Originally Posted by Natureboy

It's interesting, Mike - I was going to post something similar. What I find is that certain varieties (such as Ice Cream/Blue Java) are more prone to having the stalk blacken. After I noticed this the first time with my Ice Cream, I no longer cut the bud off. I may cut/break it off once the fruit have matured enough, so that by the time the stalk decays up a ways, the fruit are ready to harvest anyway. The bud is usually at least 16" past the last hand at this stage.

Conversely, with my Dwarf Cavendish and Mysore, I've always cut the stalk about 6 inches or so below the last hand of bananas and never had a problem with blackening. So, my theory is that certain varieties are prone to this, while others are not. I've seen this enough times to lead me to this not-exactly-scientific conclusion.

Nate