Banana Tree Planting Density Per Mu, Fertilization Timing, Fertilizers and Precautions

Banana is a tropical fruit that many people like to eat. It is rich in nutrients and has many benefits for the human body. Today we will introduce how many banana trees to plant per mu, when to fertilize, which fertilizer is best, and what precautions to take.

1. How many banana trees to plant per mu?

The best time to plant bananas is in spring, using trench planting and pit planting methods. Paddy fields use trench planting, requiring deep plowing of the soil followed by ridge formation, with two rows per ridge, a trench depth of 0.5 m and width of 0.3 m between ridges, and a ridge length of 100 m, with secondary drainage ditches to facilitate irrigation in the dry season and drainage in the rainy season. The planting spacing follows a wide-narrow row pattern of 1.7×2.2 m, with 176 plants per mu. Dry land uses the pit planting method, with a wide-narrow row spacing of 1.7×2.6 m, planting 150 plants per mu.

2. When to fertilize? Which fertilizer is best?

After planting, fertilization should follow the principle of “frequent application, light application, and targeted application.” Two to three weeks after planting, apply 5 kg of diluted manure water or a small amount of quick-acting chemical fertilizer mixed with water, once every 7 to 10 days (on sunny days, poured 10 to 15 cm from the banana sucker), until the plant bolts. As the plant grows, gradually expand the fertilization area along the canopy spread. In addition to routine topdressing, two heavy fertilizer applications should be combined with intertillage and earthing up. The first is the stalk-changing fertilizer, applied from late April to early May, with 0.3 kg each of phosphate fertilizer and potassium fertilizer per plant, plus 3 kg of ash manure. The second is the fruit-changing fertilizer, applied at the beginning of autumn or from late June to early July, with 5 kg of ash manure and 0.5 kg of compound fertilizer per plant.

After planting, as the plant grows, promptly remove new shoots from the roots. During the bolting and fruiting stage, determine the appropriate number of fruits to retain based on the plant's growth condition, and remove the flower buds to ensure an adequate nutrient supply for the plant.

3. What precautions should be taken?

Banana leaves are large, the pseudostem is brittle, and the roots are shallow, making it vulnerable to wind damage. At wind speeds of 25 to 30 km/h, leaves are torn and petioles are broken; at 65 km/h, the pseudostem breaks or the entire plant is blown over; at 100 km/h, an entire banana plantation can be destroyed.