Banana Not Fruiting After 2 Years

I planted a banana pup 2 years ago, and it's grow really well, it's got to about 8 or 9 feet high and quite thick of a trunk, but still no sign of a flower. I thought bananas took less than a year to produce fruit...I'm on Crete, zone 10 something.

The short answer is that it's just not happy enough yet.

Is it in the shade? Is the soil poor? Is it not a local variety?

It is true that they usually produce within a year. But I saw one banana plant in a greenhouse in Minnesota that was 12 years old and had never blossomed. For obvious reasons.

The more sun and warmth the better. Spoil it with compost and compost tea.

I have had bananas for years and still no bananas!! Then again, I'm in zone 9b, which I know is right on the edge. My neighbor gets fruit, but hers are in a microzone against a wall that captures heat and I suspect that's my issue, just a tad too cool. We certainly get enough moisture....

I cannot emphasize enough: fertilizing! Especially potassium (available in wood ash for example), and in the early growth nitrogen to build up reserves.
Edit: and yes, there must be enough heat and a constant supply of water.

I can't confirm that it is true, but a friend told me that a friend told him that bananas need to produce 31 leaves before they will fruit, so in a marginal climate you need to cut off the leaves to get the tree to the needed leaf count and then it will fruit. This is 3rd hand info, but I'm going to try it because I've been growing big healthy looking banana trees for a couple years now without any fruit.

Jake Esselstyn wrote:I can't confirm that it is true, but a friend told me that a friend told him that bananas need to produce 31 leaves before they will fruit, so in a marginal climate you need to cut off the leaves to get the tree to the needed leaf count and then it will fruit. This is 3rd hand info, but I'm going to try it because I've been growing big healthy looking banana trees for a couple years now without any fruit.

Older trials (see link below) have mentioned pruning of leaves as a way to extend the time to flowering, I wonder how it will work for you?
https://sci-hub.st/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221589.1992.11516265

I  have some that are in partial shade but this biggest one is in pretty much full sun throughout the year. The soil around is poor but I have been working on that a lot and now close to the banana it's really nice soil. It's a local variety. I was under the impression that in a hot dry Mediterranean climate bananas actually did better with a bit of shade no?

Nathanael Szobody wrote:The short answer is that it's just not happy enough yet.

Is it in the shade? Is the soil poor? Is it not a local variety?

It is true that they usually produce within a year. But I saw one banana plant in a greenhouse in Minnesota that was 12 years old and had never blossomed. For obvious reasons.

The more sun and warmth the better. Spoil it with compost and compost tea.

When you say a constant supply of water, what do you mean exactly? Also I had understood that in a hot dry Mediterranean climate bananas actually beneift from having a bit of shade.

hans muster wrote:I cannot emphasize enough: fertilizing! Especially potassium (available in wood ash for example), and in the early growth nitrogen to build up reserves.
Edit: and yes, there must be enough heat and a constant supply of water.

Dareios Alexandre wrote:I  have some that are in partial shade but this biggest one is in pretty much full sun throughout the year. The soil around is poor but I have been working on that a lot and now close to the banana it's really nice soil. It's a local variety. I was under the impression that in a hot dry Mediterranean climate bananas actually did better with a bit of shade no?

I grow bananas in an extremely hot climate; bananas want full sun. There are permaculture and syntropic practitioners that will point out that bananas are native to rain forest regions and thrive in partial shade. Yes, the plants do, but they don't produce well there.

From what you say, I would focus on improving the soil. They do want lots of water,  but if the leaves are not wilting or looking yellow, then it is getting enough. Add ashes and manure to the soil. Dig it in if you like,  and cover with thick mulch. That's my 2 cents.