Banana Peel Fertilizer for Peace Lily – Should You Use It?

Peace lily needs essential nutrients to produce leaves and stems and encourage root development.

Banana peel fertilizer is rich in phosphorus and potassium, but it won’t be sufficient to meet your peace lily’s nutritional needs. However, instead of throwing, you can add banana peel to your compost bin and allow it to decompose to release nutrients.

There are different ways by which you can utilize nutrients from this fruit scrap.

You can make liquid fertilizer, dried and finely powdered banana peel, and mulch around the houseplant to enrich the growing soil.

Is Banana Peel Good for Peace Lily?

Yes, banana peel fertilizer can enrich the lily plant with nutrients. But it would help if you didn’t rely solely on this fertilizer. You must include nitrogen-rich liquid fertilizer to promote vibrant leaf growth.

Plants will be able to utilize the nutrients efficiently only when they get an ample amount of sunlight. With low levels of light exposure, plants won’t need much nutrients.

Compared to vegetable plants, indoor plants like Peace Lily aren’t heavy feeders. Fertilizing once or twice a month will boost plant growth and make it look vigorous.

But this doesn’t mean you should stop fertilizing peace lily. Under-fertilization can result in stunted plant growth and yellow foliage.

Organic fertilizers like banana peel are slow-releasing fertilizer that takes time to decompose. Also, the nitrogen percentage in this organic fertilizer will not be sufficient for a peace lily. 

To compensate, you must use a liquid fertilizer rich in nitrogen and banana peel fertilizer.

What Nutrients Do Peace Lilies Need?

Peace lilies need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for optimal growth.

• Nitrogen promotes leaf growth and enhances protein formation.
• Phosphorus supports energy transfer, flower production, and root growth.
• Potassium regulates water balance, strengthens resistance to diseases and pests, and facilitates photosynthesis.

A balanced fertilizer with equal parts of N-P-K 20-20-20 is ideal. Avoid over-fertilization and follow recommended guidelines.

Peace lily plant is known for its vibrant leaves so you can increase your fertilizer’s nitrogen ratio.

To promote bushy leaves, gardening experts recommend using 20-10-10 NPK fertilizer.

How to Use Banana Peel Fertilizer for Peace Lily?

Besides potassium and phosphorus, the banana peel contains calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and other trace elements that contribute to root growth and photosynthesis and increase the plant’s ability to fight pests.

The Internet is filled with myths and facts about the nutritional ability of banana peel. As mentioned already, banana peel likely won’t provide sufficient nutrients to the plant when needed.

This doesn’t mean banana peel lacks nutrients; it does have. But, it would help if you relied only on this to supply nutrients for your peace lily.

Peace lilies are primarily grown in pots; regular watering washes away nutrients in the soil. If you fail to add nutrients, the plant will suffer.

So, along with this organic fertilizer, you should use nitrogen-rich liquid fertilizer for vibrant, peaceful lily leaves.

You can use banana peel fertilizer for the peace lily plant in four ways.

Based on your plant’s requirement, choose any one of the ways to enrich your peace lily potting soil with a banana peel.

1. Compost – my favourite

Compositing banana peel and kitchen scraps is one of the best ways to enrich your compost pile with nutrients.

Banana peel contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and sulfur. These nutrients promote flowering and root growth and contribute to the plant’s photosynthesis.

As you know, the green or brown material you add to compost must be decomposed to release nutrients. In the case of banana peel, it takes a bit longer to decompose and slowly releases nutrients into the compost.

• Cut banana peel into small pieces before adding to the compost pile.
• This can speed up decomposition and readily use the obtained compost to enrich the peace lily plant.
• Moisture in the banana peel may contribute to the composting process.

How to use:

You can add compost while planting peace lily or spread it around the plant during the growing season.

2. Plant banana peel directly into the soil

Calcium in banana peel helps to break down complex nutrients in the soil so that plant roots can absorb them effectively.

But first, banana peel needs to be decomposed to release calcium.

