the bottom 2 just look like older leaves that need to be removed .... would think it might be an annual thing ....

i cant understand the pic with the third one ... the topmost... unless it is also an older one.. but its leaning thru the active growth????

to be honest.. i know nothing about plantain... so its all speculation on my part ...

ken

Bear in mind that this is not, strictly speaking, a tree. Like bananas, it’s a very large herbaceous plant. As such it will not produce a woody trunk And older, lower leaves will naturally die back and can be safely cut off. Once you've harvested the fruit, the whole plant is cut to the ground. The neighbours seem to have some. You could ask them how they deal with theirs.

Plantains are just a form of banana. And if growing in the right conditions, bananas can get big, with tree-like proportions. But technically they are not trees, as they do not form a woody trunk....what appears to be a trunk on older specimens is just a series of overlapping layers of leaf sheathes. And as with any plant, the older, lower leaves eventually die off, creating and adding to this false trunk.

Your plantain is still a baby. And the saggy lower leaves are an entirely normal and expected part of the growth process, as is the apparent detachment from the "trunk" or main stem. You can leave them to age in place until they fall off on their own or you can carefully cut them off close to the main stem.

ETA: typing same time as floral :-)

Thanks.