Banana Peels In The Garden – (12 How To Ideas And Uses)

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If you compost, you already toss banana peels and other kitchen scraps into your compost pile or compost bin.

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But, there are a number of other banana peel uses, such as both as a natural fertilizer and as a natural pest repellent in the garden. 

In this article, we’ll share a wealth of smart ways about what to do with banana peels to make the most of this valuable bit of trash. Read on to learn more.

12 Uses For Banana Peels In The Garden

What are these peels from bananas good for?

Banana skin or peels, being nutrient-rich, make an excellent source of natural fertilizer for your vegetables and fruits in your yard and garden. 



They provide your plants with the following:

  • Potassium Fertilizer: This nutrient helps your plants grow strong roots, and it also helps enable good distribution of water and nutrients. Plants use potassium to help regulate plant enzymes and support the plant in growing stronger stems. This works together to help grow strong, sturdy, disease and pest-repellant plants
  • Phosphorus: This nutrient also helps build healthy roots and shoots, and it is absolutely essential for the successful production of blossoms, pollen, and fruit. Plants that receive plenty of phosphorus grow big and strong. A bone meal is good, too!
  • Calcium: Roots and stems are also dependent upon ample calcium for strength and proper stem and root development. Calcium assists in breaking down soil nutrients such as nitrogen and supports other minerals in moving through a plant’s system. Calcium can also help combat blossom-end rot in tomatoes.
  • Magnesium: This mineral supports healthy photosynthesis, which is absolutely essential for all aspects of plant growth and health.
  • Manganese: This mineral plays an important role in various plant physiological processes, including photosynthesis, respiration, and nitrogen metabolism.

Here are different ways on how to use banana peels in the garden.

1. Brew Some Banana Peel Tea

Create an all-natural liquid organic banana peel fertilizer filled with potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen using just the peels for bananas and water. This combination feeds and strengthens plants and helps them resist diseases and pests.

Hand holding a spray bottle with yellow liquid against an orange wall.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @bajanas_centre

Brew This Nourishing Banana Peel Fertilizer Tea In Several Different Ways

# 1 Fill a large jar (2 quarts) about three-quarters of the way with water. Set the jar of water in your refrigerator. Whenever you eat a banana, cut the peel into small pieces and put the pieces into the water.

Keep the jar of boiled banana water in your refrigerator for about a week. When it is full, strain the peels out and mix the banana water with a gallon of plain water. Use this “compost tea” to water your plants and give them a healthy dose of minerals.

# 2 If you don’t want to keep a jar of chopped peels in your refrigerator, make small batches of banana peel tea for plants. Do this by placing chopped banana peels in a 1 quart Mason jar filled with water. 

Allow the jar to sit (loosely covered) at room temperature for two days to create the banana tea for plants. Remove the peel and use the water as-is for watering plants.

Note: I would NOT use bananas on indoor house plants without some testing!

Related Reading: Yes! You Can Use Old Tea Bags In The Garden

2. Don’t Throw Away The Soaked Peels!

Use soaked banana skins as fertilizer. Dehydrate them and then grind them into powder for working directly into the soil, or make a slurry of the soaked peels using your blender.

Work the slurry into the soil surrounding plants for nourishment and also for a certain measure of pest control.

Mason jar with contents on brick outdoors.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @pandemic_gardener

Dehydrated banana peel powder makes an excellent addition when starting seedlings. Mix a pinch into the starter mix in each pot to ensure your seeds get off to the best start.

If nothing else, remember to add the soaked banana peels to your compost heap or bin for a nutrient bump!

3. Pest Control

Working cut-up banana peels into the soil surrounding your plants not only feeds the plants but also helps naturally deter green aphids and other pests. 

You can also spray your peels compost tea directly onto plants to help repel aphids. As a bonus, your plants will absorb the minerals in the compost tea through their leaves.

4. Banana Peels In Compost

Whether you compost using a compost pile, a bin, or a vermicomposting setup, using banana peels (whole, chopped up, soaked, or as a slurry) is a good idea. 

If you do add whole banana peels, be sure to bury them deeply near the composting coffee grounds so as not to attract pests such as raccoons and possums.

Soaking, chopping, grinding, or making a slurry of banana peels makes the nutrients more readily available to plants and facilitates a quick breakdown of the peel. For this reason, some pre-compost processing is desirable.

Jars of preserved bananas with a fern backdrop.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @eager.for.life

5. Amend Your Potting Soil

You can use composted peels directly as a soil amendment in the autumn when preparing flower and veggie beds for the winter.

Chop banana peels up and work them into the potting mix, or add them whole. Again, just be sure to bury them deeply under mulch if adding them whole since they may attract nocturnal mammalian invaders.

On the upside, they attract beneficial insects, worms, and microbes that will work hard through the wintertime, improving the quality of your soil.

Have you thought about banana peels or a banana mixture for roses or in the planting hole of peppers or tomato plants?

Roses respond very well with brighter blooms and more flowers when they get “fed” banana peels, coffee grounds, and eggshells.

