Propagating a Banana Plant?

Busted

Well recently I setup my first planted tank. My banana plant had no roots when I had brought it home, I placed it and it rooted within a few days. Now it has shot a runner? to the top of the tank. I have been trying to find all I could on how to propagate this plant but come up with many mixed views. Do I press the full grown leaves into the substrate? Or, cut the runner about 5cm below the leaf or flower when it blooms? I would like some detailed information on this as I am greatly confused.

aunt kymmie

I just read this as far as propagation on your plant:

"Propagation occurs when adventitious plants are formed and firmly pressed into damp ground or the aquarium substrate. Fully formed leaves may also be pressed into substrate to form new plants."

HTH

cbirk

good luck and take pictures. Banana plants and I have a bad history, and I love to see others have a better experience than I did.

Busted

Ok, about the pushing the leafs into the substrate, I do this with the shorter ones off the plant? or the lilly like leaf from the runner?

aunt kymmie

I would think you'd bury the lilly like leaf from the runner. This is what I do with the runners my swords sprout. Just pushing some of the leaves off of a sword into the substrate wouldn't result in new swords but maybe banana plants are different?? I have no idea....

Busted

Guess I'll try both and see which one works if either does. Worst thing that can happen is my plant dies, which isn't that much of a problem. Though I think they are rather neat looking.

redchigh

I wouldn't push it into the gravel- their leaves are delicate.

If anything, try adding a few pieces of gravel on top to weigh it down.

WH2O

Well one way is to "take a leaf that has reached the to of the aquarium and detach it form the plant, letting it float. It will then develop roots." So i guess sticking a leaf in gravel would work.

Romad

Interesting. I just bought 3 of these a few weeks ago. All had pretty good runners when I bought them. I just let them sit at the bottom and let the runners go under the gravel (weighed down with a little larger sized gravel).

So far, so good.

Thunderloon

My understanding is that the lilly-pad-leaf at the aquarium surface is there to develop a new banana cluster and that you should let it develop that. If it does you can bury the new banana bit with leaf sticking up when the runner stem deteriorates.

These plants seem to know when they're being screwed with, my sherbert just levered one off the banana base and I've put the stem-trunk under rocks elsewhere in the tank where he won't mess with it. We'll find out how it goes in about 30 hours - it will either be alive or mush by then!

It seems to act much like the apno's but be more sensitive to interruption, guessing because of the soft bulb. I commonly let the apno's grow the runner then pinch it off when its the representative size of a plant I want.


One of the banana I brought home was driving a surface leaf up but disintegrated it wholesale when I put it in sherbert's 5g. Still has some hyooge leaves tho.