bluesky

Wow! What a site! Happy to meet all of you. I do have questions and if anyone can help....a BIG thank you!
I have a dwarf oranco that for several years I keep in my house in winter but the lighting is so bad, it just barely hangs on but in spring it thrives. Well this spring i put it ouside (it's in a pot) and all of a sudden it has 5 baby plants growing out of it. I'm afraid that the mother plant thinks it's dying so for preservation, it is doing this. So far the plant looks ok, it is leaning alittle and there are no leaves coming out from the stalk. How do I seperate the babies from the trunk without killing the tree? 3 are coming from the roots below but 2 are growing out the side of the trunk. I've never seen this before. Also, does anyone have an idea of when I could have real bananas growing from it? I do use a banana food source once a week. Thanks for any help.
blue

JoeS475

Hi bluesky!

Whatever you do don't separate the babies yet! They are attached to the mother corm with an established root system, and should grow far better if left alone. Pups which I've separated always grow much much slower and have a much better chance of dying!

If the pseudostem (trunk) of the mother is soft and mushy there's a good chance it is dead, and you'll want to cut back on the watering. If its firm it could just be the plant is dedicating its energy to motherhood so to speak.

It may be possible for you to get bananas in a pot, but the plant will probably have to be 5-6' tall. How tall is yours? I grow bananas in NJ for a tropical appearance, with no realistic hope of fruit with my current setup.

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

~Joe

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MediaHound

When you're ready, here's some tips on separating the pups:
Time to separate the pups for the Spring

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