I should mention they're dwarf cavendish and we live in southwest Florida.

Anyone? Just chime right in, please.

I don't see a photo - that would help

Attached. Thanks.

I honestly don't know. Some homegrown bananas are kind of splotchy, but I think you have a disease rather than a fungus. Is the main tree affected in any way?

The main stems have moderately large areas of black on them. I don't know if that's normal or not. Otherwise, growth seems unaffected.

I just don't know! It would help for you to read up on banana tree ailments, try to find a site that has pictures along with the main content.

Can you provide several pictures from different angles of the entire plant? Stem, leaves, base? What are your growing conditions? Soil? Zone? Temp? How much sun does the plant get? Rain? The more information you provide the more we can help. Bananas don't seem to get many pests and diseases, but some of the few they can get can be pretty nasty.

The
first picture shows the overall banana plant. I cut the middle stem after it
produced bananas a few months ago. The plant is next to the house in sandy
soil. It gets about 5-6 hours of direct sunlight daily. I fertilized it every month for about a year, but stopped this feeding
four months ago. The second photo shows the back stuff from a little distance
for perspective. The third photo shows a closeup of the black stuff.

Perhaps a fungus on the fruit? I notice the plant is right on the drip line of your roof, so it's possible that the fruit stays too wet too long? The plant looks ok - I get black discoloration on mine too from time to time. The leaves look great though. The fruit should be green, and yellow from oldest to youngest, not mixed up like yours is, nor with the black splotches.

Maybe a fungus on the fruit. Someone suggested a fungicide if it occurs again, like sulphur. Any thoughts on that? The roof has a rain gutter, so I don't think there's much, if anything, dripping onto the plant. Do you think I simply waited too long to harvest the bananas? Thanks, oldmangroot.

No, you didn't wait too long. I cut them off when they yellow, not before. Flavor is better that way in my opinion. However, most people cut them while still green.

I did a lot of research and two possibilities stand out to me. One is uneven watering. This seems more likely based on what I can see of where it is growing. Under that overhang the plant won't get direct rain. Where do you live, and do you irrigate your lawn? LIttle water when first flowering followed by plentiful water when filling in months later could cause splitting like that.

option two could be thrip damage. Take a magnifying glass to the plant. Do you see tiny bugs?

Either way the unsplit fruit should be fine. When you let them ripen do they look good? Taste good? Home grown bananas usually have splotches and discoloration - the taste is usually far superior though.

I'll have to consider a watering problem. But other banana plants in the neighborhood don't seem to have this problem, and our watering systems are all the same.

I'll check out the thrip possibility, too. Do you think an insecticidal soap would work on them?

Thanks, oldmangroot.

Interesting. Thrips or some other nasty little critter might be the problem, and/or watering. For the next crop, I'll try to remedy both problems. Unfortunately, I didn't open the fruit or taste it. I should have, as you suggested, but I was too disappointed at the time. I should have remembered that homegrown fruits and vegetables might sometimes look bad, but they're OK and still taste great. I should have remembered that from many years of gardening up north, before moving south. Thanks.