Originally Posted by harveyc

Jon, when you find the time, I think it would be helpful to expand comments on pup removal. I'm especially having a problem what to do when a plant is starting to fruit and ends up with pups circling the entire plant with four or so pups. For instance, right now my Dwarf Brazilian has an older pup as tall as the main plant which bloomed 5-6 weeks ago and then three more pups which came up 4-8 weeks ago. I'd like to keep the older one and one of the new ones where they are at, but am afraid of disturbing the main plant too much and delaying maturation of the fruit. On the other hand, the fruit probably won't ripen until November and the pups will have slowed down by then and transplanting them into the ground in cooler weather could be risky. Is it better to just remove one pup now, let the roots of the main plant grow back for a few weeks, and then remove another?

My hesitation in pup removal has sometimes lead to a mess with a mat having way too many pups. When they are too large, am I better off just whacking (a term first used here by Jarred, if I'm not mistaken) them back.

Do pups provide any food for the main corm or does it just go the other direction? I know you've left old fruited plants in a mat for an extended period, figuring it provides food for the mat. I'm just wondering if there is any significant reason for not removing all pups if you want to (i.e., I'd like to get several mats of Dwarf Brazilian going).

Thanks,

Harvey