Banana trees "fixing" the soil.

[Kona fruit farm]

I have heard a few people talk about how banana trees "fix" the soil.  Particularly to plant bananas around mangosteen trees.   What do the banana trees fix exactly?  And are they beneficial to be planted around other trees besides mangosteen?   

Thanks everyone!

[KarenRei]

I have heard a few people talk about how banana trees "fix" the soil.  Particularly to plant bananas around mangosteen trees.   What do the banana trees fix exactly?  And are they beneficial to be planted around other trees besides mangosteen?   

Thanks everyone!

I've never heard of that before. And bananas love fertilization, esp N.

[BMc]

As far as I know they mostly 'fix' the sunlight...

[Coconut]

I have heard a few people talk about how banana trees "fix" the soil.  Particularly to plant bananas around mangosteen trees.   What do the banana trees fix exactly?  And are they beneficial to be planted around other trees besides mangosteen?   

Thanks everyone!

I have grown the red Dwarf banana over years, they feed heavily & moistures are constant to have great fruit.  Companion planting  among fruit trees I noticed a decline in both companion fruit trees ( accept shade loving Coffee) due to excess shade by both parties.

In Central America where they are extensively grown monocultures, Banana pretty much exhaust the soil nutrients and little of anything can be grown on it without some type nutrient remedials or fallowing the land for pasture after a few year of cultivation & disease buildup.  We use them around coffee as a shade barrier and the dead leaves act as a humus builder in the soil on our heirloom bourbon coffee plantations in SE Asia highland (fruits are fed to the worker). ☕️🍌

[fruitlovers]

I have heard a few people talk about how banana trees "fix" the soil.  Particularly to plant bananas around mangosteen trees.   What do the banana trees fix exactly?  And are they beneficial to be planted around other trees besides mangosteen?   

Thanks everyone!

Bananas may be beneficial around mangosteens only to provide some shade while the mangosteen plants are still small. Most tropicals require some shade when little and a fast cash crop like bananas can produce fast and later be removed when main crop gets big enough. But bananas are big feeders and don't fix anything in the soil, rather they require a lot, especially nitrogen and potassium.
Maybe you are confused with legumes which can fix nitrogen into the soil by removing nitrogen from the air and putting it into the soil for the plant's use?

[zands]

My soil is pretty much devoid of nutrients and bananas thrive in it. So I don't know how they exhaust the soil. I have 6 inches of topsoil smeared on top of high ph "fill" that was dredged up to make drainage canals. Regular trees seem to create humus in the soil via rotting roots and falling leaves. I think bananas are similar. I think they can be humus builders via roots and via mulching with spent banana stalks. Once the stalk fruits you should cut it down

theory: Mulch fruit trees with wood chips for the first five years to add humus to the soil and to foster all important mycorrhizal fungi. This w leaf fall replicates the forest floor. Then the humus creation engine is in motion and mulch is no longer needed but if used it will help trees grow and produce fruit.

Posted by: BMc
As far as I know they mostly 'fix' the sunlight...

Agreed! They are solar collection devices.                         (so are cats )

[Viking Guy]

They fix soggy soils.  Problems with freestanding water?  Plant bananas.  They'll drink it all up.

[zands]

They fix soggy soils.  Problems with freestanding water?  Plant bananas.  They'll drink it all up.

I removed some banana roots (corms?) and threw them into a five gallon bucket for someone to take and plant. He never took them. I forgot about the bucket. Three months later I see a banana shoot poking up above 5 inches of rain water. The above water banana part had leaves and was growing. So they are an aquatic plant of sorts

[fruitlovers]

My soil is pretty much devoid of nutrients and bananas thrive in it. So I don't know how they exhaust the soil. I have 6 inches of topsoil smeared on top of high ph "fill" that was dredged up to make drainage canals. Regular trees seem to create humus in the soil via rotting roots and falling leaves. I think bananas are similar. I think they can be humus builders via roots and via mulching with spent banana stalks. Once the stalk fruits you should cut it down

theory: Mulch fruit trees with wood chips for the first five years to add humus to the soil and to foster all important mycorrhizal fungi. This w leaf fall replicates the forest floor. Then the humus creation engine is in motion and mulch is no longer needed but if used it will help trees grow and produce fruit.

Posted by: BMc
As far as I know they mostly 'fix' the sunlight...

Agreed! They are solar collection devices.                         (so are cats )

Your soil must not be as devoid of nutrients as you think. To get good stalks of banana you need to add lots of nutrients, especially potassium. Without potassium the stalks will be very small, and after a while will make stalks without any bananas on it. I see this all the time in rows that i don't fertilize.

[jez251]

I've got a pomegranate that's right next to a banana patch that always looms chloritic. Might be due to the bananas pulling all tge available nutrients their way. I fertilize the pomegranate with 8-3-9 but it stays yellow. The soil around the banana patch looks so rich and dark, and fertile.

Jaime

[Pancrazio]

I have heard a few people talk about how banana trees "fix" the soil. 

