Re: Paging Gabe(and other students) re: horticultural "slight of hand"
As you alluded to, bananas are generally not receptive to changing temperatures to induce flowering, as they are tropical and mostly prefer warm temperatures all year long (though some prefer cooler temperatures, these are wild highland bananas and are not at all similar to edible bananas). It has been reported that Musella lasiocarpa may react to frost damage by flowering thereafter, however if this is true it is certainly not a requirement as I have seen the plant flower many times in frost free zones, and many on this board could also attest to that fact. However, Musella lasiocarpa is quite different from its edible banana cousins.
Bananas are also non responsive to photoperiod in the way that some plants are. Flowering is determined by maturity, if the plant is old enough and has enough energy and resources to flower, then it will, forcing it to try any earlier would likely result in significantly reduced yields. Leaf count is very unreliable, and the only way to make it useful is to count how many leaves a specific variety makes under your specific growing conditions before flowering, and then using that as an estimate for future generations of the same exact plants with your same exact growing conditions.
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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.
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