banana plants.

[Cory Keeper]

Ok, I have two banana plant and some space to spare, and I would like to know, how do you propagate these things?

[Bk828]

can let it just sit on top of the substrate or you can bury it 1/3 of the way, either way you will see new leafs in a few weeks and a root structure develop. These plants dont require much so they are the EASIEST to take care of. You can break off 1 or 2 of the older leafs and that way new growth can be speed up.

[Cory Keeper]

Im not asking how to take care of it, I want to make new ones, but I'm not sure how.

[Bk828]

Im not asking how to take care of it, I want to make new ones, but I'm not sure how.

Opps lol thought i typed more..


I have read on a few sites that if you take the stem with the leaf and bury it in the gravel it will start forming roots and the plant will slowly take shape. Same can be done with just letting the leaf float.

Another forum suggested you break the banana plant in half and from that you have 2 plants (not sure on that thought)

Another forum suggests that with time a flower will form from the leafs and after it "dies" it will start forming shoots. Though they are not sure if it needs medium or HIGH light to form that flower.

in any case i have tried only 1 of these methods and havent really seen any roots form while it was in the substrate. I just leave it alone and see what happens with time. So far my actual banana plant is getting its 6th stem which so far is the most for me.

[Bk828]

http://www.csd.net/%7Ecgadd/aqua/naquatica032300b.jpg
http://www.csd.net/%7Ecgadd/aqua/bflower051400i.jpg

And heres some more info

Planted it, with the bananas half buried in the substrate. The plant rooted,
and sent up runners to the surface, with floating leaves. I was normally
leaving just one of two of the floating leaves attached, and removing the
rest so that it wouldn't block too much light.

The first way I reproduced it: Take a floating leaf. After it's been at
the surface for a few days, clip the stem about 4 inches below the leaf,
and let the leaf and it's attached piece of stem float. After several
days, roots will form at the end of the stem attached to the leaf. Let
the roots develop for a few days, then you can snip the leaf off the
stem with it's new roots, and plant the stem/roots. It won't have a
banana bunch, but it grows just like any other banana plant.


The second way I reproduced it, by pure luck: After a couple months of me
clipping off the floating leaves, I noticed that one of the runners to
the surface had a "lump" a few inches below the end of the stem. Once the
leaf reached the surface, from this lump emerged a couple small stems. One
of these stems produced a small floating leaf. From the same spot, a small
stem went to the surface, and a flower formed. A week later, a banana
bunch forms from that same lump. Once the bananas are pretty well formed,
the stem will rot just below the bananas. Now the floating leaf, and the
new attached banana bunch can float around free. In the wild, this leaf
could now be carried by the current to a new location. About a week
after the stem rotted, the leaf will start to rot, eventually dropping the
banana bunch down to the substrate, where it will root, and start over!

It's a very cool process to watch, and the flower is VERY nice looking.

Unfortunately, I've got no idea what actually triggered the flowering.
It's been flowering for several months now, and seems to be slowing down,
in fact, I haven't seen a new stem in a week. Once it started sending
up the runners with the "lumps", every single stem had a lump.

[Joergen.Schoppe]

wow
i was no fan of banana plants, thought they are boring. but the story you write makes them really interesting. might take out my lilies (have 3, started with one) and try the bananas
thanks for sharing this nice story