Pruning a banana plant

[clb2196]

I have a banana plant, which I *love*. It's got 6 or so nice big leaves, really flourishing. This week, it sent one reeeeally tall shoot, up to the top of the water, it's even bending a little because it's so tall. The very end looks like of like a new leaf before it unfurls, but it's hard to tell.

Is this just a ridiculously long leaf stem? Why is it so much taller? It's about 10-12" taller than the current leaves. Can I trim it and replant it? It wouldn't be a big deal except this plant is right front and center, and the stem is kind of in the way.

Or maybe it's a flower? I'm at work and have limited Internet searching, I can't seem to find much info about this plant.

[vampie]

It should be a flower.. been a long time since I've kept one of these.

[Hebily]

Sounds like a flower, to me.

[jptjpt]

I try to get rid of that stem each time the plant sends one up. It's looking for the water surface, and once it finds it, it won't send out any more leaves under water. What I usually do is wait until the leaves unfold and lies flat like a lily pad on the water surface, then snip the stem off as close to the plant as I can. Then I shorten that stem to about 3" from the leaf and let it float for several weeks until the snip end of the stem starts to put out some roots. At that point, you can replant it as a baby plant. Most of the time, the baby plants won't have any tubers growing, just roots. My banana plant has done this so many times, now I just throw the stems away.

[clb2196]

I try to get rid of that stem each time the plant sends one up. It's looking for the water surface, and once it finds it, it won't send out any more leaves under water. What I usually do is wait until the leaves unfold and lies flat like a lily pad on the water surface, then snip the stem off as close to the plant as I can. Then I shorten that stem to about 3" from the leaf and let it float for several weeks until the snip end of the stem starts to put out some roots. At that point, you can replant it as a baby plant. Most of the time, the baby plants won't have any tubers growing, just roots. My banana plant has done this so many times, now I just throw the stems away.

I'm guessing this is probably what it is then. I wonder why it does that. Guess I'll have to wait and see if it's a leaf or a flower, but if it's a leaf I'll use your method. :) Thanks!