Rebel1970

I live in Zone 7. Is there a particular time of the year that I should separate the pups from the mother plant? Due to the fact that it is Nov 1st, I will be winterizing my mother plants soon. I understand that I can separate the pups in the summer, but what about the rest of the year? My 2 main plants are well over 8 feet tall right now and pups very from 1 inch to 4 feet. Each mother has 4 or 5 pups on it at the moment. Thanks for any help or suggestions. I appreciate it.

meizzwang

Considering that in 2 weeks they're predicting highs in the 60's and lows in the high 30's in your area, I'd wait until next spring to divide. Ideally, you want warm days and warm nights when making divisions. Pups that are 1" in height most likely won't have roots, I had to learn that the hard way a few months ago when several pups were separated from the mother plants. they were about 5-6" in length, had 2-3 leaves and not a single one had roots! Banana suckers can be misleading and from above ground look very ready to divide, but in practice it's best to give them a little time to develop on the mother plant before separating. It's probably best to wait until they have at least 1-2' of pseudostem, although of course there are exceptions to the rule (sometimes they have big corms and small p-stems). A big corm with lots of roots is what you're aiming for.

Rebel1970

Thanks for the info meizzwang. So far it temp has gotten down to 36 at night, but only one time so far. I did read some reports that the east coast is in for bitter cold weather this winter. Sure hope that they are wrong!! In January of '08 when I moved here I was mowing grass, and almost as many motorcyclists out as if it were summer. Thanks again!!