what is the trick to getting the babies off with roots.....i have cut 4 of mine and none had any roots,i messed them up so bad.please help me.....lol......
banana question....please help
I know how you feel lilcajun, I have chopped off a bunch. It's much harder to get a good pup off when the plants are growing in the ground(that's how they grow down here). Last weekend I sucessfully removed 6 pups and chopped one other one off with no roots. Here is what I do:
I take a shovel and move as much dirt away from the momma/pup so I can get an idea of how deep the pup is and where it's attached. I take a hand shovel and dig around the pup, then I take a shovel called a sharp shooter(a straight, skinny, very sharp edge shovel) and slice the pup from the momma. I try to go straight down between the momma and pup. Don't be tempted to try and pry the pup loose too soon, it will break. If you happen to break the pup and don't get roots, but have a bit of the rhizome attached, it should put out roots. Remove all of the leaves except the newest one that should still be rolled up and coming out the tip top of the plant, plant in loose soil, water it in good and keep in the shade for a couple of weeks. As long as there was some rhizome attached it should root.
I am terrible at explaining stuff, but I hope this helps.
If they are in the ground,I like to do as Cala does,dig away as much dirt as I can,then I will take a hose and wash dirt away to see if I can see roots,on larger ones,I dig a trench,to wash soil away into.
Also, from my experience, if you don't get the root it will produce another pup where it broke off. Maybe you will have double what you planned on!
thanks so much for the advice.i will try this.