How to Grow Plantain and Make Money: Part 3 of 3

My plantain farm. Notice the dry grass mulch between rows

This is part 3. If you haven’t read part 1 and 2, read them here: Part 1 and part 2.

Fertilizer and Manure Application:

After planting the suckers, I applied 20:10:10 fertilizer 1 month after planting. Dosage is 30ml per plant. By this time, new, white roots have started growing. I buried the fertilizer in a shallow hole 10-20cm away from the plants, making sure I don’t damage too much roots. Note: I applied Carbofuran (for nematode control) into the same hole with the NPK. More on Carbofuran later under “pesticide application” below.

Second NPK application can be made 2 months after planting, 50cm away from the plant. I used 30ml 20:10:10 per plant but those that were growing fast got 60ml.

About 1 month or so after the second NPK application, I planned applying organic manure at 11L pig manure per plant but I couldn’t get
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How to Grow Plantain and Make Money: Part 2

Readers note: This is a continuation of the part 1 series. It is important that you read part 1 before this. Thanks.

Peeled, chemically treated plantain corm. You can see the tunnel I made to reach the weevil inside.

Transporting Suckers:

Suckers are very bulky and transporting them over long distances can be a nightmare. You can reduce transportation cost by cutting the pseudostems in half. The larger the corm sizes, the greater the survival rate. Even if the pseudostem eventually dies, new suckers will emerge from the corm if you leave it for some weeks. Suckers with large corms can be cut off a few centimeters above the corm.

Chemical Treatment of Suckers: After peeling the corms, I wash them and using a knapsack sprayer, I spray a mixture of insecticides, fungicides and foliar fertilizer on the corm. But note, peel the corms outside your
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