I prefer using Osmocote, in the 18-6-12 formulation, AND LOTS of organic matter. (We always have a horse manure & shavings mixture..owning "hay burners"). Most of these plants are very heavy feeders, and revel in organic matter. Since moving from the Seattle area to Coastal GA, seven years ago..I have found that in the HOT, humid SE, it becomes much more imperitive to continually add ever more "organic stuff"..the subtropical climate rapidly breaks down amendments in the coastal sandy soil. You MUST improve the organic content of your soil, to do well with these sorts of plants, whether in the cool NW, or the sultry SE.

Thanks, Randi:
I'll try Osmocote this year. 2/3rds of our 5-acres is dediduous/evergreen woods with lots of organic matter - decaying trees, leaves, mucky pondwater, old owner's pygmy goat poop. Also an occasional carburetor(!). I've been to too busy/lazy to realize what a goldmine of soil we have, but this year hubby dozed a dirtbike track through it all so at least it'll be easier to push the ole' wheelbarrow back there and load it up. "Fresh" food for all my babies! Thanks for the advice; checked your page and good luck on your future move!

I use plain old grass fertilizer on the bananas, cannas, etc at the beginning of the season. Once they get going vigorously, i shift to double strength Miracle Gro general fertilizer with a bit of epsom salts added. works great!

I was told by the Rare Plant Research guys to use approximately 20 nitrogen (and low on the other stuff). The person at Portland Nursery suggested Bat Guano which is about 13% N. I also looked at the Osmocote and think I may use some of that. Question: I use liquid fertilizer which is about %20 N for indoor plants though I dilute it to the mixture they suggest (a scoop for a gallon. But I don't think this would give me enough nitrogen for outdoor tropical plants. Does anyone know about that? At least the osmocote stays in the ground for a long time (which, I believe, the liquid fertilizer wouldn't). I do amend my soil every year and that's why I'm thinking about the bat guano this year. Is it really different from chicken manure?
(I guess that's my second question.).

I use liberal amounts of Shult's Expert Citrus and Tropical every three weeks because I use it to fertilized my hibiscus and most commercial fertilizers have too much potasium for them. I will also use Miracle Grow on the other plants if they are in seperate pots or planters, but since the hibiscus are planted in beds with cannas, palms, taros, ect. I like to use the Citrus and Tropical

Hello - first time poster here.. I favor the Bat Guano myself. I batch up my own stuff using bat guano and worm castings then brewing it for two days - ala Soil Soup. It works wonders as both a foliar and soil spray.