How to Transplant a Banana Plant

Bananas are an easy-to-grow tropical fruit---if you live in the tropics. Once you plant a banana it send up shoots from its base when it's mature. These shoots are often called suckers or "keikis" in Hawaii. Because a banana plant can reach a height of 25 feet and its watery stem can become very heavy, growers only transplant the young shoots or corms as a primary method of propagating this plant, since it rarely produces viable seeds.

Organic compost
Shovel
Mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Dig out small shoots with your shovel, cutting around the sides and below each shoot to include some roots.
- 2
  Prepare a planting area where the soil is deep and well drained and where the plant will receive a maximum number of sunlight hours each day. Combine organic compost with the soil in a 50-50 mix. Make planting areas 10 feet apart because your young banana shoot will later form a clump of plants.
- 3
  Set one shoot into each planting hole and cover it with your soil and compost mixture, patting the soil down lightly to firm it and hold the shoot upright.
- 4
  Spread a thick layer of compost on the soil surface around the base of each shoot you transplant. Using mulch such as compost helps to keep the soil moist, keep weeds away and provide your banana plant with nutrients.
- 5
  Water the area with a sprinkler for about 30 minutes after you transplant your banana shoots. Keep plants well watered throughout their lives.

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