i'am new to this hole banana growing gig not really even sure what kind i have, from pictures i've seen i think they are goldfingers.I planted 6 plants last year [plants were babies from a friends plants don't think he knows what they are either] anyway the two littlest ones died. the others the freeze we had last winter got the tops of the others so i cut them back . The last time icounted i had about twenty plants. The flower is a big purpleish looking bulb thats about two feet down from the lowest bunch of bananas . Back to my original when should i cut the bananas off the stalk and will the parent tree dye ? the biggest bananas are about eight inches long and are they good to eat when fully ripe

Regarding your bananas. You can cut off the stem when the bananas are full sized. Bananas ripen off the plant with no problem. The flower is what is hanging down. This can be eaten in a cooked dish, but I don't have the recipe. Once you cut off the bananas you might as well cut down the plant. New plants will come up from suckers. In fact there are normally multiple plants at one time in a cluster.

dk

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Don Kittelson
Living by the Negro River
Manaus, AM Brazil

when you sever the bunch from the mother, make sure you hang the bunch "inverted" in a cool dry place (garage) or when they ripen they will unpeel themselves, due to gravity., letting them ripen on the tree is fine,,but takes much longer and exposes them to insects and animal damage...Nick