Nicolas Naranja

OK, this is probably limited to people who have a lot of bananas but is there any general rule about how far behind in time a follower should be in a mat. I have let some plants get too many suckers and I am selecting followers right now.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Gabe15

There is no rule, its all about preference. I don't try to keep a set time gap between any of my shoots (that would also be somewhat difficult to measure and execute), but when I plant, I let the first sucker grow, and then just try to keep them at different sizes by then removing suckers such that if multiple young ones come up at the same time, I only keep one. This is so that the fruiting is always staggered, and usually it comes out to between 3-4 months between bunches, but it depends also on the variety and how they are cared for. Some varieties have an inhibited suckering habit, where no suckers really grow until after the first shoot flowers, and other have a free suckering habit, where they come up very quickly and all grow fast. Most varieties are somewhere in between. The habit of sucker formation greatly affects how you will manage them. Some are difficult to keep on top of, others nearly manage themselves perfectly with little need of sucker removal.

However there are some plants which I did not do this with when they were young (I was gone for a few months), and they have multiple bunches now. Its not a bad thing though, the size of each bunch may be reduced some, but I do it mainly because its a teaching farm so I show people how to maintain them as if you had a farm, and also because we don't want the mats to get huge.

Additionally, usually I do not separate them well enough to be transplanted, they are usually very small and just poking out of the soil so they are easy to shave off with a shovel. If a new plant is needed, then of course I let it grow some and separate it properly. This is a big time and energy saver when you are managing many plants.

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

Dean W.

Great question.

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Barney Oatmeal

Agreed, doggoned good question! I am not far from Nicholas and have 25 acres of Orinocos, which pup profusely.

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"We Dig Our Fingers In The Ground, Heave And Turn Our World Around" (Tom Waits)

pitangadiego

There is not set rule or amount of time. However, from the starting point that it is about 2 years from pup to flowering (depends on your climate), if you spread them out about 6 months apart, you get a nice progression.

The hard part is getting them to send up a new pup every 6 months. Some varieties send up pups continuously, while other seem to only pup after the parent has flowered (Popoulu and African Rhino Horn in my experience). Some send up a whole bunch at one time, and not every so often. So it is more art than science, in the end.

Also, in most non-tropical climates, they do not grow 12 months of the year, but something more like 6-8 months, which also affects when you will get pups and your ability to space out your harvest..

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