Best fertilizer for banana plant?
I would like to know what the best or better fertilizer for a musa banana plant is. I've seen someone use 10-10-10 all purpse fertilizer but don't know if it is any good. #banana
3
I've never taken care of a banana plant before, but I do know to use natural fertilizer. MiracleGro is popular, but it's full of chemicals and will maybe even make the bananas harmful to eat.
10-10-10, or 1-1-1, is known as a "balanced" fertilizer. It is the most common kind out there, and that fact seriously annoys me.
In nature, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium aren't found in perfect ratios like that. It varies a little from area to area, but generally, it looks more like 4-1-2 or something. (I tried to find a source for that info, but Google only gave me stuff about fertilizer instead of natural nutrient ratios😡)
Nitrogen is the most variable, as it can easily come and go from the soil in all sorts of ways, but it basically is the primary ingredient for photosynthesis.
Phosphorus is important for growth, and it's needed to get strong roots, new leaves, big flowers, etc.
Potassium is used for the plant's basic functions. Water use, disease and pest resistance, and fruit production all need potassium to do their things.
It's true that every plant takes up nutrients a little differently, but there aren't a lot of species that have been very throughly studied in that area (or at least have their results easily found), so I tend to have a general use fertilizer for the majority of my plants, a phosphorus rich fertilizer to use for propogation, and a nitrogen heavy fertilizer for my acid-loving plants like orchids.
My go to brand is Miracle-Gro's water soluble 'All Purpose plant food' which has a ratio of 24-8-16,
'Bloom Booster flower Food' which has a ratio of 10-52-10,
and 'Miracid Acid-Loving plant food' which has a ratio of 30-10-10.
Whatever you end up getting, remember not to fertilize every watering. The reason that the 'balanced' fertilizers annoy me so much is because the nutrients don't get taken up at equal rates, so the ones that don't get taken up as quickly will start to build up and cause rootburn. This is something that can happen with and fertilizer, even one that's perfect for your plant, but it's especially easy to do with 'balanced' fertilizers. Make sure you only use a little fertilizer at a time and/or make sure you have a couple of waterings without fertilizer between applications so that some of the excess nutrients and salts can get flushed out.
Also, organic fertilizer like bone meal, worm castings, and compost is in a form that takes longer for the plant to break down, thus greatly reducing the risk of root burn. It isn't the most practical for frequent application unless you use compost tea or something, but if you mix it into the soil when you repot plants, it can be a great primary source of nutrients between chemical nutrient applications.
I'm not a professional expert or anything. This is all stuff I just looked up on the internet for my own plant care. So if you find contradicting information with what I have, feel free to ignore me. But I hope I was at least able to provide you with a good base to work with.
Good luck with your banana plant! Have a wonderful day!
In nature, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium aren't found in perfect ratios like that. It varies a little from area to area, but generally, it looks more like 4-1-2 or something. (I tried to find a source for that info, but Google only gave me stuff about fertilizer instead of natural nutrient ratios😡)
Nitrogen is the most variable, as it can easily come and go from the soil in all sorts of ways, but it basically is the primary ingredient for photosynthesis.
Phosphorus is important for growth, and it's needed to get strong roots, new leaves, big flowers, etc.
Potassium is used for the plant's basic functions. Water use, disease and pest resistance, and fruit production all need potassium to do their things.
It's true that every plant takes up nutrients a little differently, but there aren't a lot of species that have been very throughly studied in that area (or at least have their results easily found), so I tend to have a general use fertilizer for the majority of my plants, a phosphorus rich fertilizer to use for propogation, and a nitrogen heavy fertilizer for my acid-loving plants like orchids.
My go to brand is Miracle-Gro's water soluble 'All Purpose plant food' which has a ratio of 24-8-16,
'Bloom Booster flower Food' which has a ratio of 10-52-10,
and 'Miracid Acid-Loving plant food' which has a ratio of 30-10-10.
