Does this banana tea look ok?

pointer80

Well-Known Member
Hello all, I have been soaking these banana peels for a couple of days now and wondering if it look ok and I am doing this right? It seems like it’s still pretty clear or is that normal? Thanks.

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You might want to read this article, throws a little cold water on the Banana Tea craze, and scientifically makes a lot of sense, make your own judgement:

Banana peels are great for your plants, or at least that is what the internet says. You should bury some peels in the bottom of the hole when planting roses. You can add them to water and let them sit for a few days to make banana peel tea, an excellent fertilizer for indoor plants. Try drying them into a black leather and then crushing them to make banana skin powder which is great for the garden. I even found one web page that makes a fertilizer spray out of them.

Eating banana peels is also a hot topic and they reportedly provide all kinds of health benefits and even whiten teeth.

Lets have a look at the reality of banana peels for plants. Are they better than just another source of organic matter?

The Magical Powers of Banana Peels in The Garden


Banana Peels for Plants – The Claims​

This blog started when I saw a YouTube video that claimed banana peels have an NPK of 0-25-42.

When you see claims like this it is critical that you give them a quick sniff test for reality. Does it make sense? Does it seem realistic? If not – run for the hills because the rest of the advice is now suspect.

A banana peel is part of a plant. A plant needs protein to function – all living organisms have this requirement, and protein contains nitrogen. Clearly the number zero for nitrogen is complete nonsense. No living organism, including all plant material has a nitrogen level of zero.

All living organisms contain water, and in fact they contain a lot of water. You probably know humans are mostly water and so are plants. This number is around 80%. If a banana is 80% water, how can the potassium level be 42%?

Even if you didn’t know the 80% moisture value, the above NPK number says that 67%, or 1/3 of a banana peel is phosphate and potash. Does that make any sense at all? NO!

This is not the only site that claimed a 42% potassium level, which is completely ridiculous.

The Question to Ask​

All organic matter is good for soil and plants. They all provide a carbon source and plant nutrients as the organic matter decomposes.

The important question is, are banana peels significantly more nutritious than other sources of organic matter. Do they provide any unique beneficial chemicals? If they do, they might be a superfood for plants.

Vague Claims for Banana Peels​

Do a bit of Googling and you quickly find all kinds of claims saying banana peels have a “high” nutritional value. Some even say the peel has higher nutrients than the banana. This sounds convincing, but you may have noticed that there are no numbers included in these statements.

What does “high’ mean? And how much higher is it compared to other organic matter? Without numbers, these are just fancy words to try and convince you to believe a story.

Dry or Wet Weight?​

Even when numbers are supplied, there is still a big problem with the data. Is this based on wet weight or dry weight? When someone says a banana peel is 42% potassium, is that based on a normal wet peel or a dry peel? This is a crucial point since most of a banana peel is water.

Chemists get around this problem by reporting chemical content on a dry weight basis. But many sources take these numbers, if they even bother to look it up, and present them as a wet weight, which exaggerates the value by a huge amount.

Chemical Analysis of Banana Peels​

Several nutritional experts made the claim that banana peels have not been studied for nutrients, but I had no problem finding some studies.

Banana-peel-chem-analysis.jpg


Note: Except for the moisture values, all percent values are based on dry weights.

Sources: Source A, Source B, Source C, Source D

The average nitrogen in protein is 16%, so the 3.5% protein in banana skins is equivalent to 0.6% nitrogen.

The above table reports values for potassium and phosphorus, but NPK uses values as potash and phosphate. The potash and phosphate in banana peels is 11.5% and 0.4%.

The NPK value for banana skins is 0.6-0.4-11.5. But this is the value for dried banana skins since all of the above values are calculated on a dry weight basis. The NPK of fresh banana peels is 1/5 of that, making an NPK of 0.1-0.1-2.3.

For comparison, purchased bagged manure is around 1-1-1.

Are Bananas High in Potassium?​

Not really. Bananas have more potassium than some other food, like grains and meat, but all fruits and vegetables are higher in potassium – “there is nothing special about bananas. Tomatoes, potatoes, and beets also have potassium and often more potassium than your average banana.”

One cup of chocolate milk contains the same amount of potassium as a banana.

Magical Properties of Banana Peels​

There are also some vague claims of other important chemicals in banana peels that might be beneficial to plants, but I found no specific claims that could be reviewed.

There are many more claims for our health, including things like antioxidants, but a cursory look shows that the science is not there for the benefit of these, at least not yet.

Banana peels are just another source of plant organic matter.

Banana peel tea is NOT a good fertilizer, photo source: Pinterest

Banana Peel Tea​

Some claim you can steep banana peels in water, either using hot water, or just letting them sit for several days in the sun.

