Question
QUESTION:  I live in zone7 in central virginia and my hardy banana tree is mushy at the root ball top. I cut off most of it but still no sign of growth. This happened with my elephant ear last year and after I cut it off it came back. Do I have any hope??  HELP!!!!
ANSWER: Donna, it sounds to me like the corm has rotted on you; this happens when the nights are still cool coupled with too much irrigation, especially on a younger Musa. Give it a couple of weeks to see if a new shoot develops, but from my experience with young bananas, too much water is detrimental, unlike when they are older, and the corm has expanded; at which point copious amounts of water are beneficial, as long as the corm doesn't sit in standing water....sorry I couldn't be more encouraging...Nick

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QUESTION: I found a 3 inch shoot today after I cleared all the mulch away! Not in the same spot that I planted the original tree but near.  Will this continue to make new shoots in other areas or is one shoot a year the next tree? My concern is I planted it in the center of a cut out in our decking. Thanks Donna
ANSWER: Donna, thats good and bad, good because the corm is still alive! bad because the corm can span 4 feet or more and send up pups (shoots) anywhere along that span. The corm will continually attempt to send up pups, your problem is if they attempt to push up under your decking! two things could happen, either the decking will bow, or the pup will be compromised and just flatten out and make a mess of the underlying area. I can't visualize your deck so I am inclined to advise you to remove some of the decking and dig the entire corm up and relocate it, then replace the decking...Nick

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QUESTION: Nick, Thanks so much for your knowledge. The problem is it is a concrete deck around our pool with a 3 foot circle cut out for the tree. Initially I planted it in the center.  Donna

Answer
Options are limited here Donna, any pups that develop outside the ring are going to attempt to grow laterally and eventually may come out that hole; bottom line, a mess could develop with too many new plants trying to exit that 3 foot hole. I feel (regretfully) that you may have to remove the plant (if possible)from that location.  Sorry Nick