Why does nobody talk about using banana peels as fertilizer for houseplants?

I tried tossing a chopped up banana peel in the soil of my sad looking pothos last month after seeing it on a random YouTube video. The thing went from droopy to sprouting new leaves in like 10 days flat. Has anyone else tested this trick or is it just a fluke?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellam8919d ago

Wait, did you really see new leaves in just 10 days? That's wild! I tried it on my snake plant that was basically a brown stick and it perked up in like 2 weeks. I just buried a few peel chunks near the roots and watered normal. Some people say it attracts gnats but I didn't have that problem. Honestly I think it gave my plant way more potassium than any store bought fertilizer I've tried.

caseywest11d ago

Banana peels are about 90% water, and the other 10% breaks down way too slow to matter. A snake plant that looks dead is usually just thirsty or root bound, so watering it well would perk it up with or without the peel. The potassium claim gets thrown around a lot, but a rotting banana chunk in soil isn't the same as a balanced fertilizer that actually releases nutrients when the plant needs them. Then you're stuck waiting months for it to decompose while hoping it doesn't mold or draw fruit flies. A cheap liquid fertilizer gives you the same result in a week without the guesswork. The whole thing feels more like a gardening myth that sounds good on Pinterest than something that holds up in practice.