How tall do suckers need to be?
 

I have a few questions that I need help with. I have a dwarf cavendish plant that has 10 suckers that range in size from 2" to 12" tall. The the plant has two main pseudostems, one is 7' tall and the other is 5' tall. My questions are as follows. How tall do suckers need to be before you remove them from the mother plant(if you want to grow them)? Do I need to remove or thin out the suckers, and if so, how many do I remove? Thanks for your help.

Re: How tall do suckers need to be?
 

High there. If you are going to plant your sucker in the ground, not a pot, choose one that is at least a foot long to where it branches - the crotch. But, the bigger the better. I used to be surprised that 3 foot high suckers, sharpshooted out of there, with just a few roots on them, would grow. Now it's standard practice around here - as long as it's good warm growing season.

SB

Re: How tall do suckers need to be?
 

You can root them to become their own mat in the future, or you can destroy them. It sounds like you have quite a few. Most members agree that 3 to 4 pups per mat is ideal for fruit production. If you are not concerned about bunch weight/size than you can let the pups grow like they would in the wild. However, it is a good idea to do some prunning because disease and pests will eventually become an issue if your mat becomes too crowded. I have a similar problem and I have plenty of buckets but I need to find a whole lot of dirt someplace! And then theres the problem of finding homes for all of them. I don't know how to kill suckers, but I'm sure it probably requires the same methods as separating them.

Re: How tall do suckers need to be?
 

I would like to plant two pups in pots and grow them inside over the winter. How tall do they need to be before I seperate and pot them?

Re: How tall do suckers need to be?
 

Also, after I remove what I'm putting in pots should I remove the remaining suckers? Or should I leave some? How many should I leave?