I have reviewed the value of using left over tea before and this tea would be no different. There is limited decomposition during the process of making it, which means that most of the nutrients remain in the peels.

Potassium leaches out of organic matter more quickly since it is not chemically bound, and banana peels have a higher level of potassium, so the tea might add some potassium, but not much else.

Don’t get conned by tea claims for plants.
 
nice post on banana peel @Phytoplankton :thumb:


, i quit using the peel because i threw some in a tea once and the whole process died off, think there was pesticides on the skin , not sure but it was enough to put me off, i have changed to root veg now for teas , beets being one of my favorites the greens from beets also for ferments , all root veg contains stored nutrients, and because i grow my own beets using jadam organic farming i know they are the best for my tea :ganjamon:
 
You might want to read this article, throws a little cold water on the Banana Tea craze, and scientifically makes a lot of sense, make your own judgement:

Banana peels are great for your plants, or at least that is what the internet says. You should bury some peels in the bottom of the hole when planting roses. You can add them to water and let them sit for a few days to make banana peel tea, an excellent fertilizer for indoor plants. Try drying them into a black leather and then crushing them to make banana skin powder which is great for the garden. I even found one web page that makes a fertilizer spray out of them.

Eating banana peels is also a hot topic and they reportedly provide all kinds of health benefits and even whiten teeth.

Lets have a look at the reality of banana peels for plants. Are they better than just another source of organic matter?

The Magical Powers of Banana Peels in The Garden


Banana Peels for Plants – The Claims​

This blog started when I saw a YouTube video that claimed banana peels have an NPK of 0-25-42.

When you see claims like this it is critical that you give them a quick sniff test for reality. Does it make sense? Does it seem realistic? If not – run for the hills because the rest of the advice is now suspect.

A banana peel is part of a plant. A plant needs protein to function – all living organisms have this requirement, and protein contains nitrogen. Clearly the number zero for nitrogen is complete nonsense. No living organism, including all plant material has a nitrogen level of zero.

All living organisms contain water, and in fact they contain a lot of water. You probably know humans are mostly water and so are plants. This number is around 80%. If a banana is 80% water, how can the potassium level be 42%?

Even if you didn’t know the 80% moisture value, the above NPK number says that 67%, or 1/3 of a banana peel is phosphate and potash. Does that make any sense at all? NO!

This is not the only site that claimed a 42% potassium level, which is completely ridiculous.

The Question to Ask​

All organic matter is good for soil and plants. They all provide a carbon source and plant nutrients as the organic matter decomposes.

The important question is, are banana peels significantly more nutritious than other sources of organic matter. Do they provide any unique beneficial chemicals? If they do, they might be a superfood for plants.

Vague Claims for Banana Peels​

Do a bit of Googling and you quickly find all kinds of claims saying banana peels have a “high” nutritional value. Some even say the peel has higher nutrients than the banana. This sounds convincing, but you may have noticed that there are no numbers included in these statements.

What does “high’ mean? And how much higher is it compared to other organic matter? Without numbers, these are just fancy words to try and convince you to believe a story.

Dry or Wet Weight?​

Even when numbers are supplied, there is still a big problem with the data. Is this based on wet weight or dry weight? When someone says a banana peel is 42% potassium, is that based on a normal wet peel or a dry peel? This is a crucial point since most of a banana peel is water.

Chemists get around this problem by reporting chemical content on a dry weight basis. But many sources take these numbers, if they even bother to look it up, and present them as a wet weight, which exaggerates the value by a huge amount.

Chemical Analysis of Banana Peels​

Several nutritional experts made the claim that banana peels have not been studied for nutrients, but I had no problem finding some studies.

Banana-peel-chem-analysis.jpg


Note: Except for the moisture values, all percent values are based on dry weights.

Sources: Source A, Source B, Source C, Source D

The average nitrogen in protein is 16%, so the 3.5% protein in banana skins is equivalent to 0.6% nitrogen.

The above table reports values for potassium and phosphorus, but NPK uses values as potash and phosphate. The potash and phosphate in banana peels is 11.5% and 0.4%.

The NPK value for banana skins is 0.6-0.4-11.5. But this is the value for dried banana skins since all of the above values are calculated on a dry weight basis. The NPK of fresh banana peels is 1/5 of that, making an NPK of 0.1-0.1-2.3.

For comparison, purchased bagged manure is around 1-1-1.

Are Bananas High in Potassium?​

Not really. Bananas have more potassium than some other food, like grains and meat, but all fruits and vegetables are higher in potassium – “there is nothing special about bananas. Tomatoes, potatoes, and beets also have potassium and often more potassium than your average banana.”

