Banana Peel Fertilizer Benefits and Tips for Your Garden

Instead of sending your banana peels to the landfill, where the organic waste contributes to methane gas emissions, why not make a fertilizer out of them?

Banana peel fertilizers are an eco-friendly and nutrient-rich alternative to artificial fertilizers.

Here’s what you should know about using them.

What Nutrients Are in Banana Peels?

When used as fertilizers, banana peels help with the development of flowers, fruits, and seeds.

These are rich in several nutrients essential for healthy plant growth, including:

• Potassium: Helps regulate water balance and enhances disease resistance.
• Phosphorus: Crucial for root growth and energy transfer in plants. 
• Magnesium: Aids photosynthesis and contributes to healthy leaf and stem growth.
• Vitamins A, B6, and C: Helps plants combat stress and support immune function.
• Antioxidants: Makes plants resistant to damage from environmental pollutants.
• Tryptophan: Aids in the production of auxins—plant hormones that regulate growth and root formation.

How to Use Banana Peel as a Fertilizer

You can use banana peel as a fertilizer in five ways:

1. Add to Your Compost

Adding banana peels to your compost pile is the easiest way to use them as fertilizer. Once the peels are added to the compost bin, all you have to do is sit back and let nature do the rest.

Along with other organic materials like crushed eggshells and food scraps, your compost will be enriched with nutrients that will be made readily available to your plants 

2. Make Banana Peel Fertilizer Tea

Using banana peel fertilizer tea is a way to give your plants a quick infusion of easily absorbed nutrients for their overall health.

Here are the steps to make this liquid mix:

1. Chop up your banana peels.
2. Pour them into a jar.
3. Fill up the jar with enough water to cover the banana peels.
4. Close the jar and leave it to steep for at least a week. 
5. Use the banana water as a liquid fertilizer.

You should note that the longer the banana peels stay in the water, the more acidic they become. This makes them suitable for plants that prefer acidic soils, like blueberries, magnolias, and azaleas.

3. Blend Into a Slurry

The banana peel fertilizer slurry creates a thick mixture that can be applied directly to the soil to provide a steady release of nutrients.

To make it, you’ll first blend your banana peel in a food processor and adjust the water quantity according to how thick you want the slurry.

Then, pour the slurry around the base of your plants, being careful not to let it touch the stems or leaves. For the best results, use this mixture once every 2–3 weeks.

4. Make a Dried Banana Peel Fertilizer

When ground into a powder, dried banana peel fertilizer helps the growth of a wide range of plants for a more vibrant garden ecosystem.

Making a fertilizer using dried banana peels involves these steps:

1. Chop up the peels and compost the thick ends, as they take longer to dry.
2. Lay out your banana peels to dry in sunlight for about two days.
3. After they’re well dried, crush them into powder using a mortar and pestle or a spice/coffee grinder.
4. Sprinkle the mix around your plants.

As you’ll see in the next section, there are some considerations to be aware of depending on whether you’re using fresh or dried banana peels

5. Add Directly to the Soil

Adding the banana peels directly to the soil releases the nutrients slowly into it, encouraging healthy plant growth over time.

You cut up the banana peels into tiny bits and then bury them in the soil around your plants. Avoid chopping them into big pieces, as those will be harder to decompose.

Fresh vs. Dried Banana Peels

You can expect an immediate nutrient boost if you’re using fresh banana peels to help your plants thrive.

Meanwhile, dried banana peels are a more slow-release type of fertilizer, which works well for plants that need long-term support.

As both forms retain plenty of nutritional value for your plants, opt for the one that goes best with your gardening goals. 

Concerns With Using Banana Peels as Fertilizer

Using banana peels in your home compost or any other form as fertilizer poses a few risks. 

For one, the peels are quite rich in potassium, and it’s possible to overdose on this nutrient and create an imbalance in your soil’s nutrient profile.

Using your banana peel fertilizer with other organic fertilizers can help offset some of these side effects.

Also, if you have indoor plants, you should avoid making a banana peel tea fertilizer, as it attracts fruit flies and gnats. 

Benefits of Using a Banana Peel Fertilizer in Your Garden

Despite a few concerns, there are some reasons a banana peel fertilizer can do a lot of good for your garden:

• They’re a rich source of potassium, necessary for the development of plant cell walls and root development.
• They boost soil fertility over time, helping it retain moisture and boost the intake of plant nutrients.
• Banana peel fertilizers contain antioxidants and other compounds that boost your plants’ resistance to disease.
• Using banana peels as fertilizer is an eco-friendly and sustainable practice that reduces the amount of waste going to landfills.

Embrace Sustainable Garden Practices With SunCo

In the face of climate change, sustainable gardening practices are a way to help the environment while saving money.

Your banana peels don’t have to be discarded when they could be put to good use as fertilizers for your plants. 

Whether you use them as home compost or process them in other ways, banana peels have plenty of nutrients that can benefit your lawns and gardens.

Take the first step to sustainable garden and lawn care today through the help of the experts at SunCo, and see how we can help you transform your green spaces into a paradise.