flounder

had a browse, couldn't find anything out so thought my first proper post would be this.
Bought a cheap m. tropicana from lidl late last year but this spring, just when I thought it should show movement decided to 'strangle'.
Had to break the clump of leaves from the centre to get the new roller to unfurl.
It now has a dozen pups forming, not bad for a plant a foot high!
I know ensetes have this happen but is it a tc issue? Used to think I was pretty clued up but after joining this place I now realise I know nothing about bananas, a very humbling experience
photos in my gallery thing

trebor

Boy ! That’s a great looking plant.. Ya might have had a little problem but it looks to me like its on its way .. the high amount of pups is from the plant being stressed or choked or strangled or whatever you want to call it. When I first planted my plants the fellow who put them in the ground with me took a tie warp and tied it around one of the plants he gave me . That plant produced 4 pups that season the other 5 plants only produced 1 or 2.
Also in good rich soil with daily watering you will get extra pups . That’s my .02
Also I notice some of the dwarf Cavendish produce lots of pups normally with daily watering

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

flounder

so theres another propagation method, go round cable tying all my bananas! you never know, it might be worth a go

musa_monkey

The pup growth is fairly normal for a super dwarf Cavendish - mine are similar and little prince is even more prolific. It does look a little restricted at the top but not as bad as Ensete strangles.

Given the pstem length I suspect that worst case you could have just chopped it back a bit and it would have cleared itself. First time i have seen this with a Musa so it certainly opens up the debate as to the cause.

flounder

so these are different cultivars and not trade names ie tropicana, little prince, novak?

musa_monkey

Tropicana is a made up name - that seems to happen a lot in the banana world See;

Musa Super Dwarf Cavendish - Bananas Wiki

which also includes the Novak reference.

Little prince is different. Its an extreme dwarf cavendish variety originating from Randy Salter and is subject to a US patent (License needed for TC propagation).