Whatever you end up getting, remember not to fertilize every watering. The reason that the 'balanced' fertilizers annoy me so much is because the nutrients don't get taken up at equal rates, so the ones that don't get taken up as quickly will start to build up and cause rootburn. This is something that can happen with and fertilizer, even one that's perfect for your plant, but it's especially easy to do with 'balanced' fertilizers. Make sure you only use a little fertilizer at a time and/or make sure you have a couple of waterings without fertilizer between applications so that some of the excess nutrients and salts can get flushed out.
Also, organic fertilizer like bone meal, worm castings, and compost is in a form that takes longer for the plant to break down, thus greatly reducing the risk of root burn. It isn't the most practical for frequent application unless you use compost tea or something, but if you mix it into the soil when you repot plants, it can be a great primary source of nutrients between chemical nutrient applications.
I'm not a professional expert or anything. This is all stuff I just looked up on the internet for my own plant care. So if you find contradicting information with what I have, feel free to ignore me. But I hope I was at least able to provide you with a good base to work with.
Good luck with your banana plant! Have a wonderful day!
@SimpleSucc
Everything is made up of chemicals. Even organic fertilizer is made up of chemicals. What makes organic fertilizer healthier for the plant is that the form that its NPK takes is a little more naturally processed, and therefore harder to break down, reducing the risks associated with chemical buildup. Inorganic fertilizers like Miracle-Gro have an NPK ratio in a more raw form, making them easier for the plant to break down but increasing the risks associated with chemical buildup.
There's also an issue in the farming industry where the overuse of inorganic fertilizers is leading to the chemicals getting leached out of the soil instead of sticking around in the topsoil like organic fertilizer does. This can lead to it polluting water sources, where toxic alge can use it to start taking over, causing health issues for local people and wildlife.
If inorganic fertilizer is used for potted plants where the nutrients can't leach out as easily or sparingly outside, there will not be an environmental issue.
If inorganic fertilizer is used at least every other watering or so, there will not be a chemical buildup to cause rootburn.
If you use inorganic fertilizer, your plant's fruit will be just as healthy as if you used organic fertilizer. By the time they make it to the frute, the nutrients will have been processed into the form they need to be in order to be fruit, no matter what form they started as when you put them in the soil. There is no risk of food poisoning if you use inorganic fertilizer.
It's not a good idea to use it too heavily, and if you have the resources and energy to put into organic fertilizer then your plants will be perfectly happy and healthy, with practically no risk of getting root burn. But if used responsibly, inorganic fertilizer is also a perfectly good way to give your plants a quick and easy nutrient boost, and they won't be any less happy and healthy for it.
Everything is made up of chemicals. Even organic fertilizer is made up of chemicals. What makes organic fertilizer healthier for the plant is that the form that its NPK takes is a little more naturally processed, and therefore harder to break down, reducing the risks associated with chemical buildup. Inorganic fertilizers like Miracle-Gro have an NPK ratio in a more raw form, making them easier for the plant to break down but increasing the risks associated with chemical buildup.
There's also an issue in the farming industry where the overuse of inorganic fertilizers is leading to the chemicals getting leached out of the soil instead of sticking around in the topsoil like organic fertilizer does. This can lead to it polluting water sources, where toxic alge can use it to start taking over, causing health issues for local people and wildlife.
If inorganic fertilizer is used for potted plants where the nutrients can't leach out as easily or sparingly outside, there will not be an environmental issue.
If inorganic fertilizer is used at least every other watering or so, there will not be a chemical buildup to cause rootburn.
If you use inorganic fertilizer, your plant's fruit will be just as healthy as if you used organic fertilizer. By the time they make it to the frute, the nutrients will have been processed into the form they need to be in order to be fruit, no matter what form they started as when you put them in the soil. There is no risk of food poisoning if you use inorganic fertilizer.
It's not a good idea to use it too heavily, and if you have the resources and energy to put into organic fertilizer then your plants will be perfectly happy and healthy, with practically no risk of getting root burn. But if used responsibly, inorganic fertilizer is also a perfectly good way to give your plants a quick and easy nutrient boost, and they won't be any less happy and healthy for it.