ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

I had several of the ensete maurelii plants that I received from tc this spring. Well one in particular, it needed repotting bad since it was 3 feet tall in a 4" pot. It kept on falling over and I didn't have time to mess with it, so I just kept on standing it back up, and it was looking pretty ratty. Broken leaves, etc.
So one day, my hubby was out in the greenhouse, so I got his knife and cut it off right at the base. I thought, well it'll grow back, and later this fall I'll have time to repot it. Then I remembered the posts about using large plants and destroying the growing tip to force pups to form. So I thought, I wonder if it has to be a large plant, or simply a well established one?
So I cut a big V shape out of the center of the plant growing in the 4" pot and then just for good measure I took the point of the knife and dug a big hole right down through the central growing point. Figured I'd probably killed it but like I have 20 more, so this one could be donated to science. And since I really wanted to make more plants, too, I did the same with a larger plant in a one gallon pot from last year that caterpillars and grasshoppers had it looking pretty bad too.
Well, both of them are growing this bumpy tissue in the center that looks like small corm nuggets--or at least it's growing something!Can't tell yet if it's going to make plantlets, but it sure is doing something weird, and definitely not dying yet. I took pictures of both, the first picture is the smaller one and the second picture is the larger one. They're in my gallery.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

It wasn't uploading right in the photo gallery, so here's a link to the picture of the smaller plant. It looks kind of like cauliflower in the center now. I put it on webshots.

small ensete pictures from friends & fun photos on webshots

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Sandy, that's callous tissue forming. You should see pups coming up very soon. Nice job!

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Before you know it you will have a mini forest of pups. Then you have to be pretty handy with a craft knife .once they get a few roots you can start to remove them.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

I wonder how big you could let a Maurelii get before trying this forced pupping method?

Would the Ensete pup if it were done just as the flower emerges?

Curious.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

I don't know. But all the articles/info I'd read so far said they had to be large to do this with. One of the plants I did it with is about 6 months old from tc, in a 4" pot and seems to be developing the cauliflower like tissue that people say will turn into pups.
So who knows what's possible?

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

By then, it would be too late because the meristem would have moved away from the bottom of the plant and be located in the inflorescence at that point. The point is to damage the meristem.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Ahhhhhh... That makes sense. I have wondered about this for quite some time. Thanks Gabe!

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

I'd say you are about to have a LOT of Maurelii's. Good luck with separating them. BTW the plant you sent me last spring is now about 5' tall. Much, much more vigorous than any of the Musa I have. And beautiful. My wife actually enjoys this one as much as I do all the other Musa.

Thanks!
Troy

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Looks like a shrimp, guacamole and spinach dip on a toasted celery base.... Might have to try some....

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Hi Sandy, how's your 'cauliflower' getting along. Very curious on your progress...

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

They are both starting to make little points in the center of the "cauliflower" looking parts. One of them is actually starting to look like you can see it's going to make a stem/leaves there.
Here's a couple of pictures attached below. You can see the points coming up in the center of some of the bumps, especially if you look from the side of the plants. Of course it probably would help their progress if I'd put these in a heated greenhouse, so I did that last night. The big one is growing a little faster and putting up more "bumps" than the smaller one, but the smaller one is putting up at least 3-4.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Thanks Sand,
Pls keep us/me updated on a constant basis.Really interesting experiment you are doing. Keep it up.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Update--letting them get a little bigger does seem to mean more pups at least in my trial now.
The big one has a zillion pups and the small one has about four. Pictures follow.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Hey... this really great Sandy! Can't wait to have you separating them. Keep the updates coming lady... What you are doing is sure gonna be followed by others. Thanks.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Hi Wolfe,
When you potted the pups, did they already have roots.... or were they still part of the corm? How old are the pups to date?
Thanks

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

Sandy, thanks for the info and updates! It is really interesting. Should I chop up one of my AeAe's? I will let someone else experiment.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

I was really mean to mine when I cut it off. I cut a "v" in the center after I cut it off just above ground level, then I took a sharp knife and destroyed the center. I actually drilled out a hole about 1/2 inch across and 2 inches deep down the center of the corm with that knife. And in the center there is where the cauliflower like tissue grew and where the sprouts are coming up. That callous tissue completely filled the holes I drilled out and mounded up out of the center a little bit.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

I was just reading that the "Ensete" genus only sucker's very rarely which I'm guessing is why you guys are using this method to create pups from your Ensette Maurelli's?

I would like to give this a go next year when I can put my Maurelli back into the ground and I wondered if there were any other issues that may need to worry about, i.e weather, location & time of year? Would it it be best to try this in the spring so as to have plenty of time for the pups to regrow? Would it be better to try this on a potted plant in the greenhouse rather than a plant in the garden?

Sandy how long did it take for the pups to grow before you could remove the pups?

ps. Well done on feeding back your results guys, these type's of experiments are brilliant :-) I had no idea that this could be achieved.

Re: ensete maurelii red-creating pups
 

If you let the pups grow from the corm long enough, they will root THROUGH it and it'll fall apart leaving the pups with nice roots . the pups can be gently pulled apart then. It'll be a mess of tangled roots but you'll get a lot more plants this way and only lose a few.