Home • 01/30/2025
Why You Should Use Banana Water for Plants
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Many people have turned to gardens to grow food for their families or brighten their days. When you have so many plants to care for, you might find it challenging to give them all the individual attention they need to ensure they’re growing properly. That’s where banana water for plants comes in: You can give your garden this supplemental water to boost its growth and watch it become healthier before your eyes.
What Is Banana Water?
Gardens need fertilizer to grow properly. Typical store-bought fertilizer might hurt a plant or human’s health while keeping the pests away, so you should always stay natural when possible. Banana water for plants is a natural fertilizer you can easily make at home with your leftover banana peels.
As bananas marinate in the water, their nutrients leak into the bowl or jar. Eventually, the water will become saturated with potassium, which provides several benefits for growing plants. You can use this water to care for your garden and dump the leftover peels in the soil as another natural fertilizer.
When you buy bananas, make sure you get the organic kind. Bananas that aren’t organic are often treated with pesticides to help them grow undeterred, and you don’t want those chemicals leaching back into your garden. Your banana water for plants should be as natural as possible.
How to Make Banana Water for Plants
Banana water could be a great addition to your plants. If you have a watering schedule that helps you adhere to your plant care routine, add banana water to the rotation. Whether you choose to rotate it out or use banana water for plants whenever you water your plants, it can only benefit them.
1. Soak Your Banana Peels
After eating a banana, drop the peels you would typically discard into a large water bowl. This step is the first of a few simple pieces of your banana water for plants. Depending on the size of your bowl, you can add several banana peels. You want to pour enough water in the bowl to cover the peels completely, plus a bit extra so you have plenty of water to allow the peels to marinate.
Ensure you cover the mixture whenever you put it away. By covering the bowl of water, you can prevent mold from forming on the banana peels. You’ll want to keep your mixture covered for a few days, as this will allow the nutrients from the bananas to seep into the water. Over time, you’ll have a nutrient-dense mixture to pour onto your plants.
2. Chop the Peels
Depending on the process you follow for creating your banana water, some instructions may call for you to chop or pulverize the banana peels to release more nutrients. The water absorbs the potassium more quickly because the pieces are smaller. You can easily dice the peels in a food processor, but ensure they’re not smaller than peas. You should still have peels to put in the water.
3. Strain the Water
You’ll know your banana water for plants is ready once it darkens. Strain the banana peels out of the water. They should have turned black at this point, another telltale sign that your banana water is ready. You can add blackened banana peels to your soil as another type of fertilizer. Make the most of your compost by adding water and peels to your plants.
The Benefits of Using Banana Water for Plants
You can use your banana water for plants as-is when it’s time to fertilize your garden. You don’t need to dilute the water, as all the nutrients are ready to go. If you’re still on the fence and wondering if banana water will really benefit your plants, check out some of the boons this unique mixture can offer your garden.
1. Helps Move Nutrients
Potassium’s main job lies in how it helps plants regulate their water, which can help push nutrients through the organism. With enough water and potassium, the plant can carry out the enzymatic processes it needs to do for growth. If you want your plants to grow more efficiently, banana water is one of the best, most natural options.
2. Resistance to Drought
With enough potassium in your garden, you’ll have drought-resistant plants that can weather even the hottest days of the year. You can easily figure out if your plants need more potassium by looking at their leaves. If they appear curled, it’s a surefire sign that they need more potassium, meaning your banana water for plants will come in handy.
3. Improves Root Health
The more nutrients your plant absorbs, the better. Root diseases are a common way plants die, and you should be on the lookout for your plants’ root health every year so you can pinpoint any diseases before they intensify. Adding potassium can strengthen a plant’s roots, making them more disease-resistant.
4. Create Blossoms
One of the most incredible things about banana water is that it can help flowering plants look even more beautiful. The old banana peels support the growth of blooms, making banana water a perfect addition to your flowers. You can also use it for crops like tomatoes and peppers. The banana water should help them grow and produce fruits more quickly.
Things to Watch for After Using Banana Water Fertilizer
Banana water can be great for plants but may also have unexpected side effects. Check out what can happen to know how you’ll save your plants if something goes wrong.
Look for Potential Gnats
Gnats love to eat any decomposing material, like the banana peel pieces in your plant’s soil. If you have gnats, let your peels soak a bit longer and strain the water through a mesh sieve before adding it to your plants. You can also treat your garden with a separate gnat-fighting product to make them disappear.
Yellowing Between Leaf Veins
Plants can get yellow leaves for multiple reasons, like over or under-watering. They also turn yellow between their leaf veins when they have too much potassium. Use less banana water when you fertilize your garden to reduce this issue.
White Mold Around the Plant’s Base
If your banana peels don’t get enough time to decompose, you may find white mold on the soil around your plants. Give them more time to soak so mold doesn’t find microscopic bits to call home among your garden.
Use Banana Water for Plants Often
There’s no requirement for how much or how little you should use banana water for plants. The special water mixture isn’t going to hurt your plants, but you need to know the risks. For example, you could pour those pesticides back into your plants if you don’t choose organic bananas. Bananas may also attract fruit flies, so as long as you can control that issue, nothing should deter you from using banana water. You may have only positive experiences with it!
Original Publish Date 3/07/2023 — Updated 1/30/2025
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