Hole preparation
Dig holes 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet at a spacing of 9 feet by 9 feet, ensure you separate top and subsoil.
Inputs
Apply 2 wheelbarrows of a well decomposed organic manure (farm yard or compost manure). Drench the soil with nematicide eg Mocap, Bionematon or Trichoderma to control root knot nematodes in advance as newly planted crops are susceptible and severe attack may lead to death of the plants.
Planting
- Mix the top soil with 2-wheel barrows of manure and drench with Trichoderma, Mocap or bionematon. Add 200g of TSP or DAP and mix thoroughly.
- Put the mixture in the planting hole up to 2 feet
- Cut the plastic bag carefully, avoid damaging the ramp of soil around the plant as this will delay crop establishment.
- Plant the suckers firmly in the manure-soil mixture
- Water the new plant making sure the root zone is wet but avoids flooding. It’s recommended to plant during the rains to avoid much labor involving watering.
Field management practices
- Watering: Irrigate with 20L of water weekly. Tissue culture banana does well under irrigation
- Mulching: Add dry plant materials around the plant root zone to conserve water, constant moisture supply leads to better crop performance.
- Intercropping: Plant legumes in between the plants to enhance nitrogen fixing and maximum land utilization.
- Canopy management: Remove old, dry and diseased leaves from the plants. Never remove healthy leaves as this will affect the size and number of bunches borne.
- Stool management: Ensure the stool has three healthy and strong suckers, remove the excess ones in good time in order to avoid much nutrient, space and light competitions which lead to poor performance of the crop.