26-05-2025
Woman shares 'secret' use for banana peels that will make your plants grow faster
A gardening enthusiast has shared a 'secret' use for banana peels that she says will make your plants grow faster
Bananas are the UK's favourite fruit, with the average Brit eating a whopping 100 bananas or 10kg per year. Given the impressive quantity of bananas consumed in British households, it seems rather imprudent not to utilise every component of them.
Renowned for their rich content of potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and a plethora of other beneficial nutrients that support digestion and cardiovascular health, bananas boast another lesser-known benefit: they can act as excellent plant nourishment for your garden.
TikTok content creator @peymak, famed for dispensing gardening wisdom, has lately been championing the use of banana skins, dubbing them a "secret plant booster". Alongside her video guidance, she instructed: "Don't toss 'em, turn them into fertiliser magic. Your garden will thank you!".
In her clip, she suggests: "Don't throw away your banana peels. Use them as fertiliser."
She further highlights that they are "rich in potassium". The plant care app PlantIn supports this, noting banana peels also harbour crucial plant-growth nutrients such as magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium.
For those with green fingers, the content creator recommends soaking banana peels in water for a minimum of 24 hours before adding this DIY fertiliser concoction to plants, assuring "Your plants will thank you later".
Her video has triggered an avalanche of positive feedback on TikTok, evidenced by hundreds of comments expressing gratitude. One user remarked: "Such a good tip!!! I did this last year in our garden!" while another was thrilled to comment: "How neat is this!!! so good to know!!!".
Leanne Samuelson from Prestige Botanicals has shared a tip for garden lovers on how to create their own fertiliser using kitchen leftovers. She explained: "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."
Further detailing her unique method of fertilising, Samuelson shared: "I pop my banana peels, crushed eggshells, and coffee grounds into a big zip-lock bag. I then keep it hidden away in an opaque bag in the bottom drawer of my fridge. When the time comes, I blend them into the garden soil, and my plants just flourish."
Beth Murton, the Head of Gardens at Homes and Gardens, also advocates this eco-friendly gardening practice. Praising the use of banana peels, she remarked: "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."
Murton went on to explain the specific advantages of such natural fertiliser, adding: "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."
She also underscored the benefits of bananas in the garden by stating: "Bananas also contain calcium, which is a vital nutrient in combating blossom end rot in tomatoes."
Gardeners are reminded, however, that while banana peel fertiliser can benefit certain plants like banana trees, roses, tomatoes, and Staghorn fern, it may not be universally effective due to its lack of nitrogen. Thus, for some plant types, supplementary fertilisation might still be necessary to ensure optimal growth.
