barbc

So I've now had this TC Mahoi for less than 3 weeks and it's trying to put out a sucker of its own. Bearing in mind that I'd like to try to fruit this plant someday, am I better off leaving this little sucker or cutting it off?[IMG][/IMG]

Kat2

"Suckers"...er...pups are normal and won't prevent a musa from fruiting; how you care for your gal will determine whether you harvest a bunch or not. That pup is your next chance at nibbling bananas so leave that baby alone.

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barbc

Thanks! Will do.

barbc

Actually I know they're pups, but I wanted to be whimsical in my album and "pupette" just looked too weird so I went with "suckerette", derived from "water sucker". Amazing how fast this thing grows. 2nd leaf unfurling already.

Kat2

Since you've actually taken time to read up, you know bananas are herbaceous plants and not trees.

I had a DC when I lived in Jacksonville that pupped like she was planning to provide provisions for the end of the world! And I have some that obviously have no thought for the future. These ladies definitely have different habits.

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Gabe15

What Kat2 has suggested is normally sound advice, but typically for larger in-ground plants. Young tissue culture plants tend to produce these small water suckers in some situations, they will grow, but may not do much, especially in a small pot as you have yours in.

If you are planning to make a serious attempt at fruiting your plant, I would advise removing this young sucker and any subsequent ones until it is a much larger plant, and potting your plant into the largest container you can manage, ideally at least 20-30gal. You want to focus resources on the main shoot, which will need all the help it can get to make it to fruiting.

Small water suckers can be separated and potted up (if removed properly) to propagate more plants, and in this way they will grow up to be fine normal plants, but if left on the mat they tend to lag behind and not perform as well in the end.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

barbc

Thanks, Gabe! I did wonder about focusing efforts on the main pstem. Your comment also brings to mind my questions about pot size. Obviously I will go huge on the pot to maximize growth and fruiting potential. I was just concerned about drowning the thing if the medium doesn't dry out quickly enough. Been there with mangoes. How 'bout if I step up to 3 gallon for a little while to keep it manageable, then straight up to 25 gallon? Or what would you suggest? I'm in Tri-Cities, so really hot and dry in the summer. Once it goes outside (any day now!) I'll worry less about drowning. Also medium suggestions, since you live "over here" and know what's available to us? TIA

Gabe15

Just go straight to the largest size pot you're going to use. Bananas are much harder to drown than trees, and excess soil moisture doesn't generally pose a problem at all unless it is also cold (below 60°F), and if does get cooler, just don't water as much until it warms up again.

Any general potting mix will work fine as long as it's well draining, so having a good amount of sand or perlite is ideal. If you can get some high quality compost as well, it is beneficial to mix this into the potting mix at up to 1/3-1/2 of the total, you won't need to worry about fertilizing for quite awhile, and perhaps not ever.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.