Hardy Tropicals UK

When I Propped my Ensete ventricosum Montbeliardii back in 2015, I cut the stem down, then quartered the rhizome. Very quickly, one section produced a huge pup followsed by many tiny pups. The other 3 sections took longer and only had numerous tiny pups. My conclusion is that the huge pup was actually the plant's old growth point resuming where it left off, but when you think about it, means you don't necessarily need to cut the plant down sacrificing it, and in theory should be able to prop by cutting a section of the rhizome, with leaf bases, out.If you don't cut right into the centre the growth point will remain intact.

More pics of clumps

Nice one, well done

Very good selection of photos proves your point very well, Dave.

Your example makes me think of an 'accidental' pupping experience I had with one of my first maurellii purchases some twenty years ago as I now recall after reading your post that one pup was significantly larger than the rest. It led me to believe that it was normal practice for maurellii to pup .

I'd purchased a relatively small plant mid Summer and it continued to grow well through a very mild Autumn but got caught out when the top was clobbered by a hard early frost. I put the plant in the unheated greenhouse with damaged top which eventually fell away but left a live meristem . My lack of experience with these at the time meant I continued to give it a little water but miraculously it never rotted. By the Spring what was left appeared rather shrivelled and assumed it hadn't survived and for a while left it is the greenhouse and forgot about it. When I emptied the greenhouse out some weeks later I saw the ensete was starting to reshoot. When I began watering it regularly this one shoot was followed by eight smaller pups growing in a ring around it.

Unfortunately, when I was away for three weeks in Summer I forgot to put the nicely growing pups in a reserve of water and the whole lot had perished on my return so lost the opportunity to separate them and grow them on. :ahhh!:

Alas, most of those in the pics died through overcrowding, and lack of attention, as a series of family illnesses, and a multitude of other issues, meant I had less time for gardening Lost SO MANY plants over the last few years

I still have 9 small pups.

Are the surviving pups still from your 2015 propagating execise and are they separated?

yes, all separated, but surviving ones are quite small,

Very interesting Dave, I didn't know you could split them I such a manner. Its nice to learn something new.