Some traits of the Banana plant

Freshly cut fruit especially, but even other parts of the tree, will produce a sap that stains. Be carefult especially on your clothes. Here are 2 examples on our porch from the last harvest.

Another feature of the plant is the last leaf that sprouts out will hide the banana flower (which eventually produces the fruit). It is significantly shorter than the rest.

Here you can see the normal leaf that spans across the top of the fence, from left to right.

The short one pointing like 4 o'clock is the one that covers the flower/fruit.

Here is a medium length leaf side by side with the small fruit leaf...

 

There are lots of videos about which new shoot to keep for the next tree. They are all valid points. But because of the tight space my trees are in, I pick solely based on its position.