Soils in this area are inherently acidic, with heavy clays that retain high levels of organic matter when manured, and give good nitrogen fertility that would benefit further from liming and phophorus. Transplanting is usually done in the dry season due to the heavy nature of the soil which would turn into hard pieces if compacted under wet conditions. Nevertheless, considerable growing time is lost and the plants suffer wilting damage. Tigist Demake2 reported that averaged over four different varieties, the pseudostem length was 0.7 and 1.4 metres shorter with 1 and 2 transplantings respectively as compared to direct planting of shoots. Moist loose soil around the base and minimal leaf transpiration were found to be advantageous to rooting establishment of transplants.
Considerable variation exists within the species for growth and adaptational characters.
There also is considerable adaptational differences due to altitude and moisture regime. The Institute of Agriculture Research at Areke in Wolaita has collected over 200 clones mostly named after the village where they were cultivated, and giving an indication of ecological adaptation. For instance, farmers in the Sawla area were not growing Enset until FAO introduced a clone variety well adapted to the lowlands. Upon harvesting the pseudostem is extracted and cut into 30 x 20 cm pieces which are called Chafina. The quality of the chafina may be affected by age and maturity of the plant as well as the quantity of the leaf midrib tissue included.