Is growing your own fruit worth it, for self sufficiency purposes?

[ChanellG]

I believe the one nutrient plants need when producing fruit, that is most likely to be in short supply, is potash (potassium). This happens to exist in very large measures in wood ash, so next time you have a bonfire to burn off all those prunings that are too woody for the compost heap, put the ashes around your fruit trees/bushes

You can give you plants potassium by using banana peels. Either soak them in water to make a liquid, dry them to use as mulch, or just put them in the soil. You can just lay them at the base of a plant, but it's better to cover them up. There are a lot of different ways of using them from compost to making a spray.

 

[clueless1]

You can give you plants potassium by using banana peels. Either soak them in water to make a liquid, dry them to use as mulch, or just put them in the soil. You can just lay them at the base of a plant, but it's better to cover them up. There are a lot of different ways of using them from compost to making a spray.

I believe I read somewhere that as banana skins begin to decay, they give off a chemical that signals some fruit to ripen. I read that some people put banana skins around their tomato plants if the tomatoes haven't ripened and its getting late in the season.

 

[ChanellG]

That's interesting, but I wonder how effective it would really be. The tomatoes would have to grow pretty close to the ground. You ripen bananas by putting them in a brown paper bag, with or without an apple. It's the apple that contributes to ripening of the bananas.

 

[Tmann]

ChanellG I believe its the ethylene that bananas give off which acts as a catalyst for the ripening process, therefore if you put them in a brown paper bag with say a pear it will help ripen the pear faster.

 

[ChanellG]

ChanellG I believe its the ethylene that bananas give off which acts as a catalyst for the ripening process, therefore if you put them in a brown paper bag with say a pear it will help ripen the pear faster.

As I stated above, it's apples (you don't even need a whole apple) that I read that you use in the bag to ripen other fruits, including bananas (avocados also). However, unless you're in a hurry to have your fruit ripen yesterday, it's enough to just put the pear or whatever in the bag and wait for it to ripen. Works great for plantains.

 

[iagirl]

I guess so as I see it all over here .pine mountain is one of the name brands and they also sell inviro logs and gosh do those things stink .

I've never seen them but I haven't really looked. I just wait for another storm to go thru and I end up with plenty of real wood for my fireplace. Now I'm going to have to look for them just because.

 

[ChanellG]

Getting back to the original question, I would say yes because most fruit bearing plants produce a lot more food on one plant than what we get from a single "vegetable" plant. Though if you really wanted to grown all of your own food, the best way to do so would be collectively along with a few other people so you have some crop variety and a shared workload.

 

[elyseb8787]

I believe that it is worth it. My family owns a small farm and we get all of our fruits and veggies from crops that we have grown ourselves. It is a much healthier option and you will take joy in knowing where your foods have come from. Also, in my opinion freshly grown foods taste better.