Never throw away banana peels as they have ‘secret’ garden use

Bananas are the most popular fruit in the UK, and on average we eat about 10kg, or 100 bananas, every year. With so many bananas being eaten in households across the country, it seems a shame to not use them to their full potential.

Most people know bananas are packed with potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6 and other nutrients. They are good for your digestive system and also your heart health. But it turns out they are also good for the plants in your garden if you know how to use them properly.

Online content creator @peymak, who often posts garden advice on TikTok, recently urged people not to throw away their banana peels, as they are a “secret plant booster”. In the caption of the clip, she continued: “Don’t toss ’em, turn them into fertiliser magic. Your garden will thank you!”

In the video, she urged: “Don’t throw away your banana peels. Use them as fertiliser.” She added that they are “rich in potassium”. According to PlantIn, banana peels contain essential nutrients for plant growth, such as magnesium, phosphorus and calcium.

The content creator recommends soaking the banana peels in water for over 24 hours, before using them on your plants outside. “Your plants will thank you later,” she added.

Hundreds of people took to TikTok to comment on the tip, with one person writing: “Such a good tip!!! I did this last year in our garden!” Another added: “How neat is this!!! so good to know!!!”

Meanwhile, Leanne Samuelson from Prestige Botanicals, has said you can make a homemade fertiliser at home with a few more ingredients.

She said: “All you need is a banana, an egg, and a cup of coffee. These breakfast scraps are a slow-release fertiliser, pest deterrent, and soil booster, all rolled into one.

“I pop my banana peels, crushed eggshells, and coffee grounds into a big zip-lock bag. I then stash it in an opaque bag in the bottom drawer of my fridge. When I’m ready, I mix them into the garden soil, and my plants thrive.”

Homes & Gardens’ Head of Gardens, Beth Murton, also commends the method. She said: “Banana peels contain lots of potassium, which is one of the three main macronutrients that plants need, and also phosphorus. However, they do not contain nitrogen.

“That makes them a good fertilizer for specific circumstances. Potassium encourages both fruiting and flowers, so that makes banana peels a great fertilizer for fruit and vegetables like tomatoes or peppers, or any flowering ornamental plants.

“Bananas also contain calcium, which is a vital nutrient in combating blossom end rot in tomatoes.”

It’s important to remember banana peel fertiliser will work better on some plants than others. For example, it works well on banana trees, roses, tomatoes and Staghorn fern. However, it isn’t high in nitrogren so it won’t be enough to help all plants grow to their best potential, so you may also have to invest in fertiliser.