What kind of banana? How large are the pups and how large is the mother plant? Is it in a pot or in the ground? Also, a photo would help.

Unless the pups are mature enough to have generated some roots on their own, OR unless you can get a chunk of the mother corm with it, your chances for it's survival are drastically reduced.

I've posted this drawing before. For younger pups, the angle you cut is critical. It's very easy to cut the pup off from its own developing corm. No corm, no roots, no survival. Pups that are too young have not yet developed their own corms. If you can scrape away some of the soil to reveal the architecture of the pup, you have a better chance getting it.

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Dave nailed it on the classic meathod for pup seperation. I'd highly recomend, as stated by dave, to dig out around the parent and get view of what's going, so that way, you can make a precise cut.

I seperated a plant 10 days ago, and the junction of the parent and the pup was wayyy lower than what I expected. SO the end result was that I got a whole lot of stem and zero corm or roots.

I planted it anyways and it is still doing fine. Can't promise that it will live, but it made through many a hot day here in San Antonio.

I think the pup psuedo-stem actaully has, in it's own wierd way, some corm. So I expect the plant to live.

But along those lines, keep in mind that this was active growing pup. It was about a foot and a half tall. The ideal height, in my book, for transplanting. If it was smaller or dormant, I think it would have died.

So let it get about 1-2 ft tall before moving. 2 ft is even better. That way if you mess up, you have a good chance of the plant being able to live.

Good luck!

I used to kill pups off all the time until I saw Dave's drawing. It is scary but trust me you can basically cut half the corm off the mother and she will be fine. A couple of other tips: make the cut, then leave it be for a week or two; then get yourself a flat blade shovel and place it between the mom and the pup and try to pop up the pup. Search this forum, someone was kind enough to post step by step pictures.

Thanks for the replies, I am going to let the pups get a few more inches taller before I cut them. They are about one foot tall now. Or should I wait till they get about 2 foot tall?

I personally would wait until at least 18". I like to dust the cut part with some rootone with fungicide in it, let it dry out for a few days indoors out of the sun, then plant in a pot and keep in the shade. It will look wilt and look horrible for several weeks, keep it damp but DON'T overwater. Eventually it will stop looking wilted and then you can gradually move it into full sunlight.

Well, I let them get about 2 feet tall cut them off and relocated them, I guess now it will be a waiting game to see if they make it.

Thanks everyone for the information.

Would it just be easier to cut the main tree down at 1/2ft or so, remove from dirt, clean and do it visually?