Banana peels as fertiliser?

Hello Permies!

I’m brand-spanking new here, this is my first post! Hope it’s in the right place! :)

I’ve searched the archives to see if anyone’s actually tested the whole banana skin fertiliser teks that are all over the web but didn’t find much reference... there seem to be 101 pages saying how great it works but not much in the way of trials /tests and i’ve also seen some dismissing it completely as rubbish.... so yeah, just wondered if anyone out there had tried banana-peel based fertiliser and how it worked for them?

Thanks!
💓
.:Kat:.

Hi Kat, welcome to Permies!

I can’t speak from personal experience about banana peels as I am allergic to them, but I am going to suggest that you go ahead and use them nonetheless.  As long as it is not toxic, composting almost anything is going to help your soil.  Personally I think the best way you can utilize the peals is to add them right on top of soil alongside your growing plants.  The peels will yield up their nutrients both to the plant and into the soil itself.  In fact, the greatest benefit will likely be to conditioning the soil as opposed to feeding the plants directly.  In the past 18 months I have learned to appreciate just how important the biology in the soil is to healthy plants.  By having a rotting peel on the soil, you will be feeding that soil biology that in turn will nurture your plants.

This is simply a very brief overview of what Permies is all about.  If I can help further, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Eric

I tried burying the banana peels.  A few months later when I went to plants some seeds I found that the banana peels had not decomposed and were still whole.

That was my last attempt.

I don't compost though to me this seems like a better way to use them.

Or use them for compost tea.

I throw them in with my red wigglers.  They're the Cadillac of worms, so they make it into great vermicompost.  

Who knew WKRP in Cincinnati was so educational?

My wild ass guess is that they would break down on the surface, under some mulch.  Not sure how deep Anne buried them, but her experience does give me pause.

Try it and get back to us at the end of the season.  

I buried them with my coffee grounds.  I dig a hole about 5" deep and put put the banana peel at the bottom with the coffee grounds on top.

I've had good results with stuff decaying on the surface under mulch.  I know around here there's not much activity 5" down compared to the top 1/2".

Thank you everyone for your replies! ^_^


Eric Hanson: Thanks for the welcome!  <3 Yes I've been learning about the soil food web too! - Have you seen any of Dr. Elaine Ingham's talks? They really opened my eyes!


Timothy Markus: My wormies seem to love them too, but as my bin is still new we produce more than they can eat so far, so I've been researching the fertilising teks...

So far I've just started using a water banana skin tea type solution as well as drying the skins and adding them as a ground up powder to add for more long-term/slow-release nourishment, but yeah, was really curious to see if anyone else out there was using them at all or whether I'd been duped by some internet equivalent of an old wive's tale! XD

I'm looking forward to pouring through some of the other topics on here... - I've been learning about P/C for almost a year now and this forum often came up in my results but only now I've been brave enough to join! XD

Cheers all!
<3
.:Kat:..