Bananafan, looks like you're not getting any takers from experts on this so I'll offer my 2 cents worth. "meaning I am not an expert"

Bonemeal is not a balanced fertilizer, it really has no nitrogen to speak of. Banana's aren't too picky about fertilzer, but they do prefer a general balance.

I've heard people, who know much more about them than I, say put the cheapest stuff you can buy, 20-20-20, and they'll do great.

Now I'm sure people can can debate that all day, but in the end, it's generaly probably pretty true.

As for bone meal, one thing about it is that it's a really slow release type of fertilizer. So it would probably be just fine as long you supplimented it with other stuff.

Good luck with you bananas this year. I'm on the road now and can't wait to get home as I got a couple pups that need moving!

Take care.

Nightrider,

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Your advice certainly makes a lot of sense to me. I've always been curious about bone meal. Maybe I'll feed it to my other plants who are more fussy with other kinds of fertilizers. My lychees, mangos and longans are certainly the more fussy ones. I've also fed these plants with fish emulsion which they seem to like so far.

I can imagine your excitement to rush home to see your yard babies. One of my fastest growing bananas now is my praying hands. The mother plant died which resulted in four new pups. The oldest pup is now almost 16 ft tall. It's fun to watch these giants grow. I only hope they won't fruit in December. Three of my bananas bloomed in December, but all were killed. The only good that came out of it is that more pups have since emerged.

Thanks again and hope you see some new growth this week.

Hi,

Just saw your post and thought I'd throw an idea out. It comes with the disclaimer, though, that I'm not an expert either! LOL

Since the banana plant puts on a lot of leaf mass, it seems that it would benefit from a balance or even a bit higher nitrogen number while it's doing it's vegetative growth. But, banana fruits do contain a lot of potassium so it might be beneficial to put the bonemeal on when flowering starts.

Just a couple thoughts to consider . . .

Dave

daveandlaura,

Thanks for the response. Your advice makes sense to me too. I'll save the bone meal for flowering time then. I would suppose that bone meal is a natural ingredient just like fish emulsion and therefore shouldn't burn like other fertilizers. Conclusion I make is that maybe it's safe for other plants too? Still, I'm not too sure if I should experiment it with other plants. Any further thoughts?

This is interesting...
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Bonemeal.pdf

Ornata -- very interesting article! And it points out a gross mistake in my thinking!!! :( In my tiredness or haste (or some other excuse LOL) to respond I was thinking bonemeal was high in potassium, when in fact it is high in phosporous! Phosphorous is supposed to aid in inducing/supporting blooming. So, ignore everything I said about maybe having better fruits.

I'll just crawl back in my hole now . . . LOL

bananafan, you really picked up on my enthusiasm to get home and tend my plants. Fact is, saddly, I'm away more than I am at home. So not only does my wife have to deal with being alone, but she also has help me out with watering my plants.

Ahhh, my wife, she is a saint.

But I love being in my garden. I'll tell you a funny story. I'm such an enthusiastic gardener, that really, when I'm home, I'm working in the garden. And when I'm working in the garden, I'm a huge stinky mess. Matter o fact, the only creature who will come near me is my cat.

When I was done working today, as I walked to my truck to make a beer run, I noticed their were people looking at the house across the street, which is for sale. So as a curtesy to the sellers, I actually stayed out of sight until the couple went inside so as not to spoil that sale. That's how decrepid and sullen I get!

ANyways, but back to bananas. I think I'm in the same spot with a big plant getting ready to die and pushing up pups. Oh yeah, gotta like that. Those bananas sure know how to "keep it going".

I'm going to try something new... At least for me. Once the production of pups is over with, I'm going to dig up the parent corm and divide it.

Yeah I know, it's a freaky procedure... But the way I see things, is that there is still some milliage left in that parent corm even if it's fruited and ready to die.

We'll see!

CHeers,
Banana Mike