Fifth Birthday for the basjoo patch.
 

May 5th 2012 was the beginning of my banana odyssey, a friend at work convinced me to try my hand at growing one. He sold me a pup and I transformed a weedy spot behind my barn into a little tropical sanctuary.

This is what it looked like after year one.

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The patch kept expanding over the years and dozens of pups have been moved elsewhere on the property. This next one is from 2015.

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Finally, this is the patch from last week, well advanced, maybe a month ahead of 2014 and 2015.

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The main goal this year is to divide up some of the massive corms.

Re: Fifth Birthday for the basjoo patch.
 

They look great! Thanks for sharing.

Re: Fifth Birthday for the basjoo patch.
 

looks awesome, did you cut them back just to separate the corms? Im new to bananas, whats the purpose of that?

Re: Fifth Birthday for the basjoo patch.
 

In a mature patch there will be too many large P-Stems competing in a small area, so I thin them out by excavating around the corms and chopping them apart with a large machete.

They're cut back and protected with leaves and tarps every fall around November before winter arrives, probably not necessary in your climatic zone.

Re: Fifth Birthday for the basjoo patch.
 

I really like how you place the other plants(elephant ears, Kanas, etc). really complements the scene for the bananas. I do the same with mine.