Save your banana peels for your plants !

[gata montes]

Claudine

Yes, the banana skins still break down naturally in the soil, but because they are dried won't smell
Which I'm sure will be a great relief, as you will still be able to enjoy the beauty and fragrance of your little treasures, without you or your roses having to endure the unpleasant situation, of being stuck in an enclosed space with the stench of decomposing banana skins.

 

[claudine]

Yup, smelling decomposing banana skins would be quite horrible Tomorrow, I'll go to a store and I'll buy a few bananas. Do you think that drying the skins will take a long time? I should move my roses to the attic in two or three weeks, it depends on the weather.

 

[gata montes]

Yup, smelling decomposing banana skins would be quite horrible Tomorrow, I'll go to a store and I'll buy a few bananas. Do you think that drying the skins will take a long time? I should move my roses to the attic in two or three weeks, it depends on the weather.

Just the thought of decomposing banana skins is really, really horrible - yuk, definitely better to dry them.

No, it doesn't take long to dry the skins, and this is how you do it

Place the banana skins on a wire rack or slated baking sheet, with the skin side facing down and place in the oven, either at the end of your normal cooking while the oven is cooling down or on the very lowest setting your oven will go to.

Drying time for whilst the oven is cooling is a bit erratic, as it depends a lot on how hot the oven was in he first place, and how moist the banana skins are, meaning that, it may require repeating the process a few times, in order to dry them out, as it can take anything between 2 to 6 hours.
The best and quickest method for drying the skins, is to set the oven on its lowest setting, place the rack in the oven and leave for between 45 minutes to 1 hour, with the oven door very slightly open, so that the moisture can escape. After the first half hour, it is best to keep checking every 10-15 minutes to make sure they haven't burnt
Once dried they will be pliable but crispy and can be stored and kept in an airtight container

Final tip - you may like to have the kitchen window open a touch, as they do ' whiff ' a bit whilst drying

 

[Annetteb]

Lol. That is a really simple way to dry banana peels. I will try that with my peels. I will also make sure that the windows are open as I would hate to have a stinky house while drying the peels.

 

[claudine]

Thank you for such a detailed guide, Gata montes! Now, after I read it, drying banana skins doesn't seem too complicated to me. I'm definitely going to give it a try soon

 

[gata montes]

Claudine and Annetteb

Thank you both, am glad the information was helpful, think you'll be fine with the drying process, but should you stumble across something I didn't mention, will be very happy to help.

Claudine - would love to know how your little treasures respond, especially as one of my neighbors tried this, on her outdoor roses and they've looked absolutely fantastic all year.

 

[Annetteb]

I will indeed keep you updated on how things go and if I have anymore questions I will ask. Thanks again for the info.

 

[lemonzest]

I always use them on my rose bushes, mainly for fertilizer although I've also heard something about them being good against aphids?

I also have a kalua pork recipe sitting around someplace that uses a banana peel to substitute for ti leaves

 

[susieeQT]

I think I might try this! I had heard of using leftover coffee grounds before, but never tried it. My concern is that the banana peels might attract animals. I have bunnies in my back yard, as well as lots of stray cats. I might try burying pieces of the peel under the plant, or just set them on the ground near it and hope the animals stay away.

 

[gata montes]

Hi susieeQT - if you are worried that the rotting banana peels would attract unwanted garden visitors or that they would be more than appealing to your current ones you could always dry them first and then either cut them up or blend them and use as a mulch around your plants - details of how to dry them are 4 or 5 posts up from yours

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

My banana peels go in my compost and my compost on my plants anyhow. I would not have considered putting the peels directly on the soil. Like the coffee grounds, I would exercise some restraint when placing them directly in the dirt as it may alter the soil too drastically and do some damage to certain plants. I think one of the main reasons for banana peels is that they tend to decompose very quickly as long as they remain moist.

 

[firelily99]

Thanks for posting that video about the uses of banana peels. I had heard something about it but it wasn't that much info. I do eat a lot of bananas so I should have no shortage of snacks for the plants.

 

[Trellum]

Awesome tips, happyflowerlady! I had heard banana peels were very good for plants in general, I actually tried it in the past, I tossed tiny pieces of the banana peel all around the plant pot. I didn't like it at all tho, because the peel was taking to long to blend with the soil and this attracted a few bugs. Next time I will bury the banana peel.

 

[ChanellG]

We've talked about banana peel before; I think the thread was making your own fertilizer. I soak banana peel in water to make a foliar spray. It works great for fruiting and flowering plants.

@claudine, the only problem would be if the peel started to attract bugs.

 

[gata montes]

I think you are right there ChanellG in fact I'm more than sure that we have discussed using banana peels as a fertilizer in more than one thread - which in my mind is not a bad thing - as it helps introduce people to this great organic way of fertilizing plants for free.

Although it is true that banana peels can attract unwanted visitors and bugs - it only happens when they are used in their raw state and as has already been mentioned in this thread - this is not a problem - if you either dry them first or use them as a liquid fertilizer - both of which I have done for some time and have never had any problems with either unwanted visitors or bugs