Are Banana Peels Good For Orchids? | Make Odor Free Water.

Banana peels water is popular among the gardener’s community. Because it is rich in many macro and micronutrients, it is an organic fertilizer that is inexpensive and provides the best nutrients to orchid plants.

The nutrients needed for the growth of orchids are collected through the air or water. Therefore we have to provide all the required nutrients as a liquid foam. Hence, we need to mix the nutrients in banana peels with water. This mixing is a step-by-step procedure, and it takes several days.

Before deciding on banana peels good for orchids and making banana peels water for orchids, we have to determine their nutrient level. The majority of the gardening bloggers recommend this without scientifically proven.

The biggest problem you will face when using banana peel water is that it will have an unpleasant odor. Conventional Fermentation Increases the bacterial and fungal activity of this water, which causes an unpleasant odor.

In this article, I’m going to show how to use banana peels for orchids without odor.

Are Banana Peels Good For Orchids?

Banana peels are a good source for providing essential nutrients to orchid plants. This organic material is rich in potassium (K) and phosphorus (P). Not only that, banana peels contain other micro minerals like Magnesium, sodium, Zinc, Iron, Calcium, Copper, Manganese, Zinc (source 01) (source 02). These nutrients are essential for orchids plants to thrive.

Therefore these banana peels are a good source for providing essential nutrients for orchids plants. It is a non-toxic fertilizer for your loving plant. Lack of these nutrients stunt the growth of the orchid and reduce following.

How to use banana peels for orchids.

However, unlike other plants, banana peels need to be used, especially for orchids. A completely different potting mix is used for these plants as opposed to house plants. Therefore, we need to dilute the valuable nutrients in these peels with water.

Mainly we can use banana peels for orchids in two different ways. Making banana peels water for orchids or make banana peels powder.

How To Make Banana Peels Water For Orchids.

Mainly we can prepare this nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer in two ways. Here we are using two different fermentation methods to extract the nutrients.

Method one. 

The nutrient-rich banana peels water is made by soaking the peel in water and let them rot to dissolve nutrients in the water. However, there is a big issue using these nutrient-rich banana peels tea for orchids. Because it has an odor and this water contain many bacterial and funges. These microorganisms are harmful to the orchids plants, and they can significantly threaten to root system. Therefore, after preparing this tea, we should boil it for a few minutes to kill these bacteria and fungus.

• Collect banana peel that can fill 3/4 of your jar, bottle, or basket.
• Cut them into around 2 or 4 inches in length. When the pieces are smaller, it will speed up the soak and nutrient releasing into water.
• Fill the container with banana peels pieces.
• Pour water up to a couple of inches above the peels and seal them and let it sit for a while. Mix it every day to help dissolve nutrients with water.

• Let the banana peel water fermented for 7 to 10 days. While it is fermentation, it dissolves nutrients into the water thoroughly. These days water color changes to creamy or yellowish color, and peels turning to brown or black.
• Now, it is a fully water-soluble fertilizer. It is ready to feed your orchid’s plants. However, it is rich in bacteria and funds. That is a threat to the orchid plants. So we need to remove those harmful microorganisms.
• Pour the banana peels water into a container that we can heat. Boil the water for 5 minutes. In 212°F (100°C), these microorganisms kill and remove lousy odor to some extend.
• Do not open the lid and let the water cool down for around 5 to 6 hours.
• Filter the water from the peels, then mix it with diluted water in a ratio of 1: 5, and apply it to the orchid plants.

Method two.

The second option is faster than the traditional banana peels tea. In this method, peels are boiled for around 30 to 40 minutes to dissolve their nutrients into the water. Unlike the conventional way, we can dissolve nutrients within 4 or 6 hours (including the water cool downtime).

Collect several banana peels. With 3 or 4 peels, you can make half a gallon of water-soluble fertilizer.

• Cut them into 2 or 3 inches size. It is more convenient if you cut them into the smallest pieces.
• Put all the pieces into a cooking pod that can completely cover for the next step. For one cup of chips, add around 4 or 6 cups of water.
• Boil the water for around 5 minutes and gently mix everything.
• Reduce the heat and boil it for another 5 minutes.
• Do not open the lid and let it cool down another 5 or 6 hours.
• This mixture is now ready to serve your orchid plants. Once its temperature reaches an average level, remove banana peels slices and spray water to orchids roots and leaves or pour directly to orchids soil.

How To Make Banana Peels Powder For Orchids.

In this method, we dry banana peels, crush them into a fine powder, mix it with water, and apply for orchids.  This powder-making time depends on the method that you used. In here you can dry the peels sunlight or oven. Depending on the technique used for dehydrating, its time depends.

• Collect the banana peels and dry them in either the sun or the oven. I use a microwave oven for this (If you have a microwave oven use its conventional option, do not use the microwave option, in my situation, leave start to fire). Lay down the banana skin on the grill and heat them at 750°F (400°C) for around 20 to 30 minutes.

• After water evaporated, the peels become crispy.

• Crush them using a blender or pestle and mortar until the crispy banana peels turn into the most delicate powder.
• Add five or six tablespoons full of powder into half a gallon (1.8L) and mix it well. Then let it brew for about 3 or 4 hours, then spray on the orchid’s roots and leaves, or pour directly on the orchid’s soil.