J B

I copied the following from an outside source............> [begin quote]" You may see your first flower emerge after about six months, depending on the weather. Leave the leaves around it, especially the one protecting the top bend of the stalk from sunburn!
Bottom hands on banana bunch
As the purple flower petals curl back and drop off they reveal a "hand" of bananas under each. Each banana is a "finger".

You may get anything between four to a dozen or more full hands. Then, under the next petal, you'll see a hand of teeny weeny excuses for bananas. Those are the male fingers.

The male fingers just dry and drop off. Only the stalk remains. If you let it grow it will eventually reach the ground.

Some people break off the "bell" (the bunch of purple flower petals at the end) about 15 cm below the last female hand. That way the banana plant puts its energy and reserves into growing big bananas, and not into growing a long stalk. (Commercial banana growers also remove some of the bottom female hands, so the remaining bananas grow bigger.)"[end quote]

Not everyone does it,I hope this helps;see my post " Viente Cohol Bunch Pruned Today " to see what it means.