6. Plant A Banana Peel

When planting seeds outdoors, give them a direct jolt of nutrients by planting a banana peel along with them.

Dig a trench two inches deep and at least long enough to accommodate the banana peel strip. Lay strips of banana peels flat with the inside facing up and put the seeds on top.

Cover with light, rich, well-drained soil and water, and care for your seeds as usual. As they germinate, create roots, and begin growing, they will greatly benefit from the rich fertilizer created by the decomposing banana peels.

Jar of banana peels with coffee beans, indoor plant setting.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @mustloveherbs

Related Reading:

7. Make A Calcium Rich Banana Fertilizer Spray

Banana peel tea spray is good, but adding eggshells and Epsom salts makes it absolutely fantastic! To create an excellent, spray-on liquid fertilizer, combine the following in your blender or food processor:

  • Three crushed, dried, ground-up eggshells
  • Four dried, ground-up banana peels
  • One tablespoon of Epsom salts
  • One quart of water

Blend or process on “high.” The mixture is ready when all of the ingredients are thoroughly dissolved in the water. Decant the concoction into a one-quart spray bottle for use as a foliar fertilizer.

8. Trap Insects!

Chop up banana peels and place them in a plastic container with a lid. Large yogurt tubs, margarine tubs, and the like are good candidates for this task.

Cover the banana peel with apple cider vinegar and place the lid on the tub. Punch holes in the lid large enough for flies to get in (you may want to do this before placing the lid on the tub!)

Flies and other garden undesirables will be attracted to the scent of banana peel and vinegar. They will enter through the holes and drown in the liquid. While this contraption will certainly not trap every fly in your garden, it will help you do away with quite a few.

Bottles of liquid & sliced fruit, nature backdrop.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @dragongarden_mv

9. Ferment Your Banana Peels

A fermented banana peel slurry makes an excellent side dressing and nutrient boost for blooming plants. As a fermented banana peel fertilizer, this concoction helps encourage bigger and better blooms.

Place a few banana peels into a mason jar and add water to create a fermented banana peel slurry.

Put a weight on top of the skins so that they stay submerged. Cover the jar with a cloth and use a rubber band to keep it in place.

Leave the jar sitting at a comfortable room temperature in dim light for about a week. This will allow beneficial bacteria to release the nutrients contained in the banana peel.

Drain the peels at the end of the week, saving the water to use as a liquid fertilizer.

Put the peels into your blender and purée them. Use the resulting slurry as a side dressing for blossoming plants.

Note that if your concoction smells very bad or shows evidence of black mold, you should not use it.

10. Feed Your Blueberries Banana Vinegar!

Blueberries and other acid-loving plants will enjoy a treat of banana vinegar. To make this nourishing amendment, begin by fermenting banana peels as described above.

At the end of the week, leave it in the jar instead of using the water as liquid fertilizer. Put a lid on the jar and wait 4 to 6 weeks for the banana water to ferment and become vinegar.

You will know your task is complete when your concoction smells like vinegar. If it smells very strong, be sure to dilute it to avoid burning your plants.

11. Using Banana Peels To Feed Your “Air Plants” Like Staghorns

Epiphytic perennials like Elk Horn and Staghorn ferns do not grow in soil. They derive all of their nourishment from the air around them.

Spraying them with your foliar fertilizer is a great way to provide them with a boost of nutrients for stellar growth.

12. Set Your Air Plant On A Banana Peel

When establishing an air plant on its backboard or trunk, use banana peels as its base. Cover it with moss and set the plant over it. As the banana peel decays, its nutrients will be released for the benefit of your fern.

Jars with plant cuttings rooting in water.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @watch.mygardengrow

Steps To Take To Dry Banana Peels

If you have a food dehydrator, simply follow the recipe instructions to make dried banana peels. Otherwise, you can dry them in the oven at a very low temperature (140°).

Cut them up into small pieces or leave them whole, as you wish.

You should leave the door of the oven open just a bit to allow good air circulation.

Don’t wander off! Stay around and keep an eye on your peels so you can remove them when thoroughly dry.

Save Your Bananas & Their Peels!

If you would like to save up your banana peels and process them all at once, you can keep them in a plastic bag in the freezer until you are ready to soak them, chop them, and/or dry them.

In fact, you can keep whole bananas in the freezer for use in smoothies and cooking. Doing this enables you to take advantage of ripe bananas on sale – a practice that is sure to add to the nutritional value of your diet and that of your plants!

However, remember that banana peels are rotting organic matter and can attract pests such as fungus gnats, fruit flies, and even cockroaches. You can prevent this by applying food-grade Diatomaceous Earth to the soil.

Remember, using banana skins for plants is a simple and effective technique to promote their growth and overall health.

Whether you choose to place the banana peels directly in the soil as a slow-release fertilizer or create a nutrient-rich banana peel tea, you’ll be providing your plants with a natural and eco-friendly source of nourishment.

So, the next time you snack on a banana, don’t throw away the peel! Give your plants some extra love by incorporating banana skins into your gardening routine.

Your plants will be happier and healthier, displaying lush foliage and vibrant blooms as a result.

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