Hi everyone --

I know the question of fertilizer formulations pops up fairly often on this Forum, and I thought I'd offer the following breakdown of the fertilizer Going Bananas uses on their own plants. They also offer it for sale in 10lb. and 50lb. bags.

My wife and I visited their nursery last month and purchased a dwarf brazilian and a dwarf namwah, along with a 50lb. bag. Their prices are very reasonable, and the value is tremendous when you see the size and health of the plants you're getting. If you're ever near Homestead, FL, I'd highly recommend stopping by. The owner met us in his driveway wearing a straw hat, and took us on a tour of his property sharing culture recommendations, etc. My wife and I had a blast, and also enjoyed sampling the various types of fruit to help choose the bananas we wanted.

The growth of our two bananas has been nothing but PHENOMENAL over the past four weeks, much more than I would've expected. Each plant has nearly doubled in size, adding three new large leaves each. He recommends heavy applications every few weeks during the growing season, although I'm embarrassed to admit that I've forgotten the details. (All I remember is that he suggested a coffee can-full as a measuring cup. Wouldn't be appropriate for a small plant, but definitely soon!) I know many of you have great success with various formulations, but I thought it'd be helpful to see what the breakdown of this one is.

Bruce C.

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6-02-12 Banana Special #7676

TOTAL NITROGEN(N)...................6.00%

0.00% Nitrate Nitrogen

4.20% Ammoniacal Nitrogen

1.00% Other Water Soluble Nitrogen (and/or urea Nitrogen)

0.80% Water Insoluble Nitrogen

AVAILABLE PHOSPHATE(P2O5)........2.00%

SOLUBLE POTASH(K2O)...............12.00%

CHLORINE(Cl),not more than...........2.00%

TOTAL MAGNESIUM(Mg)..............3.00%

3.00% Water Soluble Magnesium(Mg)

TOTAL MANGANESE(Mn).............0.10%

0.10% Soluble Manganese(Mn)

TOTAL COPPER (Cu).....................0.04%

0.04 Soluble Copper(Cu)

TOTAL ZINC(Zn)............................0.09%

0.00% Soluble Zinc(Zn)

TOTAL IRON(Fe) Total.................1.24%

0.00% Chelated Iron(Fe)

0.50% Soluble Iron(Fe)

BORON(B)....................................0.04%

MOLYBDENUM(Mo)...................0.003%

PLANT NUTRIENTS DERIVED FROM:

Sulfate of ammonia, activated sewage sludge, diammonium phosphate, sulfur-coated urea, sulfate of potash, sulfate of pot-magnesia, sodium borate, manganous oxide, copper oxide, iron oxide, zince oxide, sodium molybdate

Here is a link that might be useful: Going Bananas