Question
Hi,we live in Bristol which is in the south west of England and have a banana tree growing in the ground in our back garden. We only planted it last summer and are very surprised that it has grown already to about 4 ft tall - even though the garden is very exposed and windy!  (We were advised that it would probably not live through the winter -but it has).

We have noticed that around the bottom of the plant, we have about 5 shoots growing.  Are we able to remove the new shoots in order to grow more banana plants?  If it is possible, could you please tell us how we do this and when (we do not have a green house and are not expert gardeners!!).

thank you for any advice you can give us,
Carrie and Tim


Answer
Hi carrie and tim, ok, first of all you are not in the proper climate zone for bananas, lol, but I think you know that, but just for laughs, you can try to take the suckers off, by waiting until they are about one third of the size of the mother and potting them up in a container that you can bring inside for the winter (the mother usually will not make it through a winter at zone 6 or less). In the spring move the pots outside and put them either in the ground or in a larger container for the summer; now you won't ever see fruit, because you just can't expect it in that type of climate, but you can enjoy a tiny taste of the tropics...to take the babies off the mother, take a long blade shovel and go directly vertical down the side of the main stem and sever it off from the main root system, then just dig it up! follow up if need, and I will help you in any way I can...Nick