PeterS

Am I right in believing that all species banana flowers (such as Musa Basjoo) start to grow very low down in the previous year?

And is this also true for commercial bananas such a M. Dwarf Cavendish - sites seem to imply much faster flowering and fruiting.

PeterS

rolover - many thanks for your reply, it was very helpful.

However can I further clarify my question - as can't find any direct answer on the internet

Do all species banana flowers appear in the year following the start of the flower creation, and do seedless commercial plants like Dwarf Cavendish flower in the same year that the flowering stem starts to be created?

subsonicdrone

in less than ideal conditions it can take years longer than the expected flowering time
flowering time can vary by years, i know a lady whose dwarf cavendish took 12 years to flower
there are differences in flowering time by variety as well some taking a few years even in ideal conditions i believe
some varieties are known as short cycle and in ideal conditions can flower within one year
others have a short fruiting phase, once they flower it does not take long for the fruit to be ripe
hopefully that answered the question

PeterS

Many thanks sunsonicdrone. I was interested in how long the flower took to appear from its first inception to it becoming visible. I understand that a species flower may start in one year and not appear till the next year.

But you have made it clear that edible varieties can do it entirely in one season, and so it is logical that only these would be grown commercially. Again many thanks.