How to use banana as fertilizer is invaluable, especially if you’re thinking or asking how do you use banana peels as fertilizer to enrich your soil.
There are at least five ways we have listed in this article, and each of them will involve the use of banana peels in one form or another. Keep reading as we will show you the right ways of using them.
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How To Use Banana as Fertilizer in the Right Ways?
To use bananas as fertilizers the right way, you can use the peels in your soil, or try to make it a compost with it. In addition, you can also prepare tea with the peels, or turn it into a slurry of fertilizers, lastly, you can ferment and use it.
Bananas are wonderful sources of nutrients that can be used to fertilize the soil. Bananas contain high levels of potassium, phosphorus, and calcium. These are essential nutrients that encourage healthy plant growth, which is why feeding your plant with it is a great choice.
– Applying the Used Banana Peels
This is the most straightforward way to utilize used peels. First, you’ll need to collect your banana peel. Once you have it, cut it up into small pieces—the smaller, the better, so this is because the tiny size will ensure quicker decomposition.
Next, spread the peels on the soil around your plants; alternatively, you can bury the peels in the soil, and this would also be helpful to the soil. As they start to decompose, they will release nutrients into the ground and feed your plants through their roots.
Water the area where you placed the peels. Water will help the decomposition process go faster. You would need to repeat this process depending on how many peels you have, so note that as long as the peels are there, you’re bound to have healthier plants soon.
– Turn It to Compost
Remember that you should never throw away your used banana peel again, as it is a great addition to compost piles. A banana peel decomposes easily, releasing vital nutrients into the soil.
What you should do is get one or more peels from bananas, and make sure that you cut them up into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, the faster they decompose; this is why the size is important. Add organic materials, such as dried leaves, yard waste, and kitchen scraps, to the peels.
Mix all the ingredients together in your compost pile, and ensure that you add some water to keep the mix moist but not wet. Every few weeks, turn the compost to introduce air, which enhances the decomposition process.
Depending on the materials used, everything can take several weeks or months to break down. You simply can tell if your compost is ready when it turns into rich dark soil with a crumbly texture.
Once it is ready, you can use your compost, and now you can spread it directly on top of your soil, or mix it into the soil in a thorough way. As you water the soil, the compost will slowly release its nutrients and feed your plants.
– Preparing Peel Tea
While it sounds like something we can drink, this is actually a tea more suitable for plants. Tea made from banana peel contains a lot of essential nutrients that encourage healthy plant growth. Collect several banana peels, so now you should make sure to remove all stickers and other non-compostable materials that may still be attached to each banana peel.
Cut up the peels into small pieces, because the chopped banana peel bits are then placed into a container or bucket, and make sure that you add water to the bucket with the pieces of banana peel. Note that the ratio should be roughly 1:5, so you should add five cups of water for every cup of peel. Now that you have this banana water mixture allow it to steep for a couple of days.
The given allows the nutrients inside the peels to leach out into the water, but again, depending on the temperature and humidity, the length of time can vary. Normally, it takes about three to five days for the peel mixture to turn into a liquid banana peel fertilizer.
Once enough time has passed, strain the mixture to remove the peels, as you should use a strainer or a cheesecloth for this step. The remaining liquid will be considered a concentrated form of liquid peel fertilizer.
Discard the strained peels; now you can place them directly on the soil, bury them, or throw them into your compost. Set aside the tea you have made from your banana peel water until you’re ready to use it. To use this liquid banana peel fertilizer, simply dilute it with a ratio of 1:10, so this means for every cup of tea, add 10 cups of water. However, if you prefer to use it at full strength, simply apply it directly on the soil around your plants.
– Turning it to Slurry Fertilizers
This is a thicker version of the tea made from the peels of used bananas; remember that this approach is different because it is more potent than tea. Collect every banana peel you can find, ranging from ripe ones to peels starting to turn brown or black. Remove stickers and non-compostable items from each banana peel. Once you have these, chop them up into small pieces.
At this point, you’ll need to prepare some water, as well as a blender. The peel-to-water ratio should be about 1:5, which is why you must prepare for every cup of peel five cups of water. Now, Place the mixture of peels and water into your blender and press the button on your blender to ensure the mixture is smooth and consistent, which should be similar to a smoothie.
If you see any solids, continue to blend until the solids are ground into fine particles. Alternatively, you can pick them up and discard the solid pieces if you’re pressed for time. Similar to the tea, set this mixture aside for several days.
Once the mixture is ready, apply diluted solutions as a regular part of your fertilizing activity. If you want a stronger solution, you can use it at full strength. Simply apply the peel fertilizer slurry directly on the soil around your plants.
– Fermenting Them
This mixture is ideal for plants that love acidic fertilizers. These include such plants as tomatoes, blueberries, and even apples in case you’re wondering which plants like banana peels.
Add enough water to cover the peels inside the container; note that add a tablespoon of sugar for every cup of water. The sugar will act as a food source for the bacteria in the mixture, and the bacteria will turn the mixture into vinegar by converting the sugar into acetic acid.
Adding sugar also helps regulate the pH level of the mixture. Since the bacteria that produce vinegar thrive in an acidic environment, sugar lowers the pH and creates the best environment for the bacteria to live.
Once the sugar has been mixed in with the peels, cover the jar, so now you can use a paper towel or a breathable cloth cover. This will let air to circulate while keeping out insects and debris. Secure the cover with some strong rubber bands, and you can allow the mixture to ferment for about two weeks, because this will give the bacteria inside the mixture enough time to turn it into vinegar.
Once the time has passed, take off the cover. Strain the mixture to remove any solids or banana peel pulp. Discard the solids or pulp safely. Alternatively, you can place these in your compost. Set aside the vinegar created from fermented banana water, now, this will serve as your concentrated liquid banana peel plant food.
To use this concentrated liquid organic fertilizer regularly, dilute it with water. The ratio should be one cup of this vinegar to 10 cups of water, but avoid using it at full strength since the acidity may cause damage to the plants.
Even though, you can also use this diluted solution for plants with potassium deficiency. You can tell when a plant lacks potassium if it has yellow leaves, stunted growth, weak stems, and poor flower or fruit quality.
Conclusion
You’ll never see banana peels the same way again, especially now that you know how to use them as fertilizers. Let’s take a quick recap of what we’ve learned so far:
- Banana peels contain potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and nitrogen, which are all essential for healthy plant growth.
- Cut banana peels can be directly placed on top of, buried in the soil, or added to compost to release nutrients.
- You can make tea, slurry, and vinegar from chopped banana peels.
Plants grow better when supplemented with these products made from the peels of bananas. Which ones are you excited to try?
