I have a Goldfinger banana purchased from Home Depot a couple of years ago. I think they got it from La Verne Nursery, but I'm not positive about that. It's been a fast grower and was my first banana to flower, about a year ago. Over that period it has produced 4 blooms, all the same -- mutant with no female flowers to make fruit. With the first bloom, I thought that perhaps some of the nutritional issues I was having were keeping the plant from making proper flowers and fruit. Since then, several other bananas have flowered in my yard and all have been normal. Also, I've had plant tissue analysis done and this plant is fine in terms of nutrients and hasn't shown evidence of nutritional deficiencies for a long time.
I have to conclude that the plant is just lame, i.e., some somatic mutant that doesn't make fruit. Richard gave me the first hint that I wasn't alone with this problem in Goldfinger. He mentioned that he knew folks growing Goldfinger in San Diego who had this same problem, and it was why he didn't sell this variety. My best guess is that these plants are "off types" (mutants) that sometimes occur during tissue culturing. My plant is also a leaner -- normal Goldfinger plants are robust plants that don't need propping. Just another bit of evidence that suggests there is something fundamentally wrong with this plant.
I've removed most of the mat and will take out the rest soon. Kind of a bummer to invest 2 years into a plant that just isn't right!
Goldfinger is a great plant with tasty fruit -- at least from what I've seen and tasted in other folks' yards. My suggestion if you want one is to get a pup from someone with a good, sturdy, productive plant, rather than buying one from an unproven source.
Bunch with no proper female flowers to make fruit:
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10' tall, weak, leaning plant:
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