Save your banana peels for your plants !

[happyflowerlady]

You have probably read about how beneficial and nutritious bananas are for people, but did you know that they are also wonderful for your plants ? When you put that banana in your breakfast cereal, save the peel for the roses, or the tomatoes, or just about anything else that happens to be growing in your yard and garden.

What is the best way to nourish your plant, you ask ? Well, from what I have been reading, and from my experiments with bananas, you pretty much can't do it wrong, as long as the plant gets the banana peel in some way or another. Some people put the peels in the blender and then pour it on the plants, and this is a good way if you are putting it on small containers with house plants in them.

You can also just dig a hole under the plant if it is a larger one, like a rosé or a bush, and bury it under the plant.
If you are lazy like me, you can even just give the banana peel a toss out close to the plant, and it will soon turn black and blend in with the dirt, so it is not even noticeable .
Any ceombination of these will work, as well as the usual method of just putting it in the compost and letting it rot in there. Any way you do it, will add many good nutrients to the soil and help the plants to blossom and grow faster.
Here is a link to a YouTube video talking about the potassium benefits of adding banana peels, and showing how to plant with the peel and eggshells.

 

[Lilley1]

Great tips on how to use your banana peels to nourish plants. I didn't realize you can use the banana peel several ways. I was afraid of doing it wrong.

I'm just beginning to grow my very first garden. Right now I have a few things in small pots on my back porch so using a blender to chop up the banana peel is probably the best way right now. However, I do like your idea about giving it a toss near the plants.

 

[Jeanne90]

Awesome, I didn't know banana peel can nourish plants. I am doing compost at home and read from somewhere that it is best not to put banana peels in there. But it didn't cross my mind that the banana peels can be tossed around the plants. Thank you for the tip.

 

[dconklin]

Oh wow, I never thought to use the peels for the soil. I think maybe I will cut it into pieces and spread the pieces over the soil by my plants. Hoping that it doesn't draw the wild animals tho! I just planted my plants yesterday so I don't want to disturb them much by digging around them.

Is this good for cucumbers and peppers too?

 

[limcid]

Dog hair? Does that really make a difference? It seems like you would need a little bit more than what was used if it really makes a difference. If it does, you could probably get it by the bag (free) from the dog pound. Interesting.

 

[Trellum]

I had heard about this before, but I didn't feel very attracted to the idea of using banana peels for my plants. I guess the reason they say they are so good is that they are really rich in potasium. I also heard that coffee leftovers (the ones that stay in the filter) are good for the plants as well.

 

[missyann]

I didn't know about the banana peels. I have used coffee grounds before. I also use eggs shells for my tomato plants. In the summer of 2012 my tomatoes were not doing well. Someone mentioned to use egg shells. I save them in a bag and put them in my chopper with a little water. I then place it around the tomato plants. That worked wonders. I did it again this year and had a very good crop of tomatoes. I'm not sure I want to try the banana peels though. We have raccoons, moles and mice around.

 

[gata montes]

I too, have heard that banana peels are a very good natural fertilizer, and that they are particularly good for roses.

However, unless you want to attract unwanted visitors to your garden, such as racoons, rats etc, it is best to dry them, before use.

The easiest way of drying them, is to place the skins on a baking tray or rack and place in the oven, as the oven doesn't need to be on for this process - just pop the tray in the oven, as the oven is cooling down after your normal cooking,

Once the skins are dried, you can either cut them up or grind in a blender, they can then, be used to fertilize established plants or as a mulch for young plants and seedlings, have also heard that many people like to mix them with coffee grounds as well.

 

[Annetteb]

I eat lots of bananas and I throw away the peels. I will be saving them and using them in my garden from now on. Thanks for the tip and link. It wad a big help.

 

[claudine]

I was thinking about using banana peels as a fertilizer for my miniature roses, but I worry about chemicals, I think that they may be harmful. Also, won't the peel start rotting after a while? I keep my roses in my room, so it would be a problem.

 

[Annetteb]

I am going to start using banana perls to fertilize my garden next year since I will be eating a lot of them.

 

[gata montes]

I was thinking about using banana peels as a fertilizer for my miniature roses, but I worry about chemicals, I think that they may be harmful. Also, won't the peel start rotting after a while? I keep my roses in my room, so it would be a problem.

I can really relate to your caution here Claudine, especially as your miniature roses are very, very special to you, all I can tell you for sure, is that organic Rose growers, have been feeding their roses with banana skins for years and have found that, the plants are healthier and bloom more profusely

Think its quite understandable, that you would find the smell of rotting banana skins a really big problem - much as I love bananas, the idea of being shut in a room with rotting banana skins for a long period of time, doesn't even bear thinking about, apart from that, how on earth would you smell your roses over that stench.

If you dry and crush the banana skins, as I mentioned a few posts up, it would for one, avoid the stench of rotting banana skins from wafting around your room, and secondly, as you are a little worried about using banana skins on your miniature roses, you could then, if you wanted to, try adding just a small amount of the dried crushed skins, which would be much less than a whole banana skin

 

[MindyT]

Should you wash them first to get rid of any chemical residue? Would that matter? I think it would.

 

[Annetteb]

I think it would probably make a difference to wash them, but I'm not an expert.

 

[claudine]

I can really relate to your caution here Claudine, especially as your miniature roses are very, very special to you, all I can tell you for sure, is that organic Rose growers, have been feeding their roses with banana skins for years and have found that, the plants are healthier and bloom more profusely

Think its quite understandable, that you would find the smell of rotting banana skins a really big problem - much as I love bananas, the idea of being shut in a room with rotting banana skins for a long period of time, doesn't even bear thinking about, apart from that, how on earth would you smell your roses over that stench.

If you dry and crush the banana skins, as I mentioned a few posts up, it would for one, avoid the stench of rotting banana skins from wafting around your room, and secondly, as you are a little worried about using banana skins on your miniature roses, you could then, if you wanted to, try adding just a small amount of the dried crushed skins, which would be much less than a whole banana skin

I read your post about drying banana peels before adding them to soil, but I was still worrying that even dried, they may start rotting since I water my roses daily. But if you say that there is no such risk, I'll probably give it a try. My little treasures deserve the best fertilizer