jeffreyp

I am wondering if some soil or weakened condition causes them to appear to begin with.
I'd be curious how the water suckers do if you plant them in ideal conditions with plenty good soil and fertilizer if they then regain whatever vigor was lost and become just as productive as swords..

TommyMacLuckie

I've been pulling water suckers out, just popping them out with my hand, no shovel, and have planted several just to see what they'll do. I've got sword suckers all over the place and I've been moving some of those lately at various jobs.

sirmoebly

here's my update..... all three came from michael andrew.... three little & can't say enough little plants the size of a dime.... on one chuck of growth.... Before I brought them in the house I chop the tops off, what you see is new growth... Michael if your reading I have a tall orinoco with your name on it........ Can't say enough of nice people on the org......... thank you all......SDC...........are awesome........

[IMG][/IMG]

TommyMacLuckie

It's gotten quite easy to tell them apart as mature plants - swords and waters. All of the water suckers that have grown are quite thin, small and grow rather slow. They work fine as far as wanting to have something green, which is all I've kept them for in certain places where I want something to not get too tall quickly.

kelehawaii

Jeff, my experience here is that tho the water sucker itself is a very dwarf plant and won't do what a sword will do at maturity, the babies that appear around the parent water sucker do a lot better provided that the original was planted deep enough.

A water sucker is nothing more than a pup that has developed close to the soil surface and reaches the light when it isn't quite ready to start growing up. The swords pop out of the corm at least 6 inches below the soil surface. The deeper the better.

I like the idea of planting the little tykes into a pot and keeping them as potted little things until they have put out at least 10 leaves then taking them out of the pot and putting them in ground.

Aloha to all from the 'Big Island' of Hawai'i.

Kele

PS - Tho the water sucker won't be producing and looking like a sword at first, its followers/ratoons, will be normal sized and produce a normal weight bunch for that particular variety.

tucsonplumeriaz

very informational thread. thanks for posting pics for the newbies.

sunfish

Water sucker and sword growing side by side

Vickie H.

I am a plant hog, so I keep all bananas. LOL

TrailGaiter

Very interesting discussion! I got ALL excited about seeing pups, completely forgetting that there are different kinds of pups.... (the only pupping bananas I have are basjoos, I'm told maureliis don't pup unless you "force" them...which I don't plan on!)

So, looking at my pics....I have 5 pups now (from two plants) and the only two that have leaves now, looks like they're water suckers. The first one is obvious, the other one only has one little leaf, but certainly doesn't look like a sword.

More pups!!!

But since I am growing these strictly for ornamental value...am I correct in assuming that I shouldn't worry too much about pulling the water suckers out, unless I'm getting more than I'd like? Or, can they damage my (young, still growing) parent plant, so should I consider trying to get them potted while still small, or would there not be enough of a root system there?

Completely forgot about the different kinds of pups, until I read this....now I'll be watching them to see what the rest turn out to be.

sunfish

Maybe it's best to wait till there bigger

caliboy1994

I just know that when my plants get water suckers I'm going to get rid of them.

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bananimal

On my Goldfinger mat the third and fourth year old main pstem corms are producing water suckers. I dig them out for the compost pile. Waste of time to pot them.

kelehawaii

If the sheer number of pups leads to your having too many of them, then, by all means, don't keep them. But if that doesn't matter and you are like me..the thicker the planting the better I like it as such a 'wall' makes for a good windbreak plus if you have neighbors who are noisy, it will cut down that noise and provide some see-through-proof privacy! Living in town now on a small houselot instead of on 20 acres makes it necessary to not be able to see adjoining homes. Don't get me wrong. I have great neighbors but I only want to see them when I WANT to see them!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailGaiter Very interesting discussion! I got ALL excited about seeing pups, completely forgetting that there are different kinds of pups.... (the only pupping bananas I have are basjoos, I'm told maureliis don't pup unless you "force" them...which I don't plan on!) So, looking at my pics....I have 5 pups now (from two plants) and the only two that have leaves now, looks like they're water suckers. The first one is obvious, the other one only has one little leaf, but certainly doesn't look like a sword. More pups!!! But since I am growing these strictly for ornamental value...am I correct in assuming that I shouldn't worry too much about pulling the water suckers out, unless I'm getting more than I'd like? Or, can they damage my (young, still growing) parent plant, so should I consider trying to get them potted while still small, or would there not be enough of a root system there? Completely forgot about the different kinds of pups, until I read this....now I'll be watching them to see what the rest turn out to be.

kelehawaii

I have just planted a Dwarf Cavendish water sucker in what one would describe as ideal conditions just outside my bedroom window. The leaves are laden with purple splotches and the plant is barely 8 inches in height. It will grow slowly, bear a relatively small bunch of fruit but the ratoons will be quite normal. I'll take a pic of it and put it into my own gallery here shortly.

Chance1945

Nate, a great question. I haven't read any of the replies yet but I've often wondered the same thing. I'll follow this thread and probably learn a lot. Thanks again for this question.

Chance1945

May you could sell or give away those pups on BANANAS.

Chance1945

I don't know how I commented on a post from 2008, but I'm guilty. Anyway, it's a good post and I learned from it so maybe someone else will also.

robguz24

Here are 3 pups I removed from my original A'e a'e. The first two were sword suckers, and the last is a water sucker. The water sucker happens to have more green, which might account for why it is the most healthy of the 3 about 6 months after being removed from the mother plant.

Pup 3, sword sucker.

Pup 2, sword sucker.

Pup 3, water sucker. Picture doesn't do it justice, looks the most healthy in person. Looks smaller here given the angle of the picture.

For my dwarf Brazillians and most other that I have too many of, I just break off the water suckers. But with the A'e a'e there was no way I was going to give up when it had such obviously variegated young leaves. The water sucker is already creating pups of its own, while the two sword suckers have not yet.

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kelehawaii

A beautiful plant to say the least! I'd give most anything to have one like it!

paulorph

Actually,
does not matter because this is a great thread for people to see. Also, give people a chance to comment on their beliefs on the differences between the two. I agree that the plants are same b/c of dna should be the same (besides possibly AeAe and other genetic mutation). So differences should be related to root system. I also believe that water suckers probably are pulling nutients from parent plant. This does not force root system to form early on. Plant gets big and mother plant cannot provide for the pup. This slows down the pup. Then people cut pup off giving it more shock and slowing down its growth for a while. Water suckers are fighting from the beginning. They are not about to get water and nutrients from soil. So they develop a good root system before they develop the leaf (this is true with non-bananas grown from seed). Once a plant gets a good root system, the leaves will have necessary nutrients to photosynthesize. We cut this off and it has everything it needs. It is not shocked as much when we cut it "umbilical" cord. Next thing is to figure out what causes the difference. I wish I knew. Probably, it is due to limited nutrients from the mother plant. I do believe that a water sucker can be as vigorus as a sword. But they take more time and may fruit before the have the time to completely catch up. This would explain the difference in size of the bunches. This all being said, other argument is that mother plant giving sword lots of nutrients so thats why they dont get leaves (dont need them). This could be true. My problem is why does it force roots. The I just like the other theory more. I think it is more like a plant growing from a seed. Now I not sure myself lol. But think first theory is best in my mind. But this is a great thread.

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