djmb74

I was told that if you do not want your banana plant to produce fruit you can cut the flower off before it blooms and the main stalk will not die off... is this true?

Thanks!!!

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conejov

I dont think that will work, because the plant decided to make fruit along time ago, Also they are monocarpic to once it flowers it bound to still die. But Hey! Im still a newbie at this so maybe Im wrong.

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BananaAddict

Well, it is not true. The main stalk will not die off immediately, but it will die eventually. Because once it flowers, it will not produce new leaves anymore. So, once the last leaf died, that is about three months after flowering, the main stalk will die too. That's the normal cycle of banana, we have to live with it. better yet, let it produce fruit...

djmb74

that's what I figured, just wanted to confirm that so that the rest of the information I got on banana plants from this person I can process properly... lol

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bencelest

To add: the main stalk if you leave it and do not cut off completely all the way to the base but leave about 3 feet of stalk or so will serve as a source of nutrients for the pups for them to grow quickly.

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jen

I have to add to what Benny said...After my Mysore produced bananas and they were harvested I cut it down but it still has about 3 feet and it stayed green for almost a year, it's just starting to die. My plant had so much growth over the last year, the pups grew like crazy.

sbl

I can second that. I was experimenting with a couple bananas and wrapped one to protect it from cold--the other was left unprotected. Both stems had pups about 1/2 as tall as the main stem. The protected one survived and put out a new leaf without being cut back--other other one didn't, so I cut back just a foot or so to try to get it to come out (it didn't). The pup on both stems started growing without cutting, but the one attached to the one that was cut back started growing really fast--it is now bigger than the stem that was protected--nearly twice the diameter and a little taller with hugh leaves.