You just finished eating a banana for breakfast, or maybe you mixed up the batter for a batch of banana bread, and now you’re left with the peels. The skin of bananas is edible, but perhaps the banana peel bacon that went viral in 2021 isn’t your thing.
You may have heard you can use the outer covering of banana peels as fertilizer for houseplants. Supposedly, soaking the peels in the water you’ll pour into the pots or burying pieces in the soil will provide the nutrients your plants need to grow. While there’s some truth to these ideas, here’s why using either of these methods isn’t your best bet and what to do instead.
Banana Peels for Plants
Like any plant material, banana peels contain nutrients, including potassium and phosphorous, essential nutrients in fertilizer. However, unless the peels are dried, they’re mainly composed of water (over 80%), which means the amount of nutrients they have compared to regular fertilizer is pretty low. So fresh or dried, soaking the peels won’t add significant nutrients to the water.
Burying a banana peel in your potting soil also adds nutrients. However, the peels will break down so slowly that they likely won’t provide adequate nutrients when your plants need them. Another downside to banana peels as fertilizer is that rotting organic matter can attract pests such as fruit flies, fungus gnats, and even cockroaches.
While you’re better off using a store-bought fertilizer for your houseplants, you can still put banana peels to use in your garden. Toss the peels into your compost bin like any other fruit or food scraps. They’ll decompose without attracting pests to your houseplants and help make rich compost you can add to your garden.
Use a commercially packaged fertilizer if you need to add more nutrients to keep your houseplants happy. Look for a houseplant fertilizer with balanced nutrients (equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium). These will add more nutrients and work quicker than using banana peel as fertilizer, even if you soak it or dry it first. Plus, you’ll know exactly what you’re adding to your soil when you follow the label directions.