parinoid....

[mskitty38583]

i have 3 pups on my musella lasiocarpa that have to come off. each pup is about 3 and 1/2 feet tall. but im kind of paranoid to do it. they are so close to the main p-stem. any ideas on how to calm my fears and how to carefully remove these pups without doing damage to the mom? any advise would be appriciated. thanks...paranoid in sparta!

[Richard]

Originally Posted by mskitty38583

i have 3 pups on my musella lasiocarpa that have to come off. each pup is about 3 and 1/2 feet tall. but im kind of paranoid to do it. they are so close to the main p-stem. any ideas on how to calm my fears and how to carefully remove these pups without doing damage to the mom? any advise would be appriciated. thanks...paranoid in sparta!

In a pot or in the ground?

[Steve L]

When I grew that banana, I found the pups very hard to separate and lost quite a few. You really need to cut on a diagonal towards the mother plant to get enough roots. But removing pups now might cause problems with the mother if it hasn't bloomed.

[mskitty38583]

its in a 5 gallon pot, in the house.this is one i got from arachnid at the garden show in feb.the mother is like 6 feet tall and the pups are half the size of the mom. im just scared to go sawing pups off. im not scared of anything but killing a nana tree. lol. it hasnt bloomed for me yet, but like i said i just got it in feb.

[Dean W.]

Good luck with seperating your pups. I'm just a newbie so I don't have much to suggest to you.

Dean

[Steve in France]

I'd just leave them for now and hope the Mother flowers, perhaps some fert for flowers would encourage it to flower. When the the flower is done and the main stem dies cut the whole plant up into sections with a good amount of the center corm for each pup. If the whole plnt acts like ( was it Pete's ?)
did last year then all the stems may flower and then produce new pups. Well done to have such a big plant , I've never had a Lasiocarpa that big , perhaps this year with luck mine will get huge.
Later
Steve

[mskitty38583]

i think i will do just as you have advised. when i got it i had to cut the 2 big leaves that were on it. we put it in the back of a jeep cherokee and the leaves bent and broke. i am counting the base above the dirt, to the top leaf point at 6 feet. there are 3 long leaves on it. and like i said the pups are half the size of the mother. i so want to plant it in my yard as a specimine, but i want one for in the house...just in case. i have 3 "favorites". my saba, oronico, and this one. i love them all but these 3 are my heart throb. lol. thanks for all the advise, ill leave her be till she flowers.
p.s. keeping my fingers crossed for yours to flower!

[jellyfish_sky]

When planted in the ground, do they send pups at a certain distance? Maybe you could put it in the ground, and get some pups that are easier to remove before winter? I wouldn't take the current pups out.. for fear of killing them like you said! Good luck with the monster and its babies

[mskitty38583]

i was thinking of that. you must be a mind reader! im just so, whats the word...perticular about this banana. i think it borders on obsession! sound weird? maybe not i am a nana feind. now i need to go out and find the perfect location for my nana. this one dosent go out for 8 more days.

[Arachnid]

Great to hear that plant is doing well. The pup I removed last year was about 2 ft tall and it didn't make it. I hope you have better luck than I.

- Brett

[natedogg1026]

Kitty, Are they still fairly dormant? I went to my buddies 2 weeks ago took a shovel and chopped right into his (in-ground). Didn't hurt em a bit. Now is the time to do it before it gets too hot. I agree w/Steve. I always chop into the mother and take a chunk of corm that way you are sure to get some roots. She'll recover just fine. I've taken some big chunks before and never harmed mom. Mine have since been put in the ground and are putting out leaves already. If they are in the pot I would do the surgery in there. Meaning, don't unpot the whole thing. Just cut out what you need, pull it out, then add soil in it's place. Good luck!-Nate Dogg

[mskitty38583]

no they are not dormant. the mom is activly growing and so are the pups. as soon as i can ill post some pics. thanks brett, you got her started for me. the care you gave her is the reward i get. i think of you and your wife everytime i look at my nana tree. hope all is well with yall. thanks nate, ill try to post the pics tomorrow. i appricate all the advise, i just dont want to kill my baby.

[natedogg1026]

Kitty, I split these Sumatrana's tonight so I thought I'd show ya how I do it. Granted, mom's dead but same principle.

[Tropicallvr]

Musella lasiocarpa are tough to divide. Sometimes a huge pup won't have any roots, so it seems best to bareroot completly and then divide. Good luck.

[Dean W.]

Nate,

Great pictures.

Dean

[mskitty38583]

ok the paranoia is over. i dont think ill have any problem with the pups not rooting. some of the roots on the pups were like 1/4 in around and they were very long. i had to saw through the pot with a sharp steak knife just to get them out of the pot. i couldnt believe it. so i wacked off some of the crom from the mom with each of the 3 pups and planted them with massive amounts of roots. then i planted mom in the ground. she still has a pup on her thats only 3 inches tall. i was shaking so bad i didnt know if it would ever stop. i think the only thing im scared of is cutting to much crom off the mom. she still had a good amount of roots on her when i planted her. so yall keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for my nanas tonight. lol!

[Dean W.]

mskitty,

Congrats on transplanting!

[mskitty38583]

thank you, i was so nervous i almost got sick. i know that sound stupid but its like cutting your 2 yr olds hair, if they move there goes an ear..

[Dean W.]

Originally Posted by mskitty38583

thank you, i was so nervous i almost got sick. i know that sound stupid but its like cutting your 2 yr olds hair, if they move there goes an ear..

LOL!!!

[jellyfish_sky]

Congrats! Hope everybody will survive from transplanting