Don't Throw Away Your Banana Peels Yet—How to Use Them in Your Garden Instead
Banana peels are packed with nutrients that go to waste when simply tossed in the trash. But with a bit of time and know-how, banana peels can be transformed into compost, mulch, or a basic fertilizer to help gardens and houseplants grow better.
“Banana peels have high levels of potassium, which strengthens the stems of plants, yields a
sturdier crop, and can help fight off disease,” Bea Johnson of ecomaine tells The Spruce. "Tomatoes, peppers, and other flowering plants can benefit greatly from a potassium additive.”
Johnson recommends adding banana peels to compost piles or steeping them in water to
make a liquid fertilizer “tea.” But, as you’ll soon see, there are other uses for banana peels in the garden.
Bea Johnson is an environmental educator at ecomaine, a Maine-based organization focused on sustainable waste management.
Banana peels can be an asset in the garden, but you’ll get more benefits out of old peels if you know how to use them.
It's best to process banana peels before applying them to gardens, either by drying, steeping them in water, or composting. This makes the nutrients in banana peels more accessible to plants.
Banana peels are biodegradable and can technically be added to gardens as-is, but it takes a while for whole peels to break down and peels won’t offer many benefits to plants until they’re well-incorporated into the soil.
Not to mention, whole banana peels can sometimes attract pests, like flies and some digging animals.
Keep in mind that banana water is not a complete fertilizer and it works best when combined with compost and a balanced, organic, liquid, or granular fertilizer.
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Gardeners can use banana peels in several different ways, depending on the types of plants you’re growing and how much effort you want to put into repurposing old peels.
Here are a few ways to use banana peels for healthier and happier plants:
Banana peel water can be made with raw banana peels, but boiling banana peel water infuses more nutrients into the water and makes it even better for plants.
Use these tips to make your own boiled banana water “tea” for gardens or houseplants.
All plants, indoors and out, can be watered with banana water, but fruiting and flowering plants derive even more benefits from the potassium banana water contains.
Use banana water on melons, pumpkins, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and other cucurbits or nightshades, or spritz banana water on air plants to give them a little boost. Since it is mild, banana water can be applied weekly as part of your regular watering schedule.