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If you are starting a banana farm, Panama disease (Fusarium wilt of banana) is the risk to plan for. How to prevent Panama disease in bananas comes down to keeping the fungus out, because no fertilizer prevents or cures it and once it is in the soil it stays for decades (Pegg et al., 2019; […]

Calcium deficiency in banana shows first on the youngest leaves, as thickened veins and a saw-tooth pattern of yellow and dead tissue along the leaf margin, and in severe cases as “spike leaf”, new leaves with little or no blade, and poor-quality fruit (Turner, 1987; Martin-Prével, 1980). On most plantation soils it is not a […]

A calcium fertilizer supplies the calcium that holds plant cell walls and membranes together, but whether it reaches the fruit depends as much on water flow as on the fertilizer you choose. Calcium travels with water to the leaves and barely moves out of them again, so fruit and young leaves can run short even […]

Water-soluble fertilizer for banana lets you feed the crop through drip in small doses that follow each growth stage, and in trials this gave more fruit from less fertilizer and water than soil-applied fertilizer. The best water-soluble fertilizer for banana is the one that dissolves cleanly in your water, matches the growth stage and costs […]

To increase banana bunch weight, build a large, healthy leaf canopy and good potassium reserves before the bunch emerges, keep water supply steady, and protect the leaves until harvest. Most of the bunch’s potential is set before shooting: the number of fruits depends on the leaf area the plant has when it initiates its flower […]

The right fertilizer for banana plants is the one that matches what the crop removes, what your soil already holds and the stage the plant is in. Banana takes up far more potassium than any other nutrient, followed by nitrogen and calcium, so K supply and timing decide much of the result. This guide covers […]

Potassium fertilizer replaces the potassium (K) your crop takes from the soil faster than the soil can release it. After nitrogen, potassium is the nutrient plants need in the largest amounts (Zörb et al., 2014), mainly to move water and sugars and to keep their cells working under stress. The common sources (muriate of potash, […]

Muriate of potash (MOP), sulfate of potash (SOP) and potassium nitrate all supply the potassium a banana crop needs, so the best potash for banana plants depends on your water, soil, application method and budget, not on the potassium itself. MOP is the cheapest and most widely used source; SOP adds the least salt and […]

A good banana fertilizer schedule front-loads nitrogen and phosphorus in the first months after planting, then keeps potassium high from flower initiation through bunch filling. This guide shows how to split N, P and K across the growth stages of a plant crop, how a ratoon program differs, and how to run the same schedule […]