Soaking Banana Peels In Water Will Help Your Garden Flourish
Louise Peralta
Banana peels aren’t just used for slapstick comedy, folks. Apparently, bananas can be used for your garden!
Disposing of food waste is a problem we’ve always had. So far, we’ve found ways to reuse coffee grounds, tea bags, orange peels, and many more items in our homes. Some people already use their banana peels as fertilizers for their gardens, but simply dumping them in the soil might cause some fly problems.
Luckily, there’s a low-effort alternative so that you will still be able to use your banana peels!
All you need is a cup, water, and your banana peel. Scale it up if you have lots of banana peels and lots of plants. There’s no need to go crazy with the amount though because you’ll only need to feed this banana water fertilizer to your plants once a week.
So just gather your peels and put them in your cup or bowl, pour some water into the container, and let it sit for at least an hour. The longer the better, according to the original poster of the video below. Also, chopping up the peels isn’t a requirement, but breaking them down into smaller pieces allows them to break down faster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj8PAWi3N5I
Now I’ve said that you don’t have to make a big batch of banana water, but you totally can! As long as you have proper storage that won’t invite insects (especially mosquitoes) into your garden and stink up your place, then go for it!
Although there’s no scientific research about banana water as fertilizer, commenters on the above video say that it works wonderfully, and gardeners have been known to use this ‘hack’ even before it went viral. (My dad has been doing this for years now actually, so maybe the sudden boom of plant parents contributed to the virality of this banana hack.)
Anyway, according to OP, soaking banana peels enables them to release their nutrients into the water. Bananas are rich in potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, and all of these nutrients can stimulate and benefit your plant’s growth and also help strengthen their stems.
For those of you who have an organic garden, make sure that you also use organic bananas to avoid introducing synthetic pesticides to your soil.
The video poster said that soaking the peels for longer is better– you can actually steep the peels for up to a month for maximum release of nutrients. The peels and water are going to darken, and there might be a slight odor if you choose to do this, but that’s totally normal.
Once your banana water fertilizer is done soaking, just strain out the solids, and you’re finally ready to water your plants! Throw the used peels into your compost for even more fertilizer!
Some of the comments in the Youtube video above approved this hack:
“It works! I just put the banana peels in the soil with my roses and voila! My roses flourish!!!!”
“I've done this for my praying Palm, and it has worked wonders; thank you.”
“Plants: I'm so lucky living in this guy's house.”
Armen Adamjan, otherwise known as "creative explained," also posted a video about other uses for banana peels. Check it out down below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoXCNgCms_I
