Most of us toss our banana peels into the garbage without a second thought. But there are actually a lot of different ways that you can reuse your banana peel. I didn’t know about any of these either, but my mind is blown away by the versatility of the humble banana peel. And they’re all great ideas for helping your plants grow. So, next time you snack on a banana, stop before throwing the banana peel into the trash. There might be something that you can use it for around your home or garden.
And below, are some of their many uses:
1. Spray-On Fertilizer
Gather up your banana peels, some eggshells for calcium, some Epsom salt for magnesium, and mix them all together in a spray bottle. This mix can be used in your garden or your home in order to give your plants a little vitamin boost.
2. Banana Peel “Tea”
Stick your banana peel in a water-filled jar for two days then water your plants with it. The nutrients will help to invigorate your plants with an added boost of nutrition.
3. Encourage Plants to Bloom
Everyone knows that bananas are rich in potassium, so it stands to reason that so are the peels. And this potassium can help plants to grow and bloom. Additionally, it helps plants to absorb nutrients, as well as water from the soil. This allows them to develop resistance against diseases.
4. Fortify the Soil
This one is so easy, all you do is dig a few small but deep holes in your garden, fill them with banana peels and cover them. As they begin to decompose, the peels will release vital nutrients like iron, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus into the soil.
5. Create a Fruit Fly Trap
Fruit flies are annoying and pesky little buggers. But coming up with a non-toxic way of trapping them is possible thanks to banana peels. Chop up some banana peels and place them in a container with some apple cider vinegar. Place the container in your home or garden where you want to get rid of fruit flies and watch as the solution takes care of your fruit fly problem.
6. Aphid Control
There isn’t much scientific reasoning for this one, but many seasoned gardeners swear by this trick to getting rid of aphids without using pesticides. All you do is place banana peels on the affected plants and supposedly the aphids hate the smell of banana peels and will leave your plants alone. Again, can’t be scientifically proven but many gardeners will swear by this trick.
7. Add to Compost
If you’re wanting to create some nutrient-rich compost at home, make sure that banana peels are part of yours.
8. Attract Butterflies and Birds
Apparently, banana peels can attract butterflies, birds, wasps, bees, and caterpillars. So, you can use them to get some insect life into your garden. However, you might want to remove them at night to avoid attracting other critters into your garden.
9. Banana Vinegar
Mixing banana peels with vinegar sounds gross, but apparently, plants that love acidic soil – such as blueberries – absolutely love this solution.
10. Prepare Your Garden Bed
If you are planning on growing vegetables in a raised bed, then preparing the soil with banana peels is a good idea. You can add them to the compost and fertilizer mix to create nutrient-rich soil that your plants will love.
11. Fertilize Tomato Plants
Tomatoes require heavy fertilization. And nothing does it better for these plants than banana peels, given that they contain potassium, iron, and calcium. Your tomatoes will absolutely love this!
12 Feed Your Seedlings
If you have seedlings and you want to see them grow up big and strong then feed them banana peels. Just add them to the soil as tiny bits and mix them into the topsoil. It’ll help the seedling grow up strong and thrive.