Should I remove banana shoots/pups?

10 years ago

In March I planted an ice cream banana that was 2-3 feet tall. It is now like 12 feet tall with 4 shoots/pups coming out of it.

Two of the pups are already much bigger than the original tree was in March. Do they take away nutrients from the main tree?

Just wondering if I should remove them to get better fruit production. Or should I keep them and get more fruit, more often, because of a higher number of trees?

Comments (2)

jean001a
10 years ago
Your choice to remove or not.

But know that the pups replace the "mother" plant because after "mom" fruits, it dies.
canadianplant
10 years ago
You can remove some, but I would always leave a couple near the mother plant. After she flowers it will die to be replaced by the suckers. Over a few years bananas will "walk" a bit in this way.

If you do make sure you dont damage the corm of the mom, and make sure the pup has a bit of root, NOT only rhizome. This is the best way to propagate them. IF you grow any hybrid banana you wont get the same fruit, you need to divide them as I mentioned above. You can grow the seeds, as I said they will differ from the mom.

I have to do this to my Basjoo.
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Should I remove banana shoots/pups?

Comments (2)

jean001a

canadianplant

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