separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

My mom planted a musella a little bit larger than this one of mine. Problem is she planted it in a flower bed which has grown out of control. I'd like to thin out this bed including the musella. Because it's so overgrown, there's difficulty getting good access to the musella. Seems the only thing I can do is "hack" away some of those pups. Thought I'd just slice away with this big knife I have. She's concerned I'll kill the whole plant. Could I "hack" off on all sides without damaging the mother plant? OH, by the way... I.. *cough* ..nearly killed her DC by separating the pups. There was like 5 or 6. Why didn't you guys TELL me I couldn't cut them all away, leaving no root?? :)

(This is the size of mine and I'm only posting it because I figured out how to post pics within the thread so I'm showing off.. ahhh.. I mean, practicing. :)

Re: separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

Hi Carolina,

Last year I had two very large musella lasiocarpas, and had no problem taking the pups off. I took off several at a time and the mother plant never suffered in the least. I simply sliced through with a knife. However I was never able to kep the pups alive despite trying many times... must be different to a musa, these pups never had any roots at all...

Good luck,

~Joe

Re: separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

Thanks, Joe. I sliced off 5 pups from the musella. Managed to get root with 3 of them, so we'll see if they live. Never thought I'd see the day, but 2 of those pups went on the burn pile. I'm with alot of y'all on the "musella ain't all that" list.

Re: separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

I bought my first lasiocarpa today, and it has 4 large stems in a 3 gallon bucket. To use that 'assume' word again- I assume that when I shake out the dirt there will be a corm I can divide 4 ways? No?
Another thought- I found a picture that appeared to show 4 blooms on a single bunch (corm?) of Golden Lotus. Do these things get several blossoms at a time, unlike most bananas?

Paul

Re: separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

Musella are very odd bananas to say the least. In order to divide pups with success, you need to get big corm chunks with pups on them, rather than a more Musa like approach where you would seperate each pup seperately with its own corm. Musella pups start from within the mother plant kinda and come out of the old leaf bases then when they get big enough eventually end up being on the outside like normal bananas, but then when the mat gets big enough anything can happen, they come up everywhere. You are very unlikely to kill the mother plant, they are pretty much bullet proof if already growing, and of course yours is very happy. On flowering, Musella will sometimes produce multiple lateral blooms in addition to the main one out of the pseudostem, they come up like leafless pups like you see on some gingers.

Re: separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

It's been about a month since I divided pups off my mom's musella and all 3 are thriving. Anyone in my area is welcome to come by and pick up 2 of them.

Carolina you are so.....
 

Re: separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

I'm glad those baby lasiocarpas are doing well. I wish I could come by and pick them up, but I don't live so close! I should separate my lasio pups later this season or next spring but want to wait until they get bigger.

Re: separating pups on musella lasiocarpa
 

Here's a simple and easy way to separate musella pups from the mother.

Wait until late Fall, before your first frost. Dig up the whole plant and chuck it under the house and forget about it until early Spring. In Spring, retrieve it from under the house (or garage, basement, etc.). They store so well it's not even funny. At this point, you will have the entire, rootless plant in front of you, and you can snap the larger pups off. Don't bother with the really small ones though, as they are kinda iffy on whether or not they will grow roots. After your done, stick the mama back in the ground and stand back. They start growing almost immediately.

Of course, for those in frost-free (or nearly frost free) climates, there would be no need to put it under the house. You could replant it right away.