Originally Posted by Jeff zone 8 N.C.

Bananas in general like a lot of water especially in a hot sunny climate. A method I use, with bananas, is to get familiar with how they hold their leaves when well watered. Different types of bananas hold their leaves differently. That can be leaves more upright, in general, or more horizontal or droopy, in general. Once you observe and familiarize yourself with that you will know when the leaves begin to droop slightly, from their normal, which means they want water. They will go back up to their regular growing positions in a little while when they pull that water up into the leaves. You will soon get familiar with their needs and watering will become second nature and give you a very good idea of when to water before the leaves droop. Of course more vigorous bananas need more water. AeAe has a lot of white in the leaves which does not provide nutrition for the plant so generally it does not need as much water as the all green leaved bananas need. Also AeAe seems to just be naturally rot prone, so as mentioned before excellent drainage and allowing them to dry out some will help.
The reason I suggested a pot is because a pot allows better moisture control and a better chance at success. No one likes to pay $200.00 for a plant just to lose it. We want you to be successful and enjoy your banana hobby. If your growing skills are reasonable it will grow faster in ground and will get larger in the same time frame. If you meant a 1 foot "tall" raised bed then excellent. You are on the right track.
I will warn you off of "paver sand". It is too fine to drain well and so stays wet. You want horticultural sand or a screened sand with the largest grains you can find. The idea with the large grained sand is to allow lots of air into the mix. You need air, air, and more air in that mix. If you do use paver sand then keep it to a small portion of the mix.
One more thing. Keep a close eye on the plant and note how often it pushes a new leaf. If you notice a slow down that can not be attributed to some known cause then act fast to find out what that may be. Rot on AeAe can progress fast and if you give it a little liquid fertilizer and really do not get a response then in my experience it has rot. I hope others chime in here even if they dispute my advice. I am not a Florida grower and so others may tell you something different and that is Ok with me. I have a ton of experience but still make mistakes.