I grew banana tree in southeast georgia 4th year it was somewhat yellow in september. A vistor from KY came by one afternoon to get some wild grapes he said add 8 lbs 5-10-15 to tree next spring late feb. I cut truncks down to about 3 foot an add fertlizer that year there was no yellow look all green in oct. there was bunch banana that pop out. Every year after that I had 2 bunches banana's small but banana. Best time to look for banana bunch is day before Frost pick it if have bunch. Banana plant does like wet feet but don't grow in water incline that wet help mind there was sand and carpet grass in place I grew mind. People ho visited from cential fla. said mind tree look better theres. Potash more important as fertilizer than high nitegeon. If your truncks get 4 inches are larger cut them 4 foot up stalk if don't cut into green growth inside.

When you grow a plant indoors, it get acclimated to indoor conditions (very low light levels, and cooler conditions--compared to outside in the summer). When you take a plant that has been growing indoor and stick it out in the sun, it will initially burn (just like a person might experiencing his/her first trip to the beach in the summer). But eventually the plant adapts to the higher light levels that it needs in order to push new growth. My bananas are in large pots right now and growing vigorously. I feed and water heavily as they are in full sun and warm conditions. Eventually they will go into the ground and get to be around 8 feet or so by the end of the season. Normally, they get cut down by harder frosts in late November, then I lift them out of the ground and put them in the basement over the winter. Musa basjoo (Japanese fiber banana) is supposed to be winter hardy in zone 7 (a and b) with mulching but I don't bother and just take their tubers in with all the others. When I lift the bananas, I cut off all the leaves and some of the trunk (just enough to let it fit in the basement without hitting the ceiling. Basically, I forget about them until about April and then I repot and start them up again.

We have a number of trees (I do not know what types) and this tree is the Asian cooking banana. Called sugar banana and can be cooked without the fruit falling apart. The last couple of years, the trees have been producing fruit that have blackish rough marks on the skin and the fruit has had lumpy flesh. This is the case even with the fruit in the hand that has hardly any of the rough blackish marks. Any ideas on what this could be?

I am not a professional banana person but I know a little. When the most mature plant does produce fruit and those fruit ripen or are removed for ripening indoors. The plant that bore said fruit will die so best to go ahead and remove it leaving the several pups to continue growing and to produce there own crop when they are mature enough. Pruning a few leaves now and then will not hurt a banana tree especially if it is actively growing and making new ones. But I would think in your zone they would need regular fertilizing and watering to produce fruit continually. I have in my zone 8b garden huge clumps of orinoco and I never remove the pups unless I am digging to pot to sale or giving a start to someone else. Now of course I don't have a space issue, But there are bearing size and pups all through each clump. Actually I am eating fresh tree ripenend fruit this week. But as soon as frost or freeze warning hit I have a stalk of fruit to cut and bring indoors. Hope that helped some. James Maloy