Types of pups
 

I know that bananas can produce two types of pups: sword pups and water pups.
But the pup on the left side of this picture look different than anything I have seen posted. Has anyone seen this before?



Normal pup:


and ???


Oh and these are both on my Musa 'Ice cream'

Thanks

Re: Types of pups
 

the one on the left looks like baby bamboo. i read somewhere that the water pups are not the best to use for propagation, is this correct or was it wrong? something about them becoming spindely.... that is the first time ive seen both kinds of pups. if its not the right pup, its dug up and trashed? the only reason i ask is cause i dont know.:0497: thank you

Re: Types of pups
 

Ben,
Is it possible that a seed from a nearby plant accidently got into the ice creams space! If not, it is something I have never seen..
Randy

Re: Types of pups
 

I have know idea....
These to sprouts are the second time something like this popped up in this pot.
I don't have anything that looks like this and when I mixed this soil up I used
it for several other plants and haven't seen it in any other containers...
I can't decide if I want to let them grow or try to dig under the banana and see if it's connected.

Re: Types of pups
 

Take a water hose and wash the soil away until you can see if it is attached to mom or if it is a separate plant that you can pull out. It sure doesn't look like a banana pup to me.

Terry

Re: Types of pups
 

Hey,
The pup on the left if odd... I don't even know 100% if it's a banana or not.
But your right about the sword pups, those are want you want to start a plant. I know a post has been posted in the past on this board that gave some good info. I need to search for it too... :)

This link may help: Sword vs Water

Re: Types of pups
 

i wasnt sure about not wanting those types of pups. i read that about 1 mo. ago and i just thought dude must be crazy. with reg. houseplants i know that anything that comes up from the parent plant is a good thing. i think i have read more about tropicals in the last mo. then i have all semester in my algebra book.( and thats a lot in the algebra) what is the difference between the water pup and the sword pup? is it like a throw back or something? i googled that question and could not find an answer.

Re: Types of pups
 

Ben, the one on the left has very small leaves and does not look like banana at all. I don't have any ice cream and maybe that variety is different. Have your pups in the past grown that close before in the mat?
Valerie;)

Re: Types of pups
 

My guess is it is some type of grass or succulent. Definitely not some type of banana I've seen before.

Re: Types of pups
 

Looks like sugar cane to me.

Re: Types of pups
 

I was thinking...hm, maybe Ginger, Sugarcane, or Bamboo. But in Kansas, growing wildly( meaning you didn't plant it...) I think its a grass too, Mitchel. Maybe Bermuda? Bermuda looks a little bit different than that but thats my guess.

Re: Types of pups
 

It could be something in the same order (Zingiberales) like a Hedychium or a Costus, but definitely not a musa.

Luis

Re: Types of pups
 

Come to think of it I've seen that plant before. It's a common weed or grass here. Leave it alone and it will invade your pot. Sometimes it starts deep and almost always part of the rhizomes breaks when you pull it and it will grow again.

Re: Types of pups
 

Ben, I think its Bermuda Grass that you are talking about. Also, I did not mean Mitchel, I meant Ben.

Heres a pic-



But I don't see the Bamboo/Gingerish look that I see in the other Ben's plant.

:bananarow:

Expert advice?

Re: Types of pups
 

Taylor:
Yes, that's it.
That's how it looks if it''s young. Those are almost 'impossible' to kill. It can hibernate for a long time or can withstand the sun and you think it's dead and dried but give it a little water and pop you go, it will sprout.
That's no banana pup.

Re: Types of pups
 

I started to dig around the base of this guy, but had to leave before I could finish. I'll see what I can do to find the root system of these guy later this weekend. Randy, I was thinking that I didn't wash the root system off when I first got the plant so seeds from anything could be in there.

Thanks for the help guys, hopefully I can get this dug out without to much damage to the banana.

Re: Types of pups
 

I don't think it's going to do any damage to your banana if you keep it in check meaning dig the roots as deep as you can when it starts to grow.
This guy can wrap itself many times over to the mat without you knowing it that's why it is impossible to kill it . But you can keep it in check.
The problem is it can travel underground a long ways before it pups out on the ground again until it invades the whole area.