A.L.
We had one when I was growing up that even yielded some bananas at some point, if I'm remembering correctly. I think the main problem with maintenance was that it was such a large pot that my cat used to use it as a litter box. My mom couldn't figure out why it started dying, and then fixed the problem by sticking shies-kabob skewers all around the tree in the dirt to keep my cat out of there.
Ah...memories. As far as really answering your questions, I'm not a lot of help. Sorry. Hope you enjoyed the story, though ;)