Pull the shallots when the tops start to die back and turn brown. Do this on a warm day with no rain. Let the shallots dry in the sun for a few hours so that the dirt is completely dry on them. Shake off as much dirt as can be done easily. Peel off the outer dirty layer(s) of the bulb until you get to clean ones. Cut off the tops (if you want) leaving at least 1 inch above the bulb. If you want, you can dust with sulphur at this point to help prevent storage rot from starting to grow. (Sulphur Dust only, not lime sulphur or Bordeaux) Put the bulbs in a drying rack, single layer, outside under cover where the breeze can blow around them, but they cannot get wet from rain. Let them cure for at least 2 weeks. You should get papery husks completely surrounding them before storing in a cool dark place.

Are you trying to grow bananas that produce fruit or trying to grow decorative types of bananas? Not all bananas produce edible fruit. Many of the seeded varieties are more for decorative purposes so in general you will need to buy a small plant in order to get a fruiting variety. If you are in a zone7b the are some decorative types that are hardy to your zone. Most of the edible fruiting varieties like a warmer winter. You could try growing them in a pot. There are some smaller varieties of bananas that produce fruit in pots. Raja Puri and Veinte Cohol are both considered easy-to-fruit in pot varieties. Dwarf Orinico, Dwf Cavendish, Double Mahoi are some other varieties you might like. Here is a link to read about different bananas and sizes. Here is a link that might be useful: link to banana variety description

Plumeria, I understand your frustration. My husband and I almost had our 1880's home *destroyed* by unscrupulous contractors. We hired an award winning architect, David Dillard, and his design build company, Historic Projects of New Orleans, LLC to perform our restoration. Dillard stole over $75K from us and we've been turned back at nearly every corner while he is free to continue destroying people's homes and lives. I know what you mean about "unwrapping your brain." The worst part is that after these animals are out of your house, they are not out of your lives. I just keep clawing back every chance I get. I go after him everywhere I can. If the legal system won't help me, word of mouth must. It took me six months to recover enough from the shock and awe of this betrayal to start the process of hiring a new contractor. I feel like a victim still, and trusting my new contractor is a slow and daily struggle. I feel like an abuse victim. You will need strength to get through this. We've filed insurance claims against his general liability policy - maybe won't get anything, but above all, I'm building a record. Maybe something someone else will find down the road and they won't hire him. Our state contractor's board did nothing. The architect's board - nothing. The DA has a six month backlog... When our new contractor started it turns out I have a "renegade permit" that doesn't protect me or my job in terms of inspections, etc. David Dillard stole $1K from me to get a worthless permit. Dillard has made me look like a scofflaw because I went along with this stuff because I didn't know any better. Call a lawyer and start the process to get these people punished. However, the one thing I learned was not to fire them (although bar them from your property) until I spoke to an attorney. You do not want to alter any terms of your contract until you have sound legal advice.

FWIW, I didn't take it as a derogatory comment asking how could you miss it. I know how I miss certain things these days. I avoid a lot of the news programs. I do have the Newsflow app on my computer and I get headlines from a few different sources which keeps me abreast of a lot of important things. You choose the newsfeeds you want. It gives a slider with headlines. If it's something about the Comb-over in Chief sticking his foot in his mouth again, I can easily avoid it. If it's a weather alert, or a headline that harnesses my interest, I check the article. After a recent week in the hospital and 6 units of blood later, I've had other things to concern myself with than fluff news and stories. I can very easily see how someone would miss a thing like the romaine scare. Nothing to be ashamed about. There's other things in life than watching the news all the time. The older I get and the more ridiculousness I see, the less I watch the news. When it's idiot stories, I turn the news off. Don't need that garbage.