Bananas are fun to grow if you can. But one thing to remember is that bare-root banana shoots or tubers can be really tricky to root. They need to be very warm and somewhat moist but not wet or they rot. If you get a shoot or a tuber in the fall or winter you are probably better storing it cool and dry until it's really warm, unless you can provide substantial bottom heat. Rooted plants are much easier to transplant, but be very careful not to disturb the root ball, and don't keep them too wet until they are growing strongly. In the winter, bananas tolerate cool and bone-dry soil much better than cool and moist soil. There are many people in the St Louis, MO area with banana clumps in the front lawn. In the fall they host a banana party, which involves shovels, a large tarpaulin and plenty of beer. The clump is undermined, topped at some level, the tarp pulled under the clump, and the clump dragged into the basement. In the spring when it is warm the process is reversed. I haven't heard of people getting bananas this way and I'd be surprised if they do, since topped shoots usually don't produce flowers. I have fruiting bananas against my house here in Phoenix. I drape frost cloth from my roof down over the bananas on the 10 or so freezing nights we get each winter; I get fruit every year. If you want fruit, I suggest dwarf varieties such as Raja Puri, which has leaves extending up to perhaps 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide, and bunches with 12 hands of 6 bananas each, borne low enough for most dogs to reach easily. (And they will if they can.) Raja Puri has excellent fruit, better than store-bought Cavendish bananas. There is a miniature Cavendish variety that is supposed to fruit when under 2 feet tall. This would permit people in cold-winter climates to grow bananas for fruit. I haven't tried it. Bananas fruit after about 18 months of uninterrupted growth from planting out bare root. They need enormous amounts of nitrogen fertilizer during warm weather. I don't think you could burn them with ammonium sulfate. Each shoot should unfurl one or more new leaf per week, or you aren't fertilizing enough. Banana juice stains almost anything black. Be careful with your clothing, your dog's teeth, the concrete, and your skin. Leo Martin Phoenix Arizona USA