|
| Before I jump into this I would like to have an idea what to expect. I have a pot with four pups in it. Number five is just starting to poke through the soil. They are deforming the pot they are so crowded so I want to divide them. From what I have read so far it sounds like this is not going to be easy. When I unpot my bananas should I pull them apart? OR should I make a clean cut with a sharp knife through the roots to seperate them? Anything else I should know about this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Foxy. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by pitangadiego San Diego, CA (My Page) on Thu, Jun 9, 05 at 0:31
| Why not remove the whole thing from the pot, wash off the soil, cut at the connection to the parent plant, and wiggle the roots apart? Then repot. |
|
| That is how I do it. None of my bananas are too large to work with so I lay out a tarp in the yard. Rough up the pot and pull it out all at once. I then knock off what dirt I can to get a clean look at the corm. Then using my 8" chef's knife I take the pup with it's share of the corm. I haven't always been that careful but for the few times I have done it I have not killed any parents or pups. They may stall for a week to recover but go easy on the water, maybe a little shade. I am no expert and I learned most of this from a tutorial I think I found here. Search for pup separating faq or other words like that. Until I read that I was making dirt messes in the lawn. I would have never thought to do it on a tarp. |
|
- Posted by Todd_In_Texas Zone 8A Dallas (My Page) on Thu, Jun 9, 05 at 12:33
| I did this last year with a Musa zebrina which was about 6 foot tall in a very large pot that had 3-4 pups on it. * I laid it on it's side on the patio and pulled the pot off. * I hand cleared as much soil as I could from the corm especially inbetween the main plant and the pups. * Took a butcher knife and cut the pups off... cutting into the "main corm" somewhat. * I turned the cut surfaces of the corms up and let them dry over so no rot would occur. * I repotted both and everything survived. |
|
- Posted by foxykitten350234 z6PA (My Page) on Thu, Jun 9, 05 at 22:06
| Thanks everyone! sfhellwig- Thanks for the tip! Todd- Funny you should mention Musa zebrina, that is what I have. How long would you suggest letting the cut surfaces dry Thanks again. Foxy. |
|
| One thing to add, I use a garden hose to rinse off all the soil, that way you can see EXACTLY what you want to do, and a lot of the time, you can just pull the pups off, they usually snap right off. This works really well with dividing other tough to divide plants, too, like hostas, and peonies and lillies. Once you rinse off all the soil, they come right apart. |
|
- Posted by Todd_In_Texas Zone 8A Dallas (My Page) on Fri, Jun 10, 05 at 9:36
| Foxy I understand you're supposed to let the freshly cut corm areas dry so they don't rot when you repot and water them. When I laid them out to dry I forgot about them and they ended up laying in the backyard overnight. I repotted them in the morning and they continued growing just fine. Sandy Foxy and... |
Here is a link that might be useful: Banana Videos
|
- Posted by PeaceGarden (My Page) on Fri, Jun 10, 05 at 10:43
| My Grandmother did it a little bit differently. Ours are in the ground. She sliced (Sharp Knife) between Parent and Pup and let it all rest for about a week before taking it out. It seems to develop it's own root system without any stress. If it's in a pot I'd remove it gently with a hose about a week after. Good Luck |
|
- Posted by foxykitten350234 z6PA (My Page) on Sat, Jun 11, 05 at 2:43
| Surgery has begun! I removed two pups today and they are drying over night. One is still in the pot with the rest of the plants the other is sitting out. I figured I would try two of the methods suggested. Tomorrow I will pot them up. Todd- Thanks for the link! Sadly, out here in the country, we don't have access to high speed internet:( Thanks for the information everyone. I will keep you all posted on the progress. Foxy. |
|
- Posted by Todd_In_Texas Zone 8A Dallas (My Page) on Sat, Jun 11, 05 at 7:43
| Foxy Too bad you're on a dial-up connection. We'd sure like to see some pics. ;-) |
|
- Posted by foxykitten350234 z6PA (My Page) on Sat, Jun 11, 05 at 11:37
| Todd- I can still post pictures on dial-up. At this time I don't have a digital camera so it takes a while for me to finish a roll of film and get it developed before I can post pictures. I have already photographed my banana and will be happy to share pictures as soon as posible:) If you are interested in other pictures I have a link to my album on "my page". Foxy. |
|
| Interesting exchange of views on seperating pups.My own feeling is that we cherish our plants to such an extent that we are nervous about losing them by being positive about taking out of the pot washing off the compost and cutting away etc. These plants are a lot more robust than we realise.I have some pups on basjoo that are 4ft but I am leaving them to carry on if the plant flowers. Got pups on Sikkimensis and will try to remove when they are a bit bigger. Would love to see you guys in USA cutting away to propagate. |
|
- Posted by foxykitten350234 z6PA (My Page) on Sat, Jun 18, 05 at 11:56
| I finally have pictures of my banana(s). First here is the whole pot of babies. Here is the largest after seperating. You can see the leaves better in this picture. Foxy. |
|
- Posted by lilleyl2005 napa (My Page) on Tue, Jun 28, 05 at 19:44
| I just bought a Musella and I noticed that there were 2 stems, a major and minor. The minor one must be what you might call a "pup." Is it ok if I leave it on? I kind of don't want to stress the banana out since its been confined to too small a pot--I literally had to cut it out of the pot this afternoon in order to plant it in the ground. |
|
- Posted by wanna_run_faster 10 SoFLA /9 orl (My Page) on Thu, Jun 30, 05 at 22:08
| I have a Cavendish (my first banana!). How big should the pups be before I try to separate them? |
|
| You don't have to remove pups unless you want separate plants or are trying for fruit. Having said that I have noticed my zebrinas will only tolerate a pup so far before the mother starts to suffer. Left a pup on last winter before bringing them in and near spring the pup started to take off and the mother nearly died. Now I have another with a large pup from last fall and a new one. Again the pup is taking off and all though the mother appears healthy the most recent leaf is not quite as large as the last one. I intend to split as soon as I get some more dirt. |
|
- Posted by wanna_run_faster 10 SoFLA /9 orl (My Page) on Fri, Jul 1, 05 at 20:48
| I would like to try for fruit and I figured maybe this way I could share the pups too but I don't want to traumatize the babies too soon. |
|
- Posted by gardenguy_ z6a PA (My Page) on Mon, Jul 4, 05 at 12:43
| foxykitten, how old is your tallest plant? Also, those indeed look like cavendish. The dwarf variety to be exact and not the super dwarf. |
|
- Posted by foxykitten350234 z6PA (My Page) on Mon, Jul 4, 05 at 15:03
| gardenguy- The largest plant is about a year old. I don't know much about bananas so I'm a little confused when you say mine looks like a cavendish. Isn't that a specific kind of banana? I looked up dwarf cavendish and found pictures of a plant with red splotches on the leaves, but the undersides of the leaves are green on those pictures. Mine are red. My plant was labled M. Zebrina. BTW the bananas have been seperated for almost a month now and all seem to be doing fine. Foxy. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Banana Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.