Newbie here -

I just received Musa mini Cavendish which I plan to grow in a container. Any suggestions for planting mix,fertilizer etc. will be aprreciated. I live in hot Orange county inland - zone 10. It has been a hot-hot--summer. I enjoy cruising through your messages - very helpfull.

I'm probably not going to be as helpful as some, because I don't grow musas, but I DO know that musas are heavy feeders and heavy drinkers.

You could probably use as much as 50% compost in your mix.

Also the bigger any leaf, the more transpiration(water loss) they experience through their leaves. So, musas will need plenty of water. The more you water, the more the nutrients will be depleated(by the plant using them, and the water washing them out), so your musa will quickly go through the nutrients in the compost, and it will need to be supplemented or replenished when it begins to show signs of no longer having enough fertilizer/compost.
-T

Thanks seedpicker.

Use a BIG container, even for the mini. These things pup like crazy. There seems to be a mini Cavendish as well as what I call a "super-mini." My first banana was one of the $7.50 Lowe's specials, called Bananarama. Someone told me it was a super-mini dwarf Cavendish. I've had it 6-7 years and it has produced probably five offsets who have produced three or four more each (but never bloomed). The babies make good gifts. Here in Zone 6a they spend winters in my garage but in SoCal conditions you should have fruit in a few years. I saw one of these at Selby Gardens in Sarasota with a nice head of small bananas. It wasn't five ft tall. As seedpicker (and Audrey 2) said, "Feed Me."
Dave.

Thank you Dave.