Supposedly, bananas will form where each flower is or was, they often skip rows though. The bloom will continue to form bananas until you have a long stalk with up to 100 bananas on it. In commercial production they get that many, in gardens usually not but maybe 10 rows of bananas spiraling up. As the red bud peels open, there will be small flowers and then fruit forms behind them. It will also drip necter which can attract bees and ants and is kind of a mess if it is over something you like.
If you have bird or insect problems you can pull a plastic bag up over the stalk and loosely tie it at the top, it may also help get them to ripen. It's common on banana plantations down here to see all the stalks bagged. What I can't tell you is when to decide they are ripe or close and cut the stalk. I'm guessing when the shape of the banana is rounder and not as angular and when they seem plump and filled out. Or, you could leave them on the tree to ripen but I also don't know if that works. We have to prop up the stem that the bloom is on in Cat City because of wind, bananas hate wind. If it blows down then you lose it so we usually tie it up. Once you harvest the stalk, cut the stem down to the ground. It will send up new pups.
