Swords
 

I finally have pups! 4 on the California gold, 2 on the d Ornico. All are swords. Plus one starting on a potted super d cav. All are new plants planted this spring. They all seem pretty close to the mother so I'm a little apprehensive on separating them. I'd like to put one of each at least. Any concern with moving more than one in a day so close? Don't want to damage the mother.

Re: Swords
 

Let them grow out/grow up till next season before you separate them..

You are in a hurry because......:08:

Re: Swords
 

Because I don't know what im doing! And because i want to make sure the mother has a much energy devoted to getting fruit as possible. But if the expert advice is to wait, wait I shall. How tall before separating or cutting back unwanted pups?

Re: Swords
 

It doesn't matter. This whole idea of swords vs. water was invented by salespersons. It has no horticulture merit. It is a reflection of your growing environment and has no implications for the genetics of the pup.

Re: Swords
 

Knee high.

Here's more detailed information: http://www.bananas.org/f310/richards...tml#post296373

Re: Swords
 

DO and Cali Gold I would say 2' they are ready. They have large corms and super easy to split off. Great varieties to learn/practice removing pups!

On removing more than 1 per day. I like to remove one side. I split the plant into 4 sides. Say North, East, South, and West! Say tomorrow you remove 2 pups from the South side. Don't remove any that day from the other 3 zones. Wait at least a week to allow the mother plant to regrow some roots and anchor itself. Then remove another zone. If there are 4 pups in a single zone then you can remove them ALL! If there is 1 then that's it!

This is the rule I use! If you do more than 1/4th root damage then you risk the mother plant pausing! Or more important it will still have roots/pups to anchor it against wind.

If a plant is leaning like blue java does. I Always leave a couple pups on the back side of the plant. Pups are anchors! They will hold a plant onto the ground much better than roots only!

Re: Swords
 

Thanks all, exactly what I was looking for!