Banana peels make a great liquid homemade fertilizer to provide essential nutrients to our potassium-loving plants. But sometimes you just need a shelf-stable option, and it’s tempting just to go to the store and get something that fits the bill. Instead, make this version of homemade fertilizer that you can keep on your shelf for a couple of months, ready to use!
Homemade Fertilizers Are Fun to Make!
It’s a hobby of mine to find ways to stretch our dollars buy using zero-waste ideas to accomplish a goal. Finding one more way to use kitchen scraps before they go into the compost can be kind of like a game for me. I’ve made a delicious syrup from strawberry tops that I can use to flavor my homemade kombucha. I’ve also made fantastic croutons from my stale bread.
Homemade fertilizers made from things I’d normally throw away (or compost) are a fun way to stretch dollars, and garden organically. Of course, whatever I put into the fertilizer should be organic, so in this case, it will be just the banana peels.
Use Organic Bananas for This Homemade Fertilizer
Your best bet for avoiding toxins will be to use organic banana peels. According to an article on the Environmental Working Group website, banana-growing methods are pretty pesticide heavy.
The reason for this is because bananas are grown in monocultures, which means that’s all they grow, and they do it over and over on the same land.
This creates a situation where the banana plants are quite vulnerable to pests and disease, therefore, there is a need for using plenty of pesticide. This is the reason that gardening books recommend rotating crops in your garden.
Potassium Facts
Most plants need a certain amount of these top three macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Some plants are more needful of nitrogen, while others are more needful of phosphorus, and still others need a higher level of potassium.
Potassium helps your plants move water and nutrients between cells. It strengthens the stems of your plants and protects them from disease. It is used to help the flowering process and is thought to be able to improve the quality of the fruit of your plants.
At 42% potassium, banana peels are a fantastic source. They are one of the highest organic potassium sources, and is loads higher in potassium than even wood ash. They do not contain nitrogen, which makes using this fertilizer for tomatoes and peppers a perfect choice because they both have a low nitrogen need.
Banana peels also contain calcium, which helps plants take up more nitrogen, which some potassium loving plants need. They also contain manganese, which helps with photosynthesis; sodium, which helps movement of water between cells; and magnesium and sulfur, both of which are helpful in the formation of chlorophyll.
NOTE: Banana peels can be buried whole near potassium-loving plants, if there will be no issue with creatures digging them up. However, whenever there is something to break down in the garden, nitrogen is depleted. If your plants have a good source of nitrogen already, then there is no problem burying a banana peel.
How to Make Dry Homemade Fertilizer from Banana Peels
This homemade fertilizer is pretty easy if your family eats a lot of bananas every week. Our family eats quite a few , so we always have them on hand. To dry them doesn’t take a whole lot. You can use a dehydrator if it’s cold out, but if it’s warm, you can put them in the morning sun with afternoon shade until they are dried and crunchy feeling.
This is what they look like after they are dried. I forgot to take the stickers off, but I’m glad because it reminds me to tell you again that if you are putting this fertilizer into your organic vegetable garden, you’ll want to make sure you are buying organic bananas for this project. I know I said that before. Call me someone’s mom, but there it is.
If you aren’t specifically organic in your gardening, then it’s no worries. There is still plenty of lovely potassium to be had in non-organic peels.
Once they are dry, bring them indoors and cut them with some kitchen shears into half- to one-inch squares. This makes the pieces small enough for any size blender (here’s a better version of a bullet blender pictured below–mine is really old).
Whirl them around until they are almost the consistency of coarse pepper. There will still be a few little stringy bits in there, but that’s alright.
Each dried banana peel makes 1-2 Tbsp. of fertilizer, depending on the size of the peel. It’s common practice to bury a banana peel near the roots of a potassium-loving plant, so it’s safe to say that 1-2 Tbsp. of this fertilizer around your potassium loving plants will be enough.
Use as often as you would use any other fertilizer for your potassium-loving plants, but since this one is mostly potassium, you will want to find out if the plant you are fertilizing has any nitrogen or phosphorus needs as well, and fertilize accordingly.
Looking for a liquid version of this banana peel fertilizer? Here you go.
I just make the tea fertilizer everything else get directly added to the soil. Love this though I may have to give it a try. I could dry them in the garden pretty quick as the temps are spiking here. Great idea!
It’s so easy to make and with the heat we have in the summer, the peels dry pretty quickly. What I really like about the dry version of this fertilizer is that it will keep much longer than the wet version. It’s just easy. I hope it works for you!
Great idea! I like how you are using things from your own household to add back to the garden. Thank you for joining us this week on The Maple Hill Hop!
Thanks Daisy!
What a great idea. It’s the most organic form you can have! #heymomma
I agree! And it keeps, which is great! 🙂
Your posts are so interesting!! I am an amateur vegetable gardener and these things are way beyond my scope, but I am learning so much from you!! Thank you!! And thanks so much for linking up with #heymomma! Hope you come by again on Monday! :))
Thank you, Casey! You know, I’ve been gardening for over 10 years and I STILL feel like an amateur vegetable gardener! I’m glad you are learning something from my posts, though, that makes me feel good to know. 🙂
I’ll definitely be there on Monday, btw! 🙂
Congrats! You had the most viewed post on the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop last week and will be this week’s feature! Thank you so much for sharing. I can’t wait to see what you bring this week.
Oh yay, what an honor! Thanks Mindie!
What a smart idea! saw you on the link party and thought this was so cool. I grew up on a farm and my father used rotten apples mixed with something for fertilizer, it smelled awful…lol
Thanks
Maria
http://www.simplenaturedecorblog.com
Oh, ha ha! I wonder what it was? Rotten apples still smell not-so-bad! Thanks for stopping by, Maria!
I like using every thing I can from the kitchen in the garden.
Thanks for linking up at the Homestead Blog Hop. Hope to see you again this week.
I know! I have read your blog before and noticed that you are into that too. It’s great to be able to use our trash to accomplish goals and benefit our homestead even further.
Another great post! I just got rid of a bunch of banana peels, but not any more…you’ve convinced me to re-purpose them. Thanks for stopping by Front Porch Friday, we’re featuring your post this week.
Awesome, Shelle! I’m glad you are able to use the info! 😀
Hey Kristi! I love how you’re drying them out to preserve them for long term use, awesome! I might just go dumpster dive 100 bunches and use this to stock up on potassium LOL. I’ve always just added the peals and let the worms do the break down work, but I love this method. Nice one!
Ha ha, great idea, James! Why not?
What a great idea! I have some of your banana peel fertilizer brewing right now…I’ll have to try this next!
Thanks for linking up with Green Thumb Thursday. I hope to see you back this week!
Lisa
Hi I was wondering do the peels stink after there dried? I gotta know as I can’t do the wet version as bananas are the most disgusting smell on God’s green earth…in other words if they smell after being dried I gotta not take this on as I will hurl if they still smell of bananas. Thanks
Not really? I mean there is some banana smell, but NOT like the wet version. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, Neil. 🙂
Hi Kristi, I like your idea.As i live in india i can dry peels easely.I will try it.
I’m glad you could use the information, Asha!
Could you dry them in an electric dehydrator?
I would definitely think so, Angelina! 🙂
Interesting. Didn’t think to stringify them like that in a blender. I do it a little differently. I cut the peels up into little squares after eating the banana and put them in my dehydrator. That way I have little banana ‘potassium pellets’ which I can drop on my plants in the yard.
Oh–neat idea Janet!