EDofSOMIS

If you do not want pups to grow...can you just cut them off at ground level and let them die? Is there another method that is better?

JP

They'll probably grow back... You,ll have to cut them where they start to be sure...

EDofSOMIS

OK...as I understand it...you need to get below grade and take the pup corm to assure it won't grow back? A lot to learn for a newbie. haha.

Vette-kid

I was actually about to ask the same thing.

JP

I dig them and cut them...

edwmax

Many forum users let the pups grow big enough to cut and plant (pot or ground). Then trade these for other banana varieties. ... I just cut 2 Truly Tiny pups which were about 2 1/2 - 3 inches tall this morning and repotted. They both had plenty of roots. ... For full size plants, I'd say cut the pups and repot at 12 to 18 inches.

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Gabe15

A trenching shovel works very well for desuckering, if you do not want to propagate more plants, it is best to remove them as soon as they poke above the ground, just a few inches. You just get the shovel in there, straight down between the sucker and the mother corm, and pop it off. Sometimes it will be more of a "shave" off. The goal in this technique is to remove just enough corm of the sucker that you remove it's growth point, you're not trying to get a big corm to replant. If you do this early and often, it's relatively easy to control the mat and is a lot less stressful on the plant than waiting until they are bigger and transplantable.

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EDofSOMIS

thanks Gabe. I am a bit confused about keeping water sprouts....so they can fruit for me, or just cutting them out and trashing them. I am told the water sprouts fruit just fine. They are just slower to grow at first. PS I just cut out a large water spout pup (30 inches) with a standard round point shovel. It seemed to be pretty easy. I basically just cut down between mother and pup...then dug it out. There were 8-10 3 inch long roots intact. I think maybe I did good! haha

Tytaylor77

Sounds like you did great. If done correctly it is very easy on most pups. Your gonna mess up a few it's just part of it. Sometimes they grow from under the corm or sideways. It's usually the rare or important ones that get messed up haha.

I have friends who dig down and wash out the dirt to see the connection before cutting. It works great for them and I have done this with smaller mother plants also.

To kill a sucker I chop it at ground level then take my long knife and split the middle of the pup with the knife splitting all the way to the mother corm (you will feel hitting it) this way doesn't mess up any roots and works. I've had a few come back then I do it again. If it's done early right when they pop up it works best.

Water suckers will grow and fruit the same as sword. Water suckers are usually a sign of either a young mat/mom plant or an under fertilized or under watered mat. Almost all young plants pup a couple water suckers to begin with. They will grow and fruit. I've never noticed a difference in the few I have planted. I for sure wouldn't trash them.

Good job removing it!

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EDofSOMIS

great info ty! thanks

Gabe15

A note about water vs. sword suckers: if a water sucker is separated from the mat, potted up and rooted, and replanted in the ground, it will behave as a normal plant and fruit well.

If however it is left attached to the mat and fruits without being separated, it is liable to produce a smaller bunch compared to sword suckers on the same mat. Although they are genetically identical, the water suckers are physiologically different and do not have as large of a connection to the parent mat and tend to be out-competed by sword suckers.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

EDofSOMIS

gotcha! thanks

Stonefox

Thanks Gabe15, very useful.

So the sword pup can be left alone and once a bit taller cut down the Mama?

Gabe15

I wouldnt cut down the mother shoot until after its done fruiting, but if you want to for some reason, you can and a sucker will take its place. But if you dont, the sucker will still grow and eventually tale its place anyway.

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Botanical_Bryce

You can sell the baby suckers or in my case pass them around to the neighborhood

Yug

I read once that if you cut the pup down to ground level, and then hollow out a small area in the center, and down about an inch, that if you take about a tablespoon of acetone, and pour it into the hollow area, it will kill the pup but not the main plant.

Never tried this though, I usually gave all the pups away.

Orly

I just got done cutting out a bunch of pups for the first time. I used a narrow shovel and it was pretty easy. I left one sword sucker on each parent plant. Gave a few suckers to my neighbor.

Yug

If you have limited growing area, you can cut out all but 1 sword pup in the direction you wish the plant to slowly migrate toward, usually away from a wall or concrete foundation. The remaining pup will take over after the parent has fruited and begun to die. I've even seen some folks have the plant migrate back and forth, in one direction and then leaving a sword pup from the new (now the main) plant that is growing back in the direction of where the original parent plant was. That way they stay in the same general location, and don't take up too much space for the ground matt. Also, the remaining sword gets all of mama's help rather than sharing the nutrients among a dozen or so sib plants. The risk is that if you get BBTV you will lose the whole thing. Might be good to keep an additional sword pup to put in a different location as a spare in case the one in the original location gets BBTV.

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