A neighbor had this plant in her yard where it was not doing well. She had it located on a downward slope towards the lake where it was probably getting a lot of gusty winds across it. The leaves were always shredded and her husband hated it, so she gave it to me. I planted it on the North facing side of our house where it gets a bit of very early morning, and late afternoon sun, but is mostly sheltered from the winds. This is a picture of it shortly after I planted it, on April 18th.
Here is a picture of it, yesterday, July 23rd. This is what I call phenomenal growth in three months, mostly in 100 degree heat!
Hey Lily, It looks great! Ensetes grow really fast. What are you fertilizing with?
Dean,
I bought some of the Banana Fuel from Wellspring on E-Bay. For the first month it was in the ground, it did not do much. But after the fertilizer, it took off. Most of this growth is actually in the last two months since I fertilized it at the end of May. I planted it hoping it would grow big enough to hide that ugly water-softener box behind it.
I lusted after these, but they are so expensive at the nursery, that I just refused to buy one. When my neighbor said that she was going to have this one removed from her yard, I was stunned.
Sheral
Sheral, it looks like it's doing a great job hiding the water softner box now. I'll have to look into the Banana Fuel.
I know what you mean about the cost. I've seen them too. I haven't wanted to pay that much for them. What a nice neighbor to give it to you.
Dean,
The neighbor who gave it to me has a huge, lake-front estate that over looks the marina. She had thousands of dollars worth of gorgeous landscaping planted, but apparently she has a brown thumb. About the same time she gave this to me, she had more than a dozen, 6-8 feet tall junipers planted out front of her property. About half of them are now dead, and the others do not look good. What a shame. They were simply gorgeous when they were first put in.
At first, I was a little hesitant to buy something just for bananas, but since I am putting in a tropical garden with many bananas, I went ahead and bought it. To save on shipping, I bought six bags of it. That is more than I will need for a very long time, so I would be happy to sell you some for exactly what I paid for it. I think it was about $5 for a sealed 1 and a half pound bag.
We plan to go to Cedar Park this weekend to the Hill Country Water Gardens. If you are around, you could meet my husband and I there, and we can make the exchange. How does that sound? That way you can try it out before you decide if you want to buy more.
Sheral
Sheral,
What a shame she dosen't know how to take care of it all.
Is the fertilizer organic? I'm trying to stay organic.
Dean
Dean,
Good question. I do not think so. Here is a photo of the label. Surely it would be very clearly marked as organic if it was. Sorry this is not what you would like.
I do have a large quantity of Bat Guano. I bought two, 11 pound bags of it. I use a weak solution of Miracle Grow (yeah, I know it is not organic), with Superthrive and Bat Guano as additives, and water my plants with it about once or twice a week. That is the mainstay of my fertilizer program. I also use Sea Tea and some organic stuff that I get from the Natural Gardener on occasion, and for special plants. Some of my plants have some Osmocote sprinkled around them as well. I try not to depend on a single type of fertilizer for any of my plants.
I D-mailed you.
