Question
how do i grow a banana plant indoors? I have ahd my banana for around four years, wehn it was truly small. i keep it in a pot, lots of light, and I do nothing except water it all year and feed it in summer. It has never fruited, though it does keep growing leaves, all year round. The tip of the largest leaf isaroudn fourfoot ten inches.

Last year it had a baby (a pup?) which I cut off and tried unsucessfully to grow. Now it has two very small pups coming.

I think i should re-pot it, but could you tell me how? the pot it is now is smaller at the top than in the middle so I cant jsut lift it out. When I tried to scrape some soil off, it got very distressed, and large brown spots appeared on the leaf. How do i get it to fruit, and what should I do next?

Answer
Heather,

Most varieties of dwarf banana plants do not produce fruit. If the top of the pot is smaller at the top than in the middle the only way I know to get it out is to break the pot. Otherwise you need to cut with a long knife around the smallest part of the pot cutting the roots off and then move it to another pot.

As for the the pups, wait till they get much larger and have developed their own roots. Then dig around at the base of the pups and make sure they have roots. Then carefully loosen the soil around the roots and gently pull the pups and roots out of the soil and put them in separate pots. Make sure the pot is widest at the top. If you wait too long you may need a long knife to cut between the roots of the pups and the parent plant roots.

You can cut the top off a few inches above the soil in the early spring (Feb or March), do the transplant and then the plant will grow a whole new top.

Good luck.
Darlene