Best Method to use Banana Peel in Garden- 100% tested


The Internet is filled with videos of Banana Peel liquid fertilizers. This made me curious- Is it really good for my plants?  That’s why I decided to try and test all the variants of Banana peel fertilizers on my plant. I know banana peel is rich in nutrients. The way of using these as fertilizer is something that makes the difference. I have found tons of methods to use the banana peel, some are good while others are just hoax.

The Best Method to use the banana peel in the garden is the dry powder form. This is a fast and effective way to make banana peel useful for plants. Drying preserves the nutrients and reduces the chance for any fungal attack. I have concluded this result after several trial and error attempts. Keep reading for complete details.

Method to use Banana Peel
Best Method to use Banana Peel in Garden

I started my Research with a very basic question. Also, check out my previous post- 15 Traditional Italian Flowers: You can easily Grow

Is banana Peel fertilizer really works?

Yes, It does. Banana peel fertilizer can really make the difference to the plants but only if you use it correctly. During my research, I first read and then tried this to confirm. Believe me, there are tons of incorrect, incomplete information available online, trust only after a successful trial.

Banana peel contains nearly 0% nitrogen, 3-4% Phosphorus, and 42-46% Potassium. Other than that there are traces of Calcium, Iron, Manganese, and a lot of sugar. All these nutrients except sugar are essential for every plant.

Now with these details, you may think Banana peel fertilizer is great for your plant. At first, I also think so, but there is a problem. How to use it effectively? This gives rise to my next question.

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How to make a Banana peel useful for the plants?

Obviously, your plants can’t eat the peels. They need just the soluble nutrients to reach the root system. I have come across many variants of banana peel fertilizers. Three of them were prominent and others are just the combination of one or two.

These methods are:-

  1. Banana Peel liquid fertilizer
  2. Decomposed Banana Peel
  3. Dried Banana Peel powder

Trust me all of these variants work but they have their own Pros and Cons. The real question is whether they are helpful to your plants or not? Keep reading for the details.

Read this: –Is Banana a Herb or a Tree? Interesting garden facts

How to Make Banana Peel Liquid Fertilizer?

This is easy and really the fastest way to use the banana peel in your garden. Follow my way of doing this.

  1. Buy some Bananas eat the fruit and Take the peels.
  2. Cut the Peels into small pieces or just blend it if you want.
  3. Pour everything in a Jar or a Bucket, depending on the quantity you prepare.
  4. Add 4-5 l or 1 gallon of clean water. Don’t use chemically treated or chlorinated water.
  5. Mix and leave everything in a cool dry place for 3-4 days.
  6. That’s it, within 5 days your liquid fertilizer is ready to use. Meanwhile, you should mix everything using a stick every day. This will help the particles to break and release the nutrients.
  7.  Strain and dilute the solution with more water before use. Make 50% or less concentration for smaller plants.

Isn’t it simple? This method is simple, fast, and really useful. But there are some severe drawbacks of using Banana peel liquid fertilizer.

Harmful effects of using Banana Peel liquid fertilizer

Being a gardener and a plant lover, I would never suggest using This Banana peel liquid fertilizer for container plants. Many of you may disagree with me and trust me I was also not sure about this at first. Then I decided to try it and then discuss the true details.

What is the problem with banana peel liquid fertilizer?– This liquid fertilizer is simply not balanced for plant growth, especially for the young ones. You should always think about the safety of your plants above the nutrient value of the fertilizer. Why? Becoz…

  1. It contains a very low amount of Nitrogen and a relatively high concentration of Potassium. Both of these can be deadly for seedlings. Lack of nitrogen will reduce vegetative growth and an increased level of potassium will force the plant to develop premature flowers and fruits.
  2. This liquid will contain a high concentration of dissolved sugar. Sugar is of no use for plants but can attract lots of insects like ants, mealybugs, gnats, aphids, nematodes, and Caterpillars. The insect and fungus is the main problem for plants in containers.
  3. The banana peel liquid fertilizer can burn the soft green leaves and stems. The amount of sugar and potassium is responsible for this problem.

Overall, the banana peel liquid fertilizer is not good for your plants. It is not safe and healthy, even if you do everything correctly. I have to face two severe problems after using this liquid fertilizer in my plants.

Problems with liquid Fertilizer

  1. It reduces the growth rate. Yes, just after 1 or 2 application 3 out 5 plants nearly stops developing new leaves and branches.  The root system is growing well but the foliage growth stops drastically.
  2. Immature seedlings will start developing buds and flowers and ultimately stops growing. This forced fruiting will eventually kill most of the plants.
  3. Banana peel liquid attracts a lot of insects. The Worst problem is the severe fungal attack. You cant avoid ants, gnats, aphids, mealybugs, and powdery mildew while using this liquid fertilizer.
Rating 2 out of 5
Time Required 4-5 days
Complexity Easy to Prepare
Problems Attract Insects and increase fungal attack
Uses Never use on seedlings and foliage plants.

Nutrient concentration is good for fruit or vegetable plants but the severe fungal attack can destroy all your efforts. So Don’t use this liquid fertilizer.

To solve all these problems, I decide to try the next variant of Banana peel fertilizer- The Compost fertilizer.

How to make Banana peel Fertilizer
How to make Banana peel Fertilizer?

How to make Banana Peel Compost?

Banana peel compost is very easy to make but you will have to wait for at least 45-60 days to finish. The process of making compost from the banana peel is simple.

  1. Take some Clean Banana peel.
  2. Cut it into pieces and mix it with another biodegradable matter.
  3. Leave the mixture in a shaded place for a month or two.
  4. Meanwhile, you can turn and mix everything once in while, Maybe every 15 days.
  5. You should dry the finished product and then use it in your plants.

