Why throw out all those banana peels when you can add them to your garden? Here in zone 5b, it’s cold half the year, and bananas take a long time to decompose. So to get the benefits of banana peels into your soil as efficiently as possible, I like to help the process along.
We go through a LOT of bananas in our morning smoothies. So we collect them in a ziplock bag in the freezer until we’re ready to do a full dehydrator at once. Why in the freezer, fruit flies LOVE bananas. And if you’ve ever gotten an infestation of fruit flies, well, you know, it’s not fun.
Banana peels in the garden?
So why are banana peels so beneficial for the garden? The potassium content in banana peels is about 200 mg of the fruits or 40%. They are one of the highest organic potassium sources and much higher in potassium than wood ash, a common potassium source. In addition, banana peel fertilizer for tomatoes and peppers is helpful because they contain calcium, which helps plants take up more nitrogen. In addition, when tomatoes and pepper take up enough calcium, they can fight off blossom end rot.
Fertilizer basics
I’m sure you’ve seen those three numbers with dashes on the front of fertilizer plants. They are three primary macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
- Plants use nitrogen (N) for lots of leaf growth and good green color.
- Plants use phosphorous (P) to help form new roots and make seeds, fruit, and flowers. Plants also use it to help fight disease.
- Potassium (K) helps plants make strong stems.
Wait until you see what potassium does for a plant!
Potassium is the third number in the fertilizer number set on the front of a package and is classified as a macronutrient because plants take up large quantities of potassium during their life cycle. Potassium is an essential element that is used in fertilizers. It is crucial for promoting general plant vigor, build-up, and resistance to pests and disease; necessary to help fruit grow; involved in regulating around 50 enzymes in a plant. More specifically, potassium helps strengthen plants’ abilities to resist disease. Potassium increases root growth and protects the plant when the weather is cold or dry, strengthening its root system and preventing wilt. Potassium reduces respiration, preventing energy losses and helping plants move water and nutrients between cells. It is used to support the flowering process and is thought to improve the quality of the fruit by aiding in photosynthesis and food formation.
Potassium deficiency?
Think your soil may have a Potassium deficiency? The signs of potassium deficiency in plants can be seen as an overall wilted or drooping tendency, a stocky appearance, and short internodes. In addition, younger leaves’ growth is inhibited with small leaf blades, and older leaves will have brown veins.
How to process banana peels
Because it is cold most of the year, we stash banana peels in a baggy in the freezer, chop them up when the bag is full, and dehydrate them. Tossing them in the herb grinder makes storing and applying the banana peels to garden soil easy and more easily compostable because of the finely reduced size. In addition, each dried banana peel makes roughly 1-2 Tbsp. of fertilizer, so saving your banana peels can really pay off.
Applying banana peels to the garden
Add your homemade organic potassium fertilizer to the roots of your potassium-loving plants in the spring when planting. Tomatoes, peppers, and roses will be very happy for the boost. Aphids, who love roses, will also benefit from banana peels on the soil’s surface because they repel them. Banana peels also deter greenflies, blackflies, and whiteflies.
Remember, this is not an instant fix. But knowing the “why” behind the results will help you grow healthy soil and thriving plants!
*As always, before adding anything to your soil – it’s best to do a soil test! If you live in NH, follow these directions from the UNH Extension office. Home Gardeners can contact the Infoline at 1-877-398-4769 or email them: [email protected]du.
~ Lola
“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments!”
Do you grow a lot of peppers and tomatoes? If your soil is lacking potassium, give this all natural fertilizer a try and let us now what you think!
Materials to make banana peel fertilizer
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