digging banana pups

Alan_L · Post by **Alan_L** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:24 pm

Any trick to digging banana pups? Can I just plunge a knife in and cut, or do I need to dig the mother plant up and divide that way? Is there a size that's "too big" to remove? One of the pups is about 3' tall. The others are less than 1'.

stevelau1911 · Post by **stevelau1911** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:31 pm

I think as long as the pup has formed its own corm which is like an underground rhizome for them and has many of its own roots, it should be enough. Also I've heard that keeping the soil on helps out too. I have also read in the banana forums that removing the pup along with a section of the mother form(a piece of the pie) works well in getting a pup divided.

My pups only have like 2 leaves on my basjoos so there's no way I'm touching them until I have many more pups that are nice and big. They are also planted a foot deeper so I'm not digging for them unless I have a decent grove of bananas.

foxd · Post by **foxd** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 8:56 pm

I too put off removing a pup and it kind of got away from me. The pup was about four feet tall when I removed it.

David: I have a couple of banana pups for you which I will bring to Needmore on Saturday. Be prepared to transport a four foot tall banana plant back to Tennessee.

Alan_L · Post by **Alan_L** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 9:40 pm

So how did you remove it? What tool(s) worked well?

I was hoping to get some of these pups out before Saturday so I could bring a few, but not sure if I'll have time now.

(David's making the trip? Great!)

foxd · Post by **foxd** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 12:24 pm

I used a shovel. In the past I've noticed I have the best luck with the pups if I cut almost straight down with maybe a slight angle, cutting toward the mother corm. If the pup has roots it has always survived for me and has also survived if the pup has sufficent corm of its own.

I noticed recently a pup some distance from the mother corm. It is far emough away that I have to wonder what is going on under the soil. Can bananas produce runners? When I get a chance I will investigate.

Alan_L · Post by **Alan_L** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 2:27 pm

This sketch is all I could find. It shows that it does happen.

Arachnotron · Post by **Arachnotron** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:44 pm

Good information here:

http://www.bananas.org/f2/time-separate ... -1814.html

foxd · Post by **foxd** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:55 pm

I've read and heard that trying to separate Musella pups is very difficult and your best bet is to wait until the mother plant flowers and dies. When that happens it doesn't matter how badly you mutilate the mother plant.

stevelau1911 · Post by **stevelau1911** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 2:18 am

My bananas are pupping like crazy regardless of the drought. This is from the 3 week span before the drought ended. I do plan on letting them sit on there all through winter so i can easily protect the entire clump, and then take enormous pups in the spring that can take off growing right away.

July 7

July 28

pokenei · Post by **pokenei** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 11:52 pm

My banana pups are all 5 inches or less. I don't think they'll make it through the winter. Given that this is the first year I'll try overwintering my banana outside, I won't risk damaging the mother plant to get at the pups.

As you can see, I planted this banana at a sheltered location. It gets wind protection, but will be at a disadvantage in the winter because it is far from the house and it is elevated in the garden bed.

johnw · Post by **johnw** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 12:42 pm

The banana may surprise you. I got one about 12 years ago from Tropics to Tropics in Delta and gave it to a friend. The first winter I told him to protect it and gave him elaborate instructions. Instead he put a 6" coil of chicken wire around it and stuffed it with some oak leaves. Only the leaves died off and the trunk came through completely unscathed.

Picked up a nice 3 footer on sale yesterday for $12.50.

johnw

tncry · Post by **tncry** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:07 am

Where did you pick that up johnw? Farmer Clems?
TC

stevelau1911 · Post by **stevelau1911** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:51 am

Here' another update on the Bananas for 19 Aug. The tallest pups are getting near 6ft tall, and many more are forming. I also haven't fertilized these at all since they were planted back in 2010.

The musa itinerans mekong giant is getting near 5ft as well, but they aren't producing pups yet. I expect these to top off around 8-9ft with another 2 months or so of growing.

Alan_L · Post by **Alan_L** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:52 pm

Nice Steve! I hope you don't remove all of the pups from the basjoo -- it looks much better as a little grove of plants I think.

stevelau1911 · Post by **stevelau1911** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:05 am

Alan_L wrote:Nice Steve! I hope you don't remove all of the pups from the basjoo -- it looks much better as a little grove of plants I think.

I might remove all the large ones in the spring, and plant them somewhere else since too many stems can crowd out all the surrounding plants. I haven't measured them lately, but I think they have to potential to exceed 15ft in height by the end of the growing season.