Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

My neighbor gave me several large banana plants, one of which is nearly 10 feet tall (taller than a 12 ft wall with leaves). He removed them from his yard not overly carefully, and as a result got about half the corms, and very little if any roots.

Any suggestions? Do you think these will survive and grow roots?

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Rest easy ......all is good.
First response... says they will sort themselves out'

The Pros will fill in the gaps.:)

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Cool, thank you. Should I take the leaves off? What about watering with no roots?

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Just my opinion.....no leaves = no stress at transplant.
At this point all that is important is what is going under the soil.
When you replant in your zone, your plant will sort it self out in 60 days or more.
Your size plants will have no problem finding a new home in your yard.
No roots ....no problem... You got bananas.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Great, I'll trim the leaves off. Thanks for your help.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

They will grow roots in time.. I'm sure your into spring there so in the Ground or pots.. :^)

Planting Tech

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Yes, they are in the ground. It's been mid 80's in phx, so I'm hoping they root before they rot.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Well if you augmented the soil I water once, and let them acclimate for 2 weeks before I do anything else (water / fert again).. :^)

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

I wish I would have gotten the corm in better condition, he basically dug down and broke them off leaving the rooted half of the corm in the ground. I have a good chunk of corm on each, they are just ragged at the separation point.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

We move a lot of banana and platano plants around here in trying to tidy up an overgrown area of our property.

We normally cut the plant down to about 18" or 1/2 meter in height.
I have had corms that have been cut into quarters with growth eyes in each piece that mature into healthy plants.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Cool, I think I have a good chunk on the bottom of each stem. I did remove the leaves, they were wilting badly anyway, and I hoped removing them would keep water in the plant.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Leaves won't grow till it has roots so mise well knock them off.. except the newest one..

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Sound advice and a marker also helps.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Removing them before they wilt is better and removing them before separation is even better.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Thank for everyone's help, if these don't make it, he said I can dig out a few "my way" next time.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Unfortunately that will mean next year, as it soon gets to hot to plant anything out here in summer.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

I am assuming, then, that you live in the desert.

If you can find a shady place or provide shade for the corms they can be planted at any time of year.

Pay attention that you have provided good soil and keep them well watered.

I test the moisture content of the soil about an inch deep. If the soil holds together by squeezing a handful it is moist enough. If the soil does not hold together you need to water.

Re: Large banana plants no roots - any advise?
 

Thank you. It's been just over a week, what's the thought on when I might see progress? The stems remain pretty solid, with the most external softening, but nothing else seems to have changed otherwise. I'm in the desert, and the soil in these area has all been changed out, and blended with manure. For most of my plants I do two things, on two watering zones. I have drips above ground, and soaker line on another zone at about double the planting depth of the plants, this provides ground moisture for the roots (once they develop) in the summer, as surface water lasts minutes at 100 plus degrees, and single digit humidity.