leftover from your favorite yield do contain nutrient , but using a banana tree Robert Peel as plant food for your indoor plants may do more harm than good .
societal media is rife with gardening hacks , including one that may vocalize enticing : Using banana Robert Peel as fertiliser for houseplants . Supposedly , soak the peels in thewater you ’ll pour into the potsor burying piece in the soil will provide the nutrient your plants need to develop . While there ’s some truth to these approximation , here ’s why using either of these methods is n’t your right stakes — and what to do or else .
Why Banana Peels Don’t Work as Fertilizer
Like any plant material , banana peels contain K , anessential food in fertiliser . However , unless the peels are dried , they ’re mainly compose of urine ( over 80 % ) , which means the amount of food they have compared to regular fertiliser is moderately low . So fresh or dry , soaking the peels wo n’t add significant nutrients to the water .
Some the great unwashed promote sink a banana peel in your plant ’s pot to add nutrients . However , the skin will fall apart down so slowly that it in all likelihood wo n’t provide adequate nutrients when your plant require them . Another downside to banana peels as fertiliser is that rotting constitutive matter can pull in plague such asfruit flies , fungus gnats , andeven cockroaches .
Another strike against using banana peels as fertilizer ? Even if they did provide the amount of atomic number 19 that plants need ( which they do n’t ) , they lack other critical nutrient . A entrepot - bought fertilizer is specifically invent to provide a balanced amount of potassium , phosphorus , and atomic number 7 .
Credit: Alexander Newcomer, EyeEm/Getty Images
A Better Use for Banana Peels in the Garden
While you ’re better off using a stock - boughtfertilizer for your houseplants , you could still put banana Peel to use in your garden . flip the Peel into your compost binlike any other yield or food scrap . They ’ll disintegrate without attractingpests to your houseplantsand help make fertile compost you’re able to sum to your garden .
How to Fertilize Houseplants the Right Way
Use acommercially package fertilizer if you need to summate more food to keep your houseplant glad . reckon for a houseplant fertilizer with balanced macronutrients ( equal amounts of nitrogen , phosphorous , and potassium ) , and apply during their growing season ( outflow and summertime ) . These will be more good and oeuvre quicker than using banana peel as fertiliser , even if you soak it or dry it first . Plus , you ’ll recognize exactly what you ’re total to your soil when you follow the label focusing .
Frequently Asked Questions
No . Research betoken that there ’s almost no welfare to bury banana peels in garden layer ( plus , they can attract rodents and other pests ) .
Banana peels take up to a year to moulder , but you’re able to speed up the summons by quickly chopping them before tossing them into the compost bin .
opine of fertiliser as a vitamin — not all essential , but often safe for giving houseplant a nutritional boost ( in special quantities — be sure to follow package directions ) .
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Teshome ZT.“Effects of Banana Peel Compost Rates on Swiss Chard Growth Performance and Yield in Shirka District , Oromia , Ethiopia . “Heliyon . vol . 8 , no . 8 , 2022 , pp . e10097 . doi:10.1016 / j.heliyon.2022.e10097
Hikal WM et al . " Banana Peels : A Waste Treasure for Human Being . Evid Based Complement Alternat Med . " vol . 2022 , 2022 , pp . 7616452 , doi:10.1155/2022/7616452
