Musa basjoo pups

[Sparrow]

Hi all,

First year growing banana plants in the garden...

Just wondering when the best time is to remove and pot up pups that have grown this year? I started off with two plants this year. Each one has grown five pups, so it is getting a bit crowded with their big leaves.

Is thinning out something I can do now without setting the parent plants back? Or should I wait to divide them (like I would herbaceous perennials) in the autumn? (I didn't think this was the right choice as they don't behave like herbaceous perennials!) Or, do I wait until first frost when the leaves die back and before I wrap the stems?

Many thanks,
Sparrow

[chainsaw kid]

Difficult to give you an accurate response without seeing he pups, surely they cant be very big? I might be inclined to leave them until next year. Are you going to dig the Bananas up for the winter or leave them out. I have actually got bananas on mine for the first time.

[tatter]

I understand the recommendation is for the pups to be at least 4 leaves in height and cut as close to the parent as possible. Taking at this height should mean it as its own roots growing,You will need to scrape down the soil to ensure there are roots to the pup prior to separating.I would tend to go along with the Kid in probably waiting till next year.
That is if you are not lifting for winter.If lifting for winter it might be able to separate pups then but will probably need to be kept growing/ticking over, over winter.

[Sparrow]

Thanks for the replies, that's good information. I wasn't planning to lift them. Just build a chicken wire cage stuffed with straw and wrap with fleece to try to keep the height of the main stems.

I just looked to see if I already had a picture, but I don't, so I'll take one tomorrow. I'd say the pups range in stem height between 1 to 2 feet currently, maybe a bit more for the biggest ones. (I'll take a tape measure out when I take the pic for reference.) All, I believe, have at least 4 leaves (though I've not actually got in the to count them!)

[Sparrow]

I have actually got bananas on mine for the first time.

PS. Congrats on that! How old do they need to be to fruit??

[tatter]

by Sparrow » Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:32 pm






PS. Congrats on that! How old do they need to be to fruit??

Its more a matter of prolonged heat that is the deciding factor in bananas fruiting and then enough to ripen them or summers are usually not hot enough or long enough

[chainsaw kid]

The one that has bananas on it has been in the ground for about 7 years. However in my case, last year for the first time I didn't protect it at all! I think the fruit is a cry for help! By the way I don't think they ripen in this country.

[Sparrow]

Its more a matter of prolonged heat that is the deciding factor in bananas fruiting and then enough to ripen them or summers are usually not hot enough or long enough
Jim

Ah .. I see. I'm growing these for the big leaves, not the fruit, in any case. At least that's my primary aim at the moment!

However in my case, last year for the first time I didn't protect it at all! I think the fruit is a cry for help!

Lol. That's one way to do it! Plants do seem to have that encoded in them... Reproduce before you die!

Anyway, here's some pics of what is now a banana forest. From slightly above (the pic with the palm in the foreground) all you see are the leaves of the two main original plants. That's pretty much the effect I want.

However, underneath, you can see from the other pics it is crowded and with the winds we've had just recently some of the new unfurling leaves (the ones that stick straight up) of the pups were broken in half because of the weight of the leaves of the main plants. (Hence thinking about trying to remove them and give them their own space...)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/d4ovEhQmnVx4L1v96

[Tom2006]

The pups are hard to get through winter even with straw. I just wait until late autumn before hard frost's arrive and cut down as close to the main stem as possible and pot on in a good free draining multi purpose and keep frost free.

[karl66]

Sparrow, as long as your careful removing pup's has a very good success rate. The mother plant will however die a lot quicker the more you remove!.
My once 12ft high plant was a baby machine for many years!.