Originally Posted by lkstapleton

I was SO excited when my banana plant, about 8 feet tall in a 48-gallon trash can, flowered. It got about 45 bananas on it and was still flowering, but yesterday, the trunk folded over but didn't break. I think maybe I overwatered a little, which made the trunk soft enough to fold, but it isn't rotten or anything. I didn't know what to do, so I straightened out the trunk and put the entire trash can and banana on the ground, so at least it's straight now.

So I have a lot of questions. If I prop it up and make a brace for the trunk, could I still get fruit? There are five leaves on that stalk, but two got broken in the collapse. Or maybe I should just write it off, cut off that stalk, and hope that next year, the four-foot pup next to it will fruit?

Also, maybe I did something to weaken the trunk? Is there a particular plant food that I should use to make the trunk stronger?

I am in San Jose, zone 9, which gets down into the high twenties in winter, but these are on a balcony and get a lot of radiated heat from the house, so I am hoping to get fruit. I don't know for sure what kind of banana this is, but I think maybe it's Sweeheart or Goldfinger.