Description

• A full-grown banana plant will grow to be dozens of feet tall, with a spread of branches, leaves and fruits up to 10 feet wide. The trees grow quickly, and can even reach their full size within weeks of planting. Though they are resilient trees, they are easily susceptible to root rot, damage from high winds and cold temperatures.
  
  

Reasons to Kill

• The sheer size of a banana plant alone may be enough to make you want to remove it from your garden, since you may want to add other trees or plants to your landscape. However, certain infections may necessitate killing the banana plant, especially if you grow more than one in an area. A disease known as "banana bunchy top" spreads from plant to plant by insect, and will stop future fruit and leaf production and potentially kill the tree. If you have a tree infected with this disease, you may need to completely kill it off before the disease spreads to other trees. If you simply cut down the tree, the roots will produce new growth that will still contain the virus.
  
  

Kerosene

• The chemical kerosene will kill banana plants. Pouring one cup of kerosene over the roots of the tree will kill the plant within a week. The roots of the banana plant will absorb the kerosene in place of water and food and the chemical will work its way through the plant's system and essentially kill it from the inside out. Once the plant is dead, you must remove the whole plant, including all roots and rhizomes. You should cut up the roots and rhizomes into small pieces to make sure they cannot produce new, infected plants. Kerosene will also kill any insects on the tree that may have already picked up the virus.
  
  

Other Methods

• Some herbicides will also kill the banana plant, but will not kill the insects. These chemicals are also more expensive than kerosene. If you do not need to rush to kill the plant but simply want to remove it from your garden, expose the tree to temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit without protection. This will kill the roots and core of the plant. Any temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit will kill banana plant leaves, and can cause serious damage or death to the plant if you stop feeding and watering. These methods take much longer and should only be employed if disease is not in question.