Preen weed preventers & tropical plants

I posted this thread in Carolina Gardening, but also wanted to get some tropical attention here to it to see if anyone might have suggestions for using preen around tropicals.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1251597/

Thanks much!
Jennifer

It is better to use mulch as a weed blocker for bananas than herbicide.

I personally feel that one should not put pesticides near anything that they may plan to eat.

Thanks Metro! I do not plan to eat anything in my yard. There are no plants/crops grown for consumption; just ornamental purposes.

I agree with Metro. Mulch will actually do a better job of blocking weeds in your tropical garden, as a lot of the worst weeds are perennials that live over in the ground. Your Preen weed preventer has a pre-emergent herbicide that prevents weed seeds from germinating but won't do anything about the perennials that are lurking. In fact it will fertilize them.

A 3in. layer of fresh mulch will discourage at least some of those pesky weeds and grasses and a lot of the seeds as well. I just got home with a load of Florimulch, a great mulch made from an invasive tree here in Florida.

The other great thing you can do to prevent a lot of weeds is use micro-sprinklers and fine-tune the system so you're only watering the plants you really want.

I wood use cedar mulch ...bugs can't stand it!