Marquita Banana- Red Pot

Marquita is in the red pot. Her sister, Princess is in back.

Marquita the Banana

Marquita is a daughter of Mother Plant.  She was transplanted in summer of 2011, and is 7 months old. She was small when I transplanted her and remains the runt of her littermates, Princess and Regina.  We'll see what happens.

Princess the Banana pics

Princess the Banana

Princesses is a dwarf Cavendish and the daughter of Mother Plant.  Pippy is her only pup.  I transplanted her in the summer of 2011, so she is about 7 months old.  I hope to get her to flower this summer.

Regina the Banana

Regina Banana is a daughter of Mother Plant.  Transplanted her in the summer of 2011, so she is about 7 months old.  As you can see, she has no pups yet.  She has a leaf uncurling and another leaf pushing up from the pseudostem.  Notice her stretch marks, the deep red spots on the pseudostem that were once covered by a petiole base.  I'm taking extra special care of this one because I want her to flower this summer, if possible.

Bella Bounces Back

Bella is growing rapidly now. The petiole protruding from the pseudostem's center is noticeable.

Fanny the Follower and Mother Plant

Fanny is the small sucker beside Mother Plant.  All other sister suckers were removed and repotted.  Fanny will take over after monocarpic Mother has born fruit and declines in vigor. 

FYI, look at the size of Mother's leaves.  The silver ruler is 18" long.  The leaves are about 1.5' wide by 3' long.  The leaf rolled up in the middle has been like that for over 2 weeks.  Mother may not be getting enough light because her growth rate has slowed.

Pippy the Peeper

Pippy the Peeper poked her way into this world in June or July of 2011. Pippy popped up while her mother was yet a pup herself. Pippy has not produced any new petioles since her inception. Petite Pippy just nestles peacefully at her parent's base preparing for her moment in the sun.

Mystery banana

My neighbour hacked down and dug up her banana plants in September 2011. I found a pile of banana debris on the curb. I picked up 3-foot sucker, which I managed to kill. I picked up a severely chopped corm, which I wrapped in a plastic bag and threw in the crawl space under my house. I've been bored during Christmas break, so I dug out the whacked-up corm, removed the old roots and slimy spots, and potted it up. Maybe it will grow. I don't even know what kind of banana it is. All I know is the trunk is relatively thick, and that the plant grows slightly taller than my neighbour's one-story house.

Rebounding??? Bella the Banana

My little, decapitated Dwarf Cavendish has a light green growth sticking out about 1/8 in. on the top. The rest of the surface where I cut it is brown and withered. I hope this is a sign of a rebound.

Sister Bananas

The Mother plant produced many pups. Some of the pups were removed from Mother and re-potted the summer of 2011. One in October 2011. Finally, our protagonist plant was removed in December 2011. I'm hoping some of the pups will flower in summer 2012. I left only one sucker in the pot with Mother.

Mother plant

I purchased the mother plant in November of 2010. She was a tiny, 1-foot tall, withered sucker back then. Look at her now on December 29, 2011. I hope she flowers and fruits this summer.

Decapitated: Bella the Banana

My little banana was still in shock. All the leaves were starting to wilt and turn yellow, so I cut all the leaves off. Now all I have is a stem.

Transplant Shock: Bella the Banana

The sword sucker is showing signs of stress. The smallest, lower-most leaf (in the lower left of the picture) is wilting. Its petiole base is separating from the main stem. I am giving the plant sufficient water, so I attribute this development to transplant shock and the lack of well established roots. My research indicates that I could have removed some or all of the leaves to prevent water loss due to transpiration. I did not feel this to be necessary. The plant should rebound in a week or so.

Plant Origins of Bella the Banana

The plant is a freshly-removed sword sucker from my one-year-old Cavendish banana plant. The corm's circumference is roughly 17 cm. The corm contains eight roots, each ranging from 2-9 cm in length and 0.5 cm in diameter. The sword sucker appears very healthy and has been nursed by the mother plant since June 2011. The banana is planted in a 8x8x7 in pot. The planting medium is 70% Miracle Grow Potting Soil and 30% sphagnum moss. The transplanted sucker and the sucker beside the mother plant are pictured at the right.