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Bananas are VERY popular in our house.
We eat at least 3-4 between us each day. I personally have at least 2, and my step-son will often have 2 each day as well.
Which means we end up with a lot of banana peels.
Up until recently they’ve gone the way of all our other organic waste, straight into the worm farm.
But when I really took notice of how many peels we actually end up with, I wondered if there was something useful I could do with them instead.
Not that they’re not well used in the worm farm, but the worms have plenty of food and it just seemed like an excess of banana peels could do more, be more.
After all, bananas are an excellent source of potassium, and phosphorous, two things that are good for us humans, but also great for plants.
So I did a little research and it turns out that, like many things, you can use bananas in the garden as a natural fertiliser.
The peels not only contain potassium and phosphorus, but also add nitrogen to the soil as they decompose, as well as smaller traces of sulphur, magnesium and calcium.
Making Banana Fertiliser
Making Banana fertiliser is really simple.
There’s no fancy methods involved at all, and there are 5 easy ways to achieve the same outcome – healthy, happy plants.
Banana Plant Shake
The first way to create your banana fertiliser is to take the banana peels, and the banana if you are throwing it out for some reason, and blend it all up with a few cups of water.
It will make a pretty yucky looking shake, but your plants will LOVE it.
For an added punch you could also add any egg shells you have in your waste as well.
Apply it around the baseline of your plants and then water it in well.
Dig A Banana
The most simple of all the ways to use your peels is to simply chop them up, and then dig them into the soil either around your plants, or in an area that you will be planting in the future.
While underground they will decompose and leech their nutrients into you soil.
Be careful to avoid the roots of your plants when digging of course.
Banana Tea
You can make a banana tea, just as you would with seaweed.
There’s no chopping involved with this method. Simply throw your peels into a large bucket or container of water and leave the peels to soak for about a week.
Remove the peels (they can go then into your worm farm once all the nutrients are depleted) and then apply the tea to the baseline of your plants.
Banana Dust
If you’re not ready to use your peels straight away, you can make a banana dust and store it for use any time.
Lay you peals out on paper towels or baking paper and either put them in a dehydrator like the Excalibur or let them air dry for a few days until they are crunchy.
Then you can crunch them up by hand, or put them through a blender to make a fine dust.
Store the peel dust at room temperature in a sealed container and anytime you think a plant needs a helping hand, sprinkle some of your banana dust onto the soil and water it in.
Getting A Head Start
If you are potting up any of your edibles, pop a banana peel in the bottom of the pot before you start, then fill with soil.
The peel will break down over time and release the nutrients into the soil for take up by your plant.
Easy!
CAUTION
Like any fertiliser, you need to be careful when applying the banana fertiliser, making sure to only add amounts that are comfortable for your plants.
Any over use can harm your plants, and it’s always a good idea to water well after applying your fertiliser.
So now you can put your bananas peels to good use, and grow great plants without adding chemical fertilisers.
And for other organic fertiliser or pesticide recipes, check out the Maintenance category on the main menu.
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Learn to spell fertilizer
Thanks for your comment Marilyn, but perhaps considering there are writers outside of the US would be better than offering your assumptive advice.
Thanks. Good stuff for my plant.
buckets come in all sizes. How much water to make tea?