Last year my bananas grew so big and created so many suckers that I tried for the first time to separate those. However, I did several mistakes described in more detail below. This year I have to follow more closely the advice giving here:

• http://www.rhs.org.uk/.../Ensete.pdf
• http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/.../banana.html

Musa basjoo

This was without a doubt the easiest species to multiply so far. By the end of last year’s growing season (Fall 2006) my Japanese Fiber Banana got so massive and created so many off-shoots (suckers) that I started taking divisions (More than half a dozen). Since I had so many of them to experiment with, I decided to over-winter some of them in the basement and to plant several others outside later that fall. Everything survived. That autumn I planted 6 small ones literally in pure clay. No special winter protection was applied, except for covering the base of the trunk with leaf litter. Also, they were all planted in a wooded area that provided some additional protection. All Japanese Fiber bananas re-sprouted in March 2007. When I planted them they had a height of 0.3-1m (1-3ft). I even stepped on one of them and smashed it but it came back notwithstanding. I over-wintered several other Musa basjoos in the basement. They were the biggest suckers. Some had 1.8m (5ft) of trunk and had a trunk diameter of roughly 15-20cm (6-8in). The cool storage area (ca. 15C/55F) was equipped with several timer-controlled shop-lights. The Japanese Fiber banana did fabulously. Despite the cool temperatures they started developing new leaves and grew a pretty nice root ball each.

Musa lasiocarpa

2006 was also the first year I took a few small suckers (3) off my Musella lasiocarpa. Contrary to Musa Basjoo, creating divisions from Musella lasiocarpa is quite tricky. The suckers are all very tightly connected to the mother plant and they had only a minimal amount of roots. Out of those 3 divisions, only 1 survived the winter potted in the basement area.

Musa sikkimensis

The Darjeeling Bananas multiplied quite readily in 2006 (Second year in the ground at that point). Thus, I created a few divisions of them as well. Unfortunately only one of the separated suckers survived but grows well this summer. I think my biggest mistake with the propagation attempts last fall was to leave too long of a stem. I also kept the leaves intact as much as possible, which was a mistake for the non-Musa basjoos. While Musa basjoo does great with this attempt (I got a very nice head start this spring), Musa sikkimensis as well as Musa itinerans don’t like that approach. I need to follow the techniques described in the links above more closely next time.

Musa itinerans

I also retrieved 2 suckers of Musa itinerans last fall. While the stem stayed green all winter new growth did not materialize. I kept the stem too long and kept the soil too moist which may have caused root rot.