gman68558

I'm about to repot my this guy into a bigger container and have a couple of questions.



As you can see, there is one pretty good sized pup plus a couple of smaller ones. I believe based on what I've read is that to have the best chance for fruit, I should remove all the pups from the mother? Or should I maybe leave one of the smaller ones.

Also, since this operation is going to take place during repotting, both the mother and pup corms are going to be exposed after making the cuts. I've read varying opinions on needing to leave the corms out for 2 hours to 2 days in order to "cure" before potting. I'm guessing it would probably be okay to repot the mother right away but maybe let the pup cure a little bit in the sun?

Thanks for your help.

Bananavilla

The only pup there that should be removed is the largest one. What type of plant is this? Only remove 1 pup at a time or the mother will not stand on it's own. Give a few weeks to a month between removing pups so the mother has time to replace roots in the area where the pup was removed.

I generally remove all pups the first season. Let one grow the following season and remove all others till I think I'm within a month or so of a bloom on the mother plant. Then no more pup removal till harvest time.

I would also learn to remove the pups without repotting as soon as possible as that is not a reallistic approach.

Reroot pups in their own containers in the shade. Water only once when repotted and no more till the soil is pretty dry. I have heard of leaving corms out to "heal" the cut but have not seen it to be necessary. Also, I usually cut all leaves from the pup except the newest emerging leaf. This seems to help the rerooting process, minimizing water loss.

Hope this helps,
Mike

momoese

On curing the cut corms I can say that all of the pups that I have removed went straight into a homemade 100% organic compost mix in 5 Gallon pots. They all survived and are now very large healthy plants that have been in the ground for 4 months. Maybe some types are more sensitive and need some curing and or rooting hormone?

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Mitchel

gman68558

Mike, regarding the type, it's a "Banana Plant" lol. That's what the tag said at my local nursery and they weren't sure what it was other than it would grow about 6-8'. My guess is Dwarf Cavendish. The smaller one is a Raja Puri I got online from a reputable nursery so at least I know for sure what that one is.

I did already take one pup a couple of months ago with success so it's not like I need to repot to do it. I just thought since I'm going to be repotting I might as well take the big pup at the same time since I will really be able to see what I'm doing (i.e. make sure to get some of the mother corm, roots, etc.).

Thanks for the advice. I'll leave the two smaller pups for now and just take the bigger one.

I'm planning on repotting into one of those 24" metal drink tubs. Do you think that's a big enough container to hopefully have it fruit in? I was surprised to find those things are only 18 gallons - I would have guessed more. The root system for bananas seems fairly shallow so I was thinking width is probably more important than depth in a container.

momoese

Speaking of pups, which of these 5 should I remove? More than one?

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Mitchel

JoeReal

It is a lot easier to take all the pups if the plant is potted, but depends upon the age of the pup and how close they are to the stems. I have seaparated a one-inch high pup and it grew well. Here's my pictorial diagram on how to do it, this is hosted over at bananavilla's website:

http://groups.msn.com/BananaVillaIma...atingapup.msnw

tlturbo

Pretty, what is it? Wanna sell a pup?

If it was mine, counting 1-6 with mother as 1 and 6 as smallest, I'd leave 1,2,4 and 6. That way you have fruiting plants spaced about 3 months apart or so.

Terry

momoese

Thanks, it's a Jamaican Red. I have three mother plants and they all have several pups. I need to remove a few for a friend so I'll cut one off for you too if you want. Here is a better look at the pups. lmk

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Mitchel

Jeff

It's been my experience that the longer the freshly cut pup is out of the soil, the longer it takes to start growing. I usually dig them up and plant them immediately and have never lost any that way. When I have received pups through the mail that have been out of the soil for many days, they seem to take much longer to start growing again.

Over the years I have heard so much talk and advice about pup management. Many times I have heard that if you don't manage them properly, it will result in poor fruit production and unhealthy plants. I have given pups to friends who never thin them out and they grow into huge healthy clumps of 8-12 plants that produce giant bunches of fruit. I keep mine thinned out only because I do not have the room for large clumps and because I am always giving them away to friends or gardening buddies. It's just my opinion, but I think that people sometimes get stressed out about whether to remove a pup so that the mother plant grows better or faster. I just don't see where it makes a difference as long as the plants have good soil, plenty of water and are fertilized regularly.

Jeff

Momoese, by the way, that's a beautiful healthy looking clump of Jamaican Reds!!

JoeReal

Some varieties do not care if you take the pups or not, their yields are not affected. But most cavendish types are really sensitive to overcrowding. Lacatan for example will bear succeedingly smaller bunches of fruits if not thinned out.

Another important thing is that if your clump is nearby other clumps. If for example your friend has a single banana clump in their entire yard and is not being crowded by other bananas or fruit trees or shaded out, then I don't see those bananas yield smaller bunches.

Bananavilla

Ice Cream is a heavy pupper as well. I keep them thinned out except one replacement until just before bloom time. The I won't remove any directly attached to fruiting stem but will pull them from other side of corm.
Mike

tropicalkid

Mitchel:
Nice plant.It looks like a hybridized variety i.e. regular red variety x grand nain.Does that plant produce red-colored peel fruit or just regular green?

thanks,
tropicalkid

momoese

Thanks, the fruits are sort of a pinkish brown color on the skin. I was never fortunate enough to get my hands on any of the ripe fruit from the parent plants so I have no idea what color the flesh is or how it tastes. I have also noticed that the parents were much taller and more slender, but mine are in the full baking sun all day long while the parents had quite a bit of shade. They came from a nursery next door to where I used to work called Long Beach Organic. They are a non profit organization. These and most of my other Bananas came from that location. Charles Moore is the guy who planted the original parent plants about 15-20 years ago. I think they have a web site if you want to check it out.

Here it is: http://longbeachorganic.org/About.htm

Here is a picture that looks just like the fruit from the parent plants.
http://members8.clubphoto.com/_cgi-b...47-69ea&trans=

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Mitchel

MediaHound

fyi
to get that clubphoto image to work,
copy the url to your clipboard then paste it in your address bar
you cant get it to appear if you click the link directly
in other words, there cannot be a referring page
otherwise you get a warning image telling you that the high resolution photo is not allowed
anyway, to beat it, just right click the link, select 'copy link location' (or similar, depending on your browser [I recommend Mozilla]), then paste that URL and go
p.i.t.a

momoese

Or just put the image here! lol

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Mitchel

tropicalkid

They indeed look cool

tropicalkid