I agree with what everyone else has said. They do take a lot of nutrients.
Maybe your were referring to "fixing" the soil from an "aeration" standpoint? Bananas have big roots that don't last long, so i assume that, on the long run, they must aerate heavy soil where they are grown, sort of earthworms. I can't think any other way banana can have to "fix" the soil.

[fisherking73]

Bananas and papayas are the plants I have had no problems getting to grow LOL I can't kill or my dogs couldn't (when the plants were small the dogs trampled em over and over until I moved them to a protected area lol) and they just kept growing back. I have not fertilized much, so curious how good my soil is or might be.

[fruitlovers]

Bananas and papayas are the plants I have had no problems getting to grow LOL I can't kill or my dogs couldn't (when the plants were small the dogs trampled em over and over until I moved them to a protected area lol) and they just kept growing back. I have not fertilized much, so curious how good my soil is or might be.

Here wild pigs, horses, and cattle will munch your bananas instead.

[fruitlovers]

In Hawaii what bananas fix into the soil are tons of nematodes. The banana roots are a real magnet for these creatures.

[Finca La Isla]

On my farm bananas produce well without any fertilizer, especially if they have some shade from nitrogen fixers.  Where we get namatodes is in plantain, a very serious problem.
I wouldn't use bananas for shade of small fruit trees because they will compete with them and they could fall directly on the fruit tree!
Peter

[FrankDrebinOfFruits]

Bananas make great shade/windbreak for nurseries.  I like putting my newly grafted trees under the shade.

[Kona fruit farm]

thanks guys...  yeah i'm not sure whats up with this.  But i have been to 3 different farms here on big island where the owners had mangosteen planted and on all 3 there were banana trees planted within about 5 feet.   i could be mistaken but i thought i remembered hearing them all say something along the lines of "gotta plant these banana trees next to your mangosteen to help/fix the soil"   who knows...

thanks for all the responses

[arvind]

Btw does anyone know how to deal with nematodes affecting banana? Seems like my banana cant handle them and the plant always topple everytime it fruits.I have since destroy the plant which is nangka banana( At that time i dont know it was nematode issue and i made a mistake by planting a senorita banana at the same spot).I applied carbofuran but still there are some rots on the root.The only banana that can grow without being affected in my neighbourhood is the grey saba banana which is only suitable for cooking and not fresh consumption.Should i find a resistant banana cultivar or are there any method to deal with this issue chemically or other ways?

[meristos]

This video will show you show banana, manihot, eucalyptus, citrus mangosteen and a lot of plant work together instead of compete each other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSPNRu4ZPvE

Bananas produce shade and a huge amount of organic matter very beneficial to mangosteen for example. Root system is also different deep for mangosteen, shallow in comparison for banana. In sufficient amount of water and nutrient conditions, this association is very useful.

My yard:















heberger image

[roblack]

I've heard that chopping up old banana leaves and using them as mulch is good for the soil.

[palmcity]

My favorite spot to plant banana trees is where Nitrogen is overly abundant.... My septic field.

The roots do not seem to bother my septic field with the annual turn over of the plants.

Just thought I would post if you are looking for a nitrogen rich environment to plant the plants.   

[Vernmented]

I was told that bananas push out roots to a certain point and then those roots die off and the corm pushes out new roots. The old roots would then rot and and create little compost corridors. As long as you are fertilizing you would be growing plenty of biomass to mulch and creating shade like the others mentioned.

[knlim000]

hey guys,
banana would be great to plant with Mango tree. They will suck up the excessive water that rot the mango. Just make sure you plant the mango on the side where it gets most sun and not cover by the sun.  I got a tree planted next to it and didn't even get any leave damage over the winter and it's pretty healthy.  My other mango not under the banana got leave burns. 

[greenman62]

I was told that bananas push out roots to a certain point and then those roots die off and the corm pushes out new roots. The old roots would then rot and and create little compost corridors. As long as you are fertilizing you would be growing plenty of biomass to mulch and creating shade like the others mentioned.

im guessing shade is the main reason for growing them
also, the leaves are huge and you can use them to protect the soil.
i chop+drop lots of leaves of all sorts, but when i put a nana leaf on top
it shades all the others, letting them rot faster. the plant is high in  potassium as well.

the fact that older roots rotting away would be great for the soil
but, i am guessing thats a long term thing.
as long as water isnt a big issue, i dont see it being a problem unless they are really close like a foot or 2.
i grow lots of plants close together.
sun is my main issue now, i dont worry about the roots.
Mycorrhizal fungi will actually take an excess of certain nutrients from one plant, or one area of the soil
and distribute it to another. they will even do this with water.

its also possible that Banana naturally has many species of Mycorrhizae colonizing its roots
and when planted close to  certain plants, those fungi will start colonising them too.
its one reason i like to grow plant close to each other.

[Cookie Monster]

HAHAH yep, I was just going to mention that. They are very efficient at converting sunlight and water into nematode colonies.

For soil desiccation, bamboo is prime.

In Hawaii what bananas fix into the soil are tons of nematodes. The banana roots are a real magnet for these creatures.