Five different liquid medium culture methods for meristem propagation of bananas were investigated and compared with solid medium culture. Treatments studied were: gelled culture medium (treatment 1); liquid medium with immersion of the plants (treatment 2); liquid medium with cellulose culture support (treatment 3); liquid medium with partial immersion of the plants (treatment 4); liquid medium aerated by bubbling (treatment 5); liquid medium with temporary immersion of the explants for 20 min every 2 h (treatment 6). After 20 days of culture, three culture groups with statistically different multiplication rates were observed: - shoots in simple liquid medium and those on cellulose substrate proliferated little or not at all, - shoots on gelled medium, those subjected to partial immersion and those in aerated medium displayed multiplication rates of 2.2 to 3.1, and - the highest multiplication rate (>5) was observed in explants subjected to temporary immersion in the medium. Two groups of treatments differed in the accumulation of dry matter: the smallest weight (around 0.5 g) was observed in treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4, and accumulation was 2 to 5 times greater in the explants in aerated liquid medium and those subjected to temporary immersion. The highest multiplication rates and weight gains were observed in aerated treatments (treatments 4 and 5). Shoots in liquid medium continuously aerated by bubbling displayed hyperhydricity of the outer leaf sheaths. This was not observed with temporary immersion of explants.