Hi, I have a 6ft musa basjoo banana plant, which over three years has given me three more lovely adult plants!!! which are between 3-4ft which i love!!! BUT now they ALL have had at least three or four more babies!!! and as i don't really want a plantation i need to act!! do i just chop them off!! Can I pot them up? and if so how do i do it ? when do i do it? and will it harm the main plant? Thank You Sue
Creeping rootstock forms clumps in the same manner as other herbaceous perennials such as irises. You might be able to curb spread by digging out new sprouts around edge without adversely affecting condition of those remaining. Or the fact that you are repeatedly removing the new growths and leaving the old might eventually result in some deterioration. At any rate this is always a big plant where happy, perhaps you can give it a different position where there is more room.
People are always surprized to see plants perform as they should, often not researching their growth habits. Musa grow in large groves and as the old fruiting pseudostems die, many new off-sets take their place. As for dividing, once the off-set has set down roots of it's own, it can be severed from the mother plant and potted up/moved etc. These can and do reach 20' - 25' in height once established. Cheers, LPN.