed, but I don't want to burn them. Also don't want to rot the roots by overwatering, which I've been worrying about lately. We've only been in the low 80s recently for highs. My basjoo after 4 or 5 summers in the ground got to 8 feet last summer, the tallest yet, but Jim said his got to 12 feet. Is there something else I could be doing to promote growth other than my weather? What kind of fertilizing regimen does everybody have for theirs?

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Comments (10)

statenislandpalm7a
12 years ago
If its hot you can put as much fertilizer as you want as long as you water it in. Ive found that tropicals will get burned if the fertilizer is in contact with leaves, stems, roots. If you water after you fertilize it wont harm the plants. If you are using miracle grow its probably slow release so its nearly imposible to over use it. To promote faster growth I would water everyday that it is 80 or above and it doesn't rain.
jimhardy
12 years ago
Yea I agree in principle,never overwatered a Banana in summer!

They will/can burn in my experience even with what they recommend on the M-Grow box.

I think half strength as much as you want would work well.

How are they looking now???
Mine are basically where they were last year(one of few plants that are)
but I think only because they are better established.

Might be worth trying to cut them back less and save some more trunk,
they should come back faster(or at least bigger),
this is the case with one of mine that came back from the trunk.
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I guess by ensete standards, my larger one really isn't that large, but it is approaching 6 feet. I tend to be lazy, even with my palms, and I'm not very good at acclimating them to full sunlight when I put them out in the spring. Once they're out, that's where they stay. I guess if I really took the time to acclimate it properly, the larger one might be able to hold on to a couple of leaves, but like I said, I'm lazy. I'm not really concerned about losing the leaves, I'm more focused on trying to get the stem and corm large, so when I do put it outside, in ground, it'll get huge fast. Someone told me once that even a small ensete, 1 or 2 feet, could easily reach 10 feet by the end of summer. If that's true and they do grow that fast, I'm expecting maybe 15 or more feet by the end of next summer. I like the "Jack and the Beanstalk" effect. Anyway, yes, I do have an insulated, attached garage, but I am afraid I'd lose it if I stored them out there. I'm worried that when it's really cold out, and I open the garage, the cold burst would do them in. Generally the coldest the garage gets is 35 in the dead of winter. In addition, I'm afraid someone here at my house would kill it by turning the torpedo kerosene heater on and letting it get too hot in there. Really sorry this post is so long, but one more question: I have a 6 foot clump of Dwarf Cavendish bananas in my garage, in pot with dirt, actually its one of those plastic tubs, and I don't know if I should water it or not. I felt the trunks, and they're not 100% firm, the leaves have died off because of the heater being run occasionally. I haven't watered it yet, and I'm reluctant to water because I don't want the corms to rot. What do you think? To water or not to water. That is MY question. I want to thank you so much for all of your help you've offered and for taking the time to read my posts. I've been doing palms for about the last 7 or 8 years, but new to bananas.
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wetsuiter
12 years ago
I wish I could slow down the growth of my bananas this time of year! They are perfect height in lining my back porch. By August they're getting close to the porch roof and by the time the first frost gets them in mid November they're about 12' tall. A bit more than I've bargained for!
islandbreeze
Original Author
12 years ago
They're probably just short of 3 feet tall right now, and it's already the end of June. I guess I just expected them to be a little bigger at this point. However, my elephant ears, Thai Giant included, don't seem to mind the cooler summer, and look like they might start shading out the banana pups that are planted close by.

If your bananas are getting too tall, you can cut the pseudostem down and let the leaves regrow at a shorter height. I do all I can to get mine as big as I possibly can, that's the fun of a banana!
jimhardy
12 years ago
Ryan how is your Thai giant doing???

My small one is up to 10" leaves,way behind what it did
last year for sure,however............................
the big one has a 35" leaf on it,it grew 2" two days
ago and has grown 3" today.

All I can say is,what a monster!

My biggest Basjoo is around 6'.

It's only the end of June-they will certainly put out some
serious growth in July!

Really just now getting to the good growing part of the season!
butiaman
12 years ago
I give my bananas 19-19-19 Southern States fertilizer once a month.I also give them Epsom Salt at the same time.I dont measure either one.I just sprinkle both very heavily all in the bed,and then water in.I also spray them with Neptune's Harvest and Superthrive once a week.I flood them with water every other day.I've never had any rot on them or fertilizer burn.From my experience bananas eat fertilizer like kids eat candy,and they love water.
Randy
mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
12 years ago
Mine gets Miracle Grow all purpose 1/2 strength once a week and water just about everyday now that we are hitting 90 degrees plus. It has grown 4 feet in 2 months.

Jim

how do you overwinter your Thai Giant. Is yours in ground. I just got one about 3 weeks ago. its growing fast and its leaves are about 24" long. Mine is in ground and I have a greenhouse I can move it to. I just can find any info on if they form a tuber that can be stored dormant.

Mike
jimhardy
12 years ago
My Alocasia Borneo giant withered away to nothing inside
and I quit watering it,I was surprised to see it was alive
like an EE bulb in early summer...it was still in my room!

I think because I stopped watering it that it was preserved!

The Thai giant I dug up and put in my room(west window)
it slowly deteriorated(shrunk) over winter but still held 2 leaves.

Pretty easy to overwinter IMO,the only prob with it being
in your greenhouse is the huge leaves may take over but certainly doable!!
islandbreeze
Original Author
12 years ago
I water almost every day as long as we're in the 80s or hotter. I've been fertilizing with miracle gro granules when first planted, milorganite, coffee grounds, and liquid miracle gro so far twice this growing season.

Jim- My Thai Giant from last year died in March, slowly declined to nothing. I was watering it frequently to keep it growing, and because I understand that EEs love water, and can be grown in bogs or standing water. I figured it couldn't hurt, but maybe I was wrong. How often did you water yours?

I bought 2 new TG's from Brian's and planted them a little over a month ago. One is outperforming the other though. The smaller has 16" leaves, and the larger has 20". Both just finished pushing up a new leaf yesterday, so once those open, I can get new measurements.
jimhardy
12 years ago
...And some pics!

Thai giant should be kept drier over winter in soil...
there are some that store the bulb in water though.

My biggest one put out a 30" leaf,the next day it was
32",day after 35"(we had a low of 80f that night)and yesterday
it was 37"...haven't measured it today yet.
It also put out a flower spathe with this leaf unfortunately...
but we'll see-still very early in
the season!

Question for all you banana and EE growers (Jim?)

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