How to fertilize potted banana shrubs? A full breakdown of practical methods
The banana shrub (Michelia figo) is also called banana flower, shanjiezi, hanxiao mei, shaojiu hua, and so on. It gets its name because its half-open, drooping flowers look shy and seem to be smiling without smiling. It originally grows in South China, stays green all year round, and has fragrant flowers. It can be planted in gardens and also grown as a potted plant for ornament, making it an excellent fragrant ornamental flowering tree.
The banana shrub is an evergreen shrub of the genus Michelia in the magnolia family. Even when it blooms, the flower does not open completely, seeming to smile without smiling, hence the name hanxiao (hidden smile). The banana shrub can be planted in the ground and is also suitable for potted ornament. When it blooms, its rich fragrance fills the air, making it deeply loved by people and an excellent fragrant flower variety for indoor cultivation.
The banana shrub likes fertilizer, but if base fertilizer has already been applied to the potting soil, it should not be fertilized too much during the growing period. Generally, from the beginning of May, you can start applying diluted liquid fertilizer, mostly using decomposed cake fertilizer, bone meal, chicken and duck manure, and fish offal and other composted fertilizers mixed with water, applied once every 10-15 days. July-August is the flower bud formation period, when it is suitable to apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Stop fertilizing after October.
In addition to applying enough base fertilizer when potting, the banana shrub should usually be given light fertilizer frequently, with diluted cake fertilizer water applied once every 7-10 days, and the fertilizer must be fully decomposed. To promote dark green leaf color, apply a 1:10 alum fertilizer water about once every 10 days; alum fertilizer water and cake fertilizer water can be used alternately. During the bud stage, apply a little more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, as this helps the banana shrub's flowers be brightly colored.
In the growing season, if there are continuous cloudy and rainy days, you can apply 15-20 grams of fully decomposed dry cake fertilizer on the surface of the pot. The general principle of fertilizing is: in spring and summer, growth is vigorous, so more fertilizer can be applied; in autumn, growth is slow, so less fertilizer should be applied; in winter, during dormancy or semi-dormancy or semi-dormancy or semi-dormancy, fertilizing should be stopped.
Repotting can be done once every 1-2 years, as much as possible before new leaves sprout in spring, after flowering, or in autumn. When repotting, remove some compacted old soil, replace it with fertile, loose culture soil, cut off withered and weak branches and overly old long roots, and replenish the base fertilizer.
The banana shrub likes fertilizer, and decomposed cake fertilizer, bone meal, chicken and duck manure, and fish offal and other composted fertilizers mixed with water are often used. In the growing season (April to September), apply fertilizer once about every 15 days, and stop fertilizing during the flowering period and after October. If the leaf color is found to be not bright and dark green, apply alum fertilizer water once.