Help Transplanted Plants Thrive With This Leftover Kitchen Scrap

You just ate a banana for breakfast, and it was delicious. However, you might want to reconsider tossing its peel into the garbage can. Why? Banana peels are a kitchen scrap that can actually work miracles for freshly transplanted greenery, thanks to all the wonderful nutrients they contain. In fact, repurposing these peels for use with new transplants, like lavender or roses, can help reduce their stress and help them acclimate to their new pot or garden bed faster. 

So what specifically makes the humble banana peel so effective? It all comes down to minerals: those that plants need, and those that banana peels contain in spades. Banana peels have a high amount of potassium, which helps plants stay healthy and regulate water. They're also packed with calcium, a nutrient critical for strong stem and root growth.

Transplanting almost always causes the plant to experience some stress, so anything you can do to reduce that stress is a good idea. Luckily, a helpful boost of nutrients from your banana peel will work wonders to help the plant get established more quickly. The calcium helps new roots spread and anchor; likewise, some plants would love a boost of potassium, as it builds up resilience to pests and environmental stress. Anything as helpful as that is worth keeping out of the garbage.

Putting your old peels to work is easy, although there's a little preparation that needs to happen first. There are three great ways to use a banana peel for gardening, so choose whichever works best for you. The first option is making a slow-release fertilizer. To avoid burning delicate plant roots at an already stressful time, chop the peels into small pieces, then dehydrate them. Once crispy, mix and water them into your soil as-is or grind a powder from the chips. That'll feed the roots gradually over time.

For the second option, brew a liquid fertilizer tea. Take whole or sliced peels, submerge them in a container of water in the fridge, and let them steep for up to 1 week. Then, pull out the bananas and dilute this strong concentrate down to roughly 1 part tea to 5 parts water. You can use this potassium-rich drink to help the transplants settle into their new environment more comfortably.

Finally, apply your old banana peels as part of a mulch approach. Place whole or chopped peels directly on the soil surface so they disperse their helpful nutrients over time as they break down. Then, put mulch on top of your banana peels to stop animals and flies from swarming your garden. You should always keep your banana peels because plants love them, and they'll take the stress out of the transplanting process. It's a natural and easy way to keep your plants happy, no matter where you plant them.