Advantage of Banana peel Compost over Liquid Fertilizer

  1. Well, aged compost is always better than liquid banana peel fertilizer. It will release the nutrients slowly and feed the plants for a longer duration.
  2. Well prepared Banana peel compost does not attract any insect. It is also less prone to fungal attacks.
  3. The need for nitrogen can be fulfilled by preparing banana peel compost with other organic matter. This is a drawback with liquid fertilizer made with banana peels.

The disadvantage of Banana peel Compost

  1. The banana peel compost may take more than 2-3 months to prepare. Time is a major drawback for composting Banana peels.
  2. You may need maybe 100 banana peels to prepare compost for a single plant. This is a very low quantity.
  3. Again the lack of Nitrogen is another problem especially for seedlings and foliage plants.

Despite all these disadvantages, you should only use compost instead of liquid Banana peel fertilizer. The Banana peel compost is way better than the liquid variant. In fact, the problem of fungal attack reduces to 15% within the first week of usages.

4 out of 5 plants grow well. I use a little bit of cow dung compost to balance the need for nitrates.  Overall, the Banana peel compost is good for flowering or fruiting plants. You can use this compost for your vegetable plants. Just avoid any use especially for foliage plants or tiny seedlings.

Rating 3 out of 5
Time Required 45-60 days
Complexity Easy to Prepare but time taking
Problems Attract fewer Insects than liquid fertilizer. Can increase fungal attack.
 Uses Can use on seedlings and foliage plants but with precaution. Lower the concentration to 1/2 or even 1/4th.

Good for mature flowering plants and Fruits Trees.

Now, let’s check out the third variant of Banana peel fertilizer- The Dry Powdered peel.

How to make the Dry Powder Banana peel fertilizer?

This method is pretty simple. You just have to cut the peels into small pieces and dry in full sun. This method needs only 5-7 days to finish.

Dry the banana peels and after 6 or 7 days crush the dried peels to get the powder. You just need to follow three easy steps.

  1. Cut the fresh banana peels into small pieces.
  2. Dry these pieces in full sun for 5-7 days. Sometimes you may have to wait for 10 days. The time usually depends on the amount of heat and sunlight available.
  3. Simply break and crush the dried pieces to obtain the powder. The banana peel powder is the fertilizer you need.

Does Powder Banana peel fertilizer works?

Is it really work? This was my first reaction. And the Answer after 2 months of research and 3 subsequent trials is- Yes, It works.

Dry Banana peel powder is as efficient as compost. The best thing about this fertilizer is you don’t have to wait long. Maybe a few days more than preparing liquid banana peel fertilizer. But overall, this is by far the best way to use the banana peel in your garden.

Advantages of Banana Peel powder?

  1. It is really fast and effective to prepare. There is no need for any equipment or storage containers. You just need open space and full sun to prepare this fertilizer.
  2. It doesn’t attract any insects or fungus. I am surprised but even after watering the powder does not attracts ants or mealybugs or any other insect.  Even the fungal attack is reduced to 30% in comparison to compost and nearly 95% less than liquid fertilizer.
  3. The Banana peel powder is very easy to store and use. Even if it gets wet, you can easily dry it in daylight.
  4. The self-life of this fertilizer is 6-12 months which is 6 to 10 times more than liquid fertilizer and nearly twice than compost.
  5. It is very light and helps loosen the texture of the soil. The banana powder mixes well with the soil and increases the water retention capacity of the soil.

The only drawback of powder banana peel fertilizer is the scarcity of nitrogen. You can add any organic compost, manure, or used tea or coffee ground to replenish the need for nitrogen.

Rating 4 out of 5
Time Required 5-7 days
Complexity  Very Easy to Prepare
Problems Doesn’t Attract any Insects or fungal attack.

A low quantity of prepared fertilizer is a problem along with low nitrogen concentration.

Uses you can use this fertilizer on seedlings and foliage plants together with other compost. Only take care of the concentration. Keep it half or even low.

Best for Fruit, flower, and vegetable plants.

I have tested for a 25-30% increase in flowering and fruiting.

This is probably the best method to use Banana Peel in your garden.

The Dumping Method

An interesting way to use Banana peel is just by dumping the peels in the soil beds. It seems easy but there is a big problem with this method.

The decomposing banana peel will use Oxygen and consume too much nitrogen from the soil. This will create nutrient deficiency for the plants.

The decomposed peel will indeed provide nutrients to the soil but until then you cannot grow anything over it.

So in my Experience never dump any organic material like banana peel directly to the container or garden bed in use. Either you can compost it in one container or just grow anything after 30-45 days of dumping. Both these methods will allow the nutrients to enrich the soil.

Conclusion

All three variant of Banana Peel fertilizer is effective and easy to make. The only drawback is with the underline condition. The tendency to increase fungal attack is a severe problem. Fungus or Insects can be avoided by drying the peels. So I think the powder for fertilizer is the best in almost all cases.

What do you think?- What is the best method to use Banana Peel fertilizer in your garden? Do write your thoughts and suggestion in the comments below.

Keep Reading keep gardening!

Sukant

Hi, My name is Sukant. I am an I.T professional. Gardening for me is not just a hobby, it's a way of living life with nature. My Ancestors were Commercial farmers: So I personally feel attached to the green. I am not an expert, I'm here only to share my gardening experiences. It's always Refreshing.

2 thoughts on “Best Method to use Banana Peel in Garden- 100% tested

    1. You can add the banana peel powder to the soil mix or simply sprinkle 2-3 spoons twice every month over the top soil near the rootball. Don’t forget to water properly after each application.

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