Mark Anthony Phair

You can reduce your banana's individual height to 1/3 of above-ground height. As they are being transplanted, they will go into shock, though they will immediately begin sending the central furled leaf up beyond the cut.

Don't even worry about keeping the corm or roots moist, particularly when the plant may go dormant and it is the time of year that most plants respond to shorter daylight hours and longer nighttime hours. Plus, cooler temps, more rain.

A short move across town negates keeping them moist, they will go into shock from digging up, anyway.

Don't worry about keeping the corm or roots moist. Although banana plants always do best with more than adequate watering, most people do not know that bananas are highly drought tolerant and can survive and will easily and quickly grow back from just the corm.

Case in point: several years ago, a friend dug up and threw out all of his banana plants in summer as the gophers were making meals out of the corms.

The above rules apply only to well-established banana corms. Young or small less established bananas require much more care.

Fortunately for me, he told me they were thrown out in the alley behind his home. There they sat for six weeks in the hot brutal Southern California sun on black asphalt where the temps reached 130 degrees. Then he told me and laughed: "Lets see you bring these back to life!" thinking he'd definitely finished them off forever in the hot dry sun. His challenge to me, as he'd seen me literally bring plants back to life from the "dead."

Needless to say, bananas can take a lot of abuse. The "dead" banana corms were re-planted at my home, and before long, "Wallah!" Instant plantation!

Your plants will do just fine. I guarantee it!