I would not remove the 6.5 tall one because cutting off a banana, no matter how careful you are, always stresses a plant. A stressed plant will affect the flowering and fruiting. Almost any time is a good time to separate pups except when they are flowering. If the further away sword pups are close to the surface, you can remove them if you would like. You just don't want to mess with the mother corm that is attached to the 7ft plant. How cool that you inherited a backyard with a fruit farm. Z

The grow cables are supposed to be underground with no part of the cable overlapping or exposed while in operation. I use a similar cable as far as heat output is concerned. This cable is not to be overlapped or to come into contact with the ground while in operation. It is designed to be used to keep waterlines from freezing and includes a thermostat that turns it on/off at 37/43*F. A 30 Ft section with thermostat cost me $50. How does the cost of the grow cables compare? Most Bananas need to be kept from freezing. Putting them away for winter should occur before the first frost. I keep my palms at 22*F or higher for the winter.

I got Yucca 'Bright Edge' but 'Color Guard' looks far superior. I saw pix of your little greenhouses in former posts on this forum and I'm gonna do the same. It's the cheapest and easiest way to protect your plants from winter moisture and chilly winds. The sad thing is I live in Europe and there ain't many nurseries that do tropicals. Usually I bring plants with me when I go abroad cuz my country is a "tropical desert":( Currently I'm also thinking of winter protection for my Monkey Puzzle tree. Wonder if styrofoam box will work.

Hi Wxman: Your Orinocco bananas look like they are slowly starting to sprout out. You might help them by temporarily pulling back that lighter-colored mulch and letting sunshine warm the dirt right around them. If you're Really Devoted, put the mulch back around them at night to help hold that warmth in! As for your palms, even the little guy that's so fried looks like he's got a good spear point starting out from the center. As with the bananas, I'd pull that mulch away in the day. And if those older leaf stems are dead, I'd cut them away and consider putting a little tomato cage or something around the plant itself. After all, you don't want someone to walk into it because they can't see the little bit that's left. But if you leave all those branches to just wrack in the wind, that can be hard on a little palm trying to get itself rooted into its new world. Best of luck; you are a devoted soul after my own heart, and I know only too well what it's like to struggle to grow plants from other zones! ~J.