I posted last autumn about my banana experiment with musa basjoo. I couldn't find the old thread so I am starting another. I left the banana stems standing on the southeast side of the house. I mulched around the roots but left the stems exposed. On the southwest corner ( yes, just around the corner by about 25 feet), I cut the stems down and mulched like I do every winter. Some of you asked about the results.

The plants that were cut down and mulched began to shoot up new sprouts through the leaf mulch in late March. They are growing like crazy. The stems left standing were a lot later breaking dormancy. I waited until sometime in May to see if they old stems would sprout. They did not. I cut the old stems and most of them were mushy and had the yeasty smell of fermenting material. It smelled like the morning after a beer party in a frat house A few that I cut down have since emerged from the center. Most of the growth is new pups from the roots. They are doing well now.

What will I do this year? I'll definitely cut them down and mulch - ALL OF THEM. I'll get more growth from the middle of old stems plus the new pups.

Well, you live and learn. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all of those old cliches.