Do you have a reference link that explains this more clearly? If you cut the blooms off, you won't get any bananas!

Got a lot of bananas. Don't cut it at first emergence. Wait until it shows miniature fruit. Then cut the flower.

The female flowers come first and those are the bananas. After all the hands you will get row after row of male flowers which you can see on the bud laying on the ground.

Whether cutting the bud off after the female flowers does any good is open to debate.some say it helps the hands get bigger or ripen sooner and others say it does no good and can let in rot that could destroy the hands......... Guess it is open for all of us to decide what to do. I have tried it both ways and does not seem to make any difference at all.

I am in agreement with bamboo. I am a long time member of The Tropical Fruit Club which has 2 banana entomologists in the club. They say to NOT cut off the male flowers. It only opens up the stalk to diseases. If the banana plant is well fed, then nutrition is not an issue.

I have an Asian friend who has asked me for banana flowers for cooking. I will only cut off the flowers from bunches that I know will never ripen. That means that she can have all she wants in the fall.

I took this picture of my Ice Cream banana bunch that bloomed early summer. As you can see, leaving the flower on has not hurt it a bit.

Christine

I never cut the flower in the past. Eventually someone brought it to my attention. I found it improved the fruit. In the picture the tree is giving to the fruit but also to the stalk. It looks like 2' additional stalk. I never had any issues of disease or pathogens. It is open for a short period of time and the entire tree is disposed of. Never been a problem. I know others that do the same.

I've been following the same tip that I got from a long time banana grower. He also told me to cut off all but the five top leaves off the plant. Then all the energy goes to the fruit instead of other growth. The plant is going to die anyway (except for one, a few years ago, that fruited twice).

So far this has worked great for me with no problems other than having a hard time using or giving away all the bananas. I think we've got 6 giant bunches right now. I told the neighbors that any hanging on their sides are their problem! You can only make so many coconut-rum banana cream pies.

shavedmonkey - Every gardener has their own way of gardening. If cutting off the flower works for you then that's fine. It's just that your wording made it sound like it is something that needed to be done or the fruit would suffer. The way I see it, it is just personal preference. :)

pilot - How lucky you are to have 6 large bunches waiting for you. In your zone, you must get lots of bunches. Where I live, every single bunch counts because there may not be as many next year. Mine freeze every winter. When I am lucky enough to have extra after sharing with others, I dehydrate the rest. I like them for snacking.

Christine

I wish I lived next to c9pilot...

happy-As far as I'm concerned and after trying both ways it is necessary to cut the flower for the benefit of the fruit. Why else would I cut it? If you feel differently that is OK. So yes it is needed from my point of view. Even though I do not have the blessings of 2 entomologists. But I do know a horticulturist that agrees with me.
Apparently this is a divided subject. Had no idea. In general I avoid commentary on politics and religion. Had I known I would have avoided the topic.
I'm still cutting the flower.

shavedmonkey - It's okay to have differing views and in this case a divided subject. That's what this forum is all about - to learn from each other and realize that there are different points of view. :)