Hardy Tropicals UK

Hi,

Can anybody tell me what brand of high notrogen fertiliser you are using to feed your bananas and Colocasia and similar plants?

I'm having trouble finding any with high N.

Thanks.
Steve

chicken poo pellets

Make your own.. http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/pr ... d/220.html

Ness

The only things I put on my bananas are Cointreau or Ice Cream...

for high nitrogen ...

Miracle gro soluble lawn feed (the blue powder stuff)

has an NPK of 36-6-6

not sure what the results will be when used on musa .... (perhaps use it at half strength?)

I have planted 2 musa basjoo in a garden and will try the organic approach with products that contain fish/seaweed etc ....

the rest of the plants in that garden are responding very well to this

I also have a bottle of a product that only contains nitrogen (27%), and may mix a bit into some compost tea and check what the results are

I added some bat guno on all the plants in that garden yesterday (including the 2 musa) ... it has an NPK of 3-15-4, so is low in nitrogen, and am hoping the P will feed the roots

I use chempak No2 high nitrogeon, NPK ratio of 25:15:15 + Trace elements, it's widely available (blue box)

I would agree with tropical Tom and use the Chempak, it has about the right balance of NPK and all trace elements too - unlike Miracle Gro. Excess nitrogen will result in big floppy leaves which will tear and break in strong winds. The lawn feed might be ok short term as an early boost in spring, but the Chempak you could use all growing season.

Wilko's soluble lawn feed which is £1.99 for 1kg box.
I mix this with chicken pellets and liquid seaweed for all my bananas.

miracle grow has an NPK of 36-6-6

Chempak has an NPK of 25-15-5

so .... miracle grow works out to 6-1-1

and Chempak works out to 5-3-1

so .... they are both very similar, with Chempack having a higher P ... and both have added trace elements

both when used frequently will add lots of harmful salts to the soil ...

a product such as Advanced Nutrients iguana juice grow is 100% organic, has and N-P-K of 3-1-3

made from fish extract, guano, earthworm castings, yucca, krill, alfalfa, volcanic ash and other 100% organic ingredients which include over 70 trace elements

costs £20 for a 1 litre bottle, but it is diluted at 4ml per litre of water, so, for £20 you get 250 litres of liquid fertilizer that can be used as a soil drench, or as a foliar feed

I've been using Iguana grow for a while now and everything has responded very well, and I am switching away from synthetic fertilizers and trying the organic way now (I still currently use synthetic on lawns though)

thats the way I see it, but I may be wrong?

B&Q chicken manure pellets. I bought 2 large tubs of it in 2010 and my nanas appear to love it.

Dave uses a "pinch of lawn fertilizer" along with reduced strength liquid feed I think (not Weed & Feed though !)

Rabbit poo is higher in nitrogen and phosphorus than chicken poo. I highly recommend getting a giant breed bunny for masses of free manure. You do have to compost it first but it literally only takes a few weeks to break down.

Dim wrote:miracle grow has an NPK of 36-6-6

Chempak has an NPK of 25-15-5

so .... miracle grow works out to 6-1-1

and Chempak works out to 5-3-1

so .... they are both very similar, with Chempack having a higher P ... and both have added trace elements

both when used frequently will add lots of harmful salts to the soil ...

a product such as Advanced Nutrients iguana juice grow is 100% organic, has and N-P-K of 3-1-3

made from fish extract, guano, earthworm castings, yucca, krill, alfalfa, volcanic ash and other 100% organic ingredients which include over 70 trace elements

costs £20 for a 1 litre bottle, but it is diluted at 4ml per litre of water, so, for £20 you get 250 litres of liquid fertilizer that can be used as a soil drench, or as a foliar feed

I've been using Iguana grow for a while now and everything has responded very well, and I am switching away from synthetic fertilizers and trying the organic way now (I still currently use synthetic on lawns though)

thats the way I see it, but I may be wrong?

Sorry you are wrong, the Chempak is 25:15:15 and as a ratio that's 1.7:1:1 the Miracle Gro is 6:1:1 a MASSIVE difference !!!

I'm with Simba on this one. When I was a lad the Chinese restaurant used to put batter and maple syrup. A little more down market I think.

Very easy to burn the leaves of bananas with N.

I use half strength fert more often.