hey ray. i know that they are tough. ppl dig them up and store them bare root over the winter in colder locations.
i never really understood how the plant went about fruiting. 99.999% of the time a banana plant will only fruit once and then it dies. however, it will still produce offset (pups). the inflorescence is the true stem and the leaves and their petioles make up the pseudo stem. the p-stem is what we know the banana plant as. at some point the inflorescence starts to make its way up through the center of the p-stem. it will actually reveal its presence with a flag leaf. beyond that, you never know when it is working its way up. that's why i was asking if you were worried about cutting them back if they have not died back. once you cut into the true stem it's all over. i guess you have just been lucky because you only get one chance. : ) they can die back and come back but because they have to produce so many leaves before the true stem is revealed. i do not know why. however, if they die back (or are cut back) and the true stem is bisected, then it is toast.
