Re: newbie banana ID (w/ mysterious substance)
Its looks to me like Strelitzia nicolai (White Bird of Paradise) with etiolated suckers, Heliconia form better pseudostems and the petioles aren't so long.
And the white stuff I would agree is some Coccoidae mealybug type insect. The sticky stuff is called honey due, a substance they excrete when sucking sap from the plants. The black stuff could easily either be some saprophytic fungi that is now living on the honey due, or just debris and stuff that gets stuck in it.
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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.
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