Mark Anthony Phair

Your banana is most definitely NOT a Cavendishii of any type. I personally would NEVER remove pups while fruit is developing or ripening. Rather late in the season to fertilize, seeing as your winters can get chilly. Bananas with few fruit can support their own bunches without support since few fruits = little weight. However, if not wind-protected, even a few fruit and the bud can catch wind and be damaged. Remove the flowering bud after the new blooms are no longer setting fruit but dropping off so that energy can be funneled to the ripening fruit and not the useless bud --- unless you plan to cook and eat the bud, but cutting it off to cook or eat, should occur after the LAST fruit has set. Good Luck!