Ways to use banana peels in your garden
Encourage your garden to thrive with these top tips.
1. Homemade liquid fertiliser and non-toxic pest repellent
Cut banana peels into small pieces and place into a bucket or container. Cover with water and leave for 2-3 days. Stir occasionally.
Strain and use the liquid to water your plants.
Help deter aphids by adding the banana skin water to a spray bottle and spraying on plant leaves and branches. Take this mixture a step further by adding crushed eggshells and a spoonful of Epsom salts.
Add peels to your worm farm, bokashi, or compost bin, or simply bury them in your garden soil or potted plants.
2. Homemade slow-release fertiliser
Chop your banana peels into pieces. Lay them on a tray to dry them in the sun or in a low oven with the door slightly open.
Once dried, use them as dried banana skin chips, or grind or blitz them into a powder. Bury the powder or chips in pot plants or garden soil or mix into potting mix.
Add this slow-release fertiliser to epiphytes like staghorn and bird's nest ferns, orchids, and bromeliads every few months.
3. Use banana peels as mulch
Did you know you can use banana peels as a mulch layer for your pot plants and garden? As they decompose, they'll release nutrients into the soil to feed plants.
To add banana peels to your garden, place them in a single layer on top of the soil, but don't let the peels touch plant stems. Cover the peels with a standard mulch, such as sugar cane mulch, to prevent attracting fruit flies.
4. When in doubt, compost, compost, compost!
Banana peels are a great ingredient for your compost or worm farm, because they add lots of nutrients to compost.
Council has made it more affordable to start composting and food waste recycling with the compost rebate program. It allows you to claim a one-off rebate for eligible composting and food waste recycling equipment. Whether you live in a house or apartment, and whether you're a homeowner or renter, there's a composting system to suit your needs!
If you can't compost at home, you can drop your banana peels and other food scraps to a community composting hub garden compost bin.
