How to propagate: Banana plant (Musa)

With a real tropical jungle in the house, there's one plant that can't be missing: the banana plant. In other words, the Musa (Dwarf) Cavendish.

In a domestic situation, the banana plant can become very large, even larger than the ceiling. If the banana plant is happy inside your home, the plant will grow pups.

Is your banana plant blessed with pups?

Before you start propagating, make sure the pup of the mother plant is big enough. If the pup is too small, it will not survive without the mother plant. It may even be that the pup has not even developed its own roots. Are you going to propagate? Make sure that the baby pup has at least 5 leaves and that it is around 40 cm.

Propagating a banana plant in 4 steps

Step 1: Disinfect

First clean the knife you might be using.

Keep the knife under hot water and clean them well. This prevents you from unnecessarily transferring bacteria during the propagation.

Do you happen to have disinfectant or pure alcohol? Disinfect the tools after using hot water. Let's get away with those bacteria and fungi!

Step 2: Dig out the plant

After cleaning the knife, it is best to remove the plant from its pot. Pups of the banana plant grow next to the mother plant. During the propagation, it is therefore very important to be careful.

Did you take the plant out of its decorative pot? Then carefully dig out the stem of the mother plant.

After you have removed the plant, look carefully at the plant. Look close to see if the pups have their own roots. Without its own roots propagating is very difficult!

Step 3: Cut off a pup

Cut the pup from the stem. Make sure you cut as close to the mother plant as possible.

Did you take the pup off? Don’t pull! The roots may still be intertwined. If necessary, separate the roots as well.

Do you have any cutting powder at home? Then you can apply it to the ‘open wound’ of the cutting. Let it dry and then place the cutting in its new decorative pot. Use new potting soil, so that the cutting gets extra nutrients.

Step 4: Taking care of the cutting

Position your cutting on a bright spot. You can place the cutting on the windowsill. It would be best if it's a window facing south. Do you only have a windowsill with a window facing north? Then look for the sunniest spot in the house. The midday sun is especially important for the banana plant. It’s a real sun worshipper!

Good to know: as soon as you have planted the banana plant, the cuttings may become a bit limp. That is a normal situation. The cutting has to work hard to take care of himself.