Sowing banana peel into the soil takes more time to decompose than composting.

• Chop the banana peel into small pieces and bury them underneath the soil.
• Small pieces allow faster decomposition.
• Instead, dry banana peels and grind them into fine powder.
• Spread the powder around the plant.

3. Banana Peel Fertilizer Tea of Slurry

Making a slurry of banana peel fertilizer that you can use for the peace lily in your garden is a beautiful method to boost organic nutrients. Start by collecting the banana peels, around two to three.

• Cut them into smaller pieces to speed up the process of decomposition.
• Place the pieces of peel in a container and cover with water.
• Then let the mixture sit for several days, stirring it occasionally.

The slurry is high in potassium, phosphorus, and calcium. These nutrients can aid your peace lily’s growth as well as flowering.

If you water your plant, use this slurry made from banana peels to act as a liquid fertilizer. It’s a natural and gentle method to feed your plant and promote healthy growth.

But there are a few disadvantages to be aware of.

• First, the nutrients may be less well-balanced or concentrated as commercial fertilizers.
• The slurry could also turn sour when it ferments, making it unpleasant indoors. 

Also, you must do the fertilizer sparingly because excessive amounts of this fertilizer could cause excessive salt accumulation in the soil.

Also Read: How Long Does a Peace Lily Plant Live in Water?

4. Banana Peel Mulch

It’s simple to use banana peel mulch for peace lilies. Once you’ve finished your bananas, let the peels air dry.

• Lay them on the surrounding soil after they have dried, keeping the stem away.
• The peels will fall apart, releasing nutrients to the ground and helping to hold the moisture.

This organic mulch helps to reduce weed growth while giving your peace lily a gentle feeding.

This is an environmentally friendly technique to recycle kitchen waste and promote your plant’s health.

Note: This organic fertilizer is alkaline, so add sulfur to make the soil acidic. Peace lily prefers slightly acidic soil.

Benefits of Using Banana Peel for Peace Lily

NPK value of banana peel is 0.6-0.4-11.5.

Along with these essential nutrients, banana peel can promote stem formation and root growth and improve a plant’s ability to absorb nutrients from the soil.

• Calcium in this organic fertilizer helps to break down nutrients and improves the plant’s ability to absorb them.
• Phosphorus: This nutrient strengthens stems and roots and encourages plants to bloom.
• Potassium: It contributes to the photosynthesis process by associating with water and nutrient uptake.
• Magnesium is a central atom in chlorophyll that is responsible for green foliage.

Banana Peel Fertilizer Improves Soil Structure

Adding decomposed banana peel to the potting soil will improve water retention ability and promote aeration.

With improved aeration and water holding capacity, you can avoid underwatering and overwatering peace lily.

Reduces Wastage

Repurposing banana peels for your peace lily helps reduce kitchen waste.

Instead of throwing them into the trash, you can give banana peel a second life by converting them into a natural fertilizer.

Improves Nutrients in the Soil

The nutritional ability of banana peel is already mentioned in this article.

It contains potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and other trace elements that can make your soil fertile.

Slow-Releasing Fertilizer

Slow-release of nutrients ensures the plant gets a continuous supply of nutrients to promote its growth.

You should use balanced liquid fertilizers to promote vibrant leaf growth along with organic fertilizers.

Cons of Using Banana Peel for Peace Lily

A natural way of fertilizing may save some bucks for you, but its nutrients won’t be sufficient to peace lily.

Also, more than slow, releasing nutrients will be needed to fulfill the plant’s nutritional needs.

This is why you’re advised to add liquid fertilizer to enrich the potting soil of peace lily.

Conclusion

Banana peel is safe and suitable to use to fertilize the lily plant.

Composting is one of the best ways to repurpose this kitchen scrap.

Apart from composting, you can dry banana peels and grind them into fine powder. Sprinkle this powder into the potting soil or spread it around the plant.

But remember that the nutrients in the banana peel will not be enough to serve the nutritional needs of a peace lily. Along with this organic fertilizer, you should use liquid fertilizer.