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View Full Version : Basjoo Sprouting Question


E Kern
04-23-2013, 07:52 PM
My basjoo died back in the fall and as I last posted my two dogs ate to the ground what was left of the stalk. Right now I am seeing a sprout come up about two feet from where the old plant was. My question is; is this a possible sprout or do they tend to grow back in the same spot as the previous plant?

Illia
04-23-2013, 08:40 PM
It's a sucker coming from the corm. Bananas are VERY tough plants, in that as long as the "bulb" like corm below isn't injured, they'll keep trying to grow back from it - Even if the plant above is completely obliterated. You'll find once a plant does grow happily that it will also send up more and new sucker shoots called "pups" which are pretty much whole new banana plants attached to the main original plant. With yours being so far away from the original spot, that's what you're seeing - a sucker coming up off the side of the corm underneath. Some varieties sprout up very close to the original spot, some far like yours.

JuniPerez
04-24-2013, 03:53 PM
I find that if the stem is damaged too far down to the corm, it will send up pups instead of regrowing the main stem. I'd put something over them once they die back to protect from the dogs, or plant them deeper (if your dogs are diggers, the latter will be of no help). But they're very resilient bulbs... it'll send more pups around it, you'll soon see.

E Kern
04-24-2013, 07:39 PM
Thanks for the input. Next time around I will be protecting the stem better. This year I didn't even have a chance. Dogs got to it first.

turtile
04-27-2013, 03:20 PM
Thanks for the input. Next time around I will be protecting the stem better. This year I didn't even have a chance. Dogs got to it first.

The corm is the stem. As long as the corm isn't damaged, it can bring up new growth. (they are protected from the growth though)

What you see above the ground are just leaves.