We have well water. I can't stand city water myself...with all the additives in it.

Do you order the milorganite and fish fertilizer? Where from? I looked on the milorganite's website, and see they list ONE distributor in WI (where it originates), and it's quite a distance away....here I thought I could go to a store in Madison and pick some up!

Trailgaiter-

Here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area Home Depot, Lowes, and most larger garden centers carry Milorganite. I bought my most recent bag at Menards (large building center similar to Home Depot) for about $10. Also most garden centers carry fish fertilizer. It is pretty cheap and comes in a quart bottle (concentrate). It is very thick and concentrated. The stuff I'm using is Alaska brand. I suppose it is just ground up guts and scraps from the commercial fish processing plants. Looks like a brown muddy sludge and smells even worse.

Oh, and well water is perfect. I wish we had it at home here like we do up at the cabin. We have a good deep well up there and there is no stinky iron either. It is like spring water. I fill bottles to bring home for drinking...

We have Menards and Home Depot here...I'll have to check 'em out! Tomorrow's the plan. Had company/family over the weekend, from MNPLS/St. Paul...I get up there every now and then too.

Jim, your garden is so cool! The Ensete is massive......I think I can see the top of the leaves from my garden!!

I got the milorganite today! I am not sure how much, how often? I sprinkled half a cup on them....

The bananas have mulch over them. Do I have to push the mulch aside each time to get it on the soil? How often should I apply the milorganite? How late into the year? Was half a cup enough? I also tried it on a shrub that got bad winter burn last winter, and has been trying hard to come back from that, and put some on my cannas. Got it at Menards for...oh, I think it was $7.99.

And....my maurelii is coming tomorrow!! So excited! I think, given the advice, I'll plant it in the ground until it gets cooler...then pot it for bringing in the house.

I keep the mulch at least a few inches away from the banana stems. Around each stem "trunk" there's about an 8-10" diameter circle of exposed soil. The mulch I use (cedar) is only about 2" deep also. 1/2 to 1 cup Milorganite depending on plant size right on top of the soil at the stems. Water in it well but there will still be a pile evident after watering. It is best absorbed when the weather is warm/hot. Don't worry about using too much, it is non chemical and won't ever burn your bananas. Refresh the pile at the minimum of once per week. You should get good results! I know of several people who have had huge success using Milorganite on bananas which is what prompted me to start using it myself a couple years ago. Other plants, including your lawn seem to love the stuff too. I recommend the fish fertilizer too if you can find it. also occasionally use Miracle Grow, Osmocote, etc. in moderation. Bananas are HEAVY feeders. Good luck!

Thanks for the great info!

That was funny Tim

Trailgaiter

There is really no need to have mulch around your bananas.

I would pull it back a few feet and form a ring that will help
keep the water in close to your plants instead of running off
when you are watering.

Thanks! I'll make a ring, as you suggested, both for watering and fertilizing... I did the mulch thing because I grow more weeds than I do plants here! LOL

Thought I'd update....my basjoos are starting to look a WHOLE LOT better!! I bought the milorganite on the 12th and applied it right away, I'm not saying it's that... I knew at the time they were finally finishing their "acclimating" too...so it all just worked out.

Hey Jim, I see you wrap your maurelii p-stems....is that to just keep it all together if you've trimmed old leaves off? To help keep it stronger? I'm still admiring your pics.... did I mention here I got a maurelii? A week ago it came, it was beautiful, and 22" 3x bigger than my basjoos when I got them. Of course, now it's acclimating...lol

But here's the basjoo I've been photographing today (they're both the same, basically). The last photo I shared of them was taken just over two weeks ago....so the difference is pretty amazing!

[/img]

Nice and healthy looking.
They'll really take off now.

Barb

I wrapped the Abyssinian to keep it from (potentially)blowing over.

Yeah, the corms are actually fairly small for the size of those bananas, aren't they? Makes sense....

I suppose I'll have to go through this acclimation thing every year then....but I'm thinking with fertilizing them, perhaps it will help the growth rate, therefore help them acclimate faster....thinking so anyway.

The basjoos I'm sure will not be large enough to mulch/leave out over winter, so I'll pot them (and of course the maurelii) for winter and have to go through the whole acclimation thing again! That part was not fun at all....but now watching how beautifully these basjoos are starting to fill out, it was worth it!

I went from NO annuals/tropicals to two basjoos, a maurelii, cannas, persian shield, red spike, and caladiums this year. The caladiums and spike I'll let go, but everything else I plan to dig up for next year....the persian shield I hear does ok as a house plant thru winter...

Next year....who knows. More cannas I'm hoping (striped), and I wanted to look into elephant ears. I've got a lot of things I like....but will have to learn more. Still, as much as I love palms, just not sure I'm ready to go there yet. Lights, boxes...I don't think hubby would be on my side for that one! lol

What the Abyssinian lacks in a corm,it more than makes
up for with a massive trunk!
Not much of a root system though,so they need protection
form the wind.

The Basjoo would probably overwinter if they get big enough
to start producing pups.

So they're pretty different than the basjoo...in pictures, I do see them as much more...um...stocky!

As far as protecting yours from the wind, do you actually stake them then?

Only the Abyssinian is staked.