By Spy Uganda
You know all those banana peels you’ve been throwing away? Well, there are actually some useful ways to reuse those soft shells!
If you live in a banana eating household you probably throw dozen of these away every couple of weeks. Stop wasting the banana peels and start using them to help boost your garden’s health and nutrients. It’s easy, free and something you do year-round.
Here are some of the best uses:
1. As a Spray-On Fertilizer
It’s pretty much a banana peel spray but with an added kick. Use eggshells for a calcium boost and Epsom salt for magnesium, then put it all in a spray bottle and use it to give your well-established garden and house plants a little vitamin boost when needed.
2. Banana Peel Tea
You should take your old banana peel, stick it in a jar filled with water for two days, and then pour it over your plants. The nutrients from this ‘tea’ invigorate your plants and give them the added boost.
3. Encourage Blooming In Plants
Banana peels are rich in potassium. potassium is essential for plants to grow and bloom. It also makes it easier for the plants to absorb nutrients and water from the soil and to transfer them between the cells. Moreover, it helps the plants to develop resistance against diseases.
4. Fortify Your Soil
As we mentioned, banana peels are a great choice to improve the quality of your garden soil. All you need to do is to plant some banana peels in your garden. Dig a few small deep holes, fill them with banana peels and cover them. They will start to decompose releasing vital nutrients such as iron, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus into the soil.
5. Make A Fruit Fly Trap
Getting rid of flies can be a challenging task. However, banana peels will make it easy. They are perfect for getting rid of flies in a non-toxic way. All it takes is that you cut some banana peels, put them in a container and add some apple cider vinegar. Take the container and place it in your garden. This solution will attract fruits flies and will kill them.
6. Aphid Control
This is one of the best banana peel uses in gardens. If you have some plants infected with Aphid, you can use banana peels to heal it. It is not proven yet but expert gardeners argue that many pests especially Aphid hate the smell of banana peels. Thus, once you place them over the infected plant, they will be gone.
7. Add To Compost
Often, banana peels are what sparks the idea for a compost pile for people. Start with your banana peels then start adding all your other scraps to create some super-rich compost.
8. Attract Butterflies And Birds
If you want to attract some life to your garden, you can use banana peels for this purpose. This idea is one of the most creative banana peel uses in gardens. All you need to do is to put a few banana peels on any raised platform. Banana peels can attract butterflies, birds, wasps, bees, and caterpillars. Therefore, make sure to place it higher than your plants. You should remove it before sunset otherwise you may attract some invaders.
9. Feed Your Plants Banana Vinegar
Once again, while this might sound odd, this isn’t going to be something you ingest yourself. But, your acidic soil-loving plants like blueberries are going to crave this stuff.
10. Prepare Your Garden Bed
If you are planning on growing some veggies in a raised bed, you should definitely amend the soil you are going to use with banana peels. They are great fertilizers and they contain the nutrients your soil need. Cut them into pieces and mix your soil with them.
11. Fertilize Tomato Plants
Tomatoes are heavy feeders and they need to be fertilized heavily. There are many good tomato fertilizers but the best one is banana peels. They contain potassium, iron, and calcium. Thus, they will provide your plants with many nutrients.
12 Feed Your Seedlings
If you want your seedling to grow healthy and develop strong roots, you should definitely add some banana peels to the soil. Just chop them into tiny pieces and place them on top of the soil. They will provide your plants with the nutrients that will them grow and thrive.