One cup of chocolate milk contains the same amount of potassium as a banana.

Magical Properties of Banana Peels​

There are also some vague claims of other important chemicals in banana peels that might be beneficial to plants, but I found no specific claims that could be reviewed.

There are many more claims for our health, including things like antioxidants, but a cursory look shows that the science is not there for the benefit of these, at least not yet.

Banana peels are just another source of plant organic matter.

Banana peel tea is NOT a good fertilizer, photo source: Pinterest

Banana Peel Tea​

Some claim you can steep banana peels in water, either using hot water, or just letting them sit for several days in the sun.

I have reviewed the value of using left over tea before and this tea would be no different. There is limited decomposition during the process of making it, which means that most of the nutrients remain in the peels.

Potassium leaches out of organic matter more quickly since it is not chemically bound, and banana peels have a higher level of potassium, so the tea might add some potassium, but not much else.

Don’t get conned by tea claims for plants.
What is the source of this article? I have read plenty of articles that disagree with this
 
What is the source of this article? I have read plenty of articles that disagree with this
You are right about there being plenty of articles disagreeing. Lately though several other articles have started showing up that are claiming the benefits of a banana peel tea are overblown.

As to the source of the article that @pointer80 quoted, I just copied and pasted the title of the article that he mentioned in the message into a google search box and it showed up. It is on a gardening website that deals with gardening myths.

Earlier this week there was a short thread about 5 messages that ran Tuesday and Wednesday on 'banana peel tea'. Here is the link to it:
https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/another-question-about-banana-peels-for-cannabis.504430
 
My issue is that most of the claims of Banana tea are based on ancdotal evidence only, no data whatsoever. At least this guy used a fairly scientific method. Certainly the %'s of NPK are wrong. IMHO marijuana growers are like duck hunters, they'll buy of believe anything that someone says will help, irregardless of if there's any scientific evidence that it works. I can remember when the genral concensus was to starve a plant for water at end of flowering to increase trichrome production, no longer the case. Or "flushing", that was a hot button issue, had to flush to remove ecess nutrients, then they actually did testing, it don't work!
 
My issue is that most of the claims of Banana tea are based on ancdotal evidence only, no data whatsoever. At least this guy used a fairly scientific method. Certainly the %'s of NPK are wrong. IMHO marijuana growers are like duck hunters, they'll buy of believe anything that someone says will help, irregardless of if there's any scientific evidence that it works. I can remember when the genral concensus was to starve a plant for water at end of flowering to increase trichrome production, no longer the case. Or "flushing", that was a hot button issue, had to flush to remove ecess nutrients, then they actually did testing, it don't work!
I guess I have to wonder about all the Amendments that people use to top dress like kelp or worm castings etc? People water them in correct? Doesn’t the water help get the nutrients into the soil? I just figured soaking banana peels would work the same way
 
There seems to be evidence that it could help with Potassium, but it's far from the "Wonder" amendment it's often touted as. All plants/fruits/veggies contain NPK, if you look at many of the claims about percentages of NPK in banana peels, they're bogus. How much of those nutrients can actually be extracted just by soaking or boiling? Heat often breaks chemical bonds, so if boiled, does that change the chemical make-up to a less usuable form?

I guess I have to wonder about all the Amendments that people use to top dress like kelp or worm castings etc? People water them in correct? Doesn’t the water help get the nutrients into the soil? I just figured soaking banana peels would work the same way

Worn castings, and guano have been studied, the chemicals (NPK) are readily available to the plants, water just transports them to the roots. Kelp extracts are slightly different, they go through a decomposition process (mulched) and bacteria break down the cellulose and release the nutrients, but come right down to it, Nitrates are nitrates, Phosphates are phosphates, and Potassium Chloride is Potassium chloride, no matter what the source (organic or inorganic). In the case of peel tea, the nutrients have to leach into the tea through the cell walls, this is neither a quick or efficient process (remember our bodies can't break down cellulose). Most of this is stuff I remember from college, while I haven't really used it in 40 years, I do have a minor in Botany, but I'm far from an expert on plant physiology.

There's a lot products for marijuana growing that are more hype than help, i.e., snake oil!
 
I just figured soaking banana peels would work the same way
It does. The issue is that the peel tea is not the 'be-all end-all' stuff that people claim it is. While it contains some Phosphorus and Potassium as the peels break down it is unlikely to have as much as some people think it does. Does not make it wrong to use the stuff, just that it will not be as good as they think.

Like @Phytoplankton says, some of the stuff is 'snake oil'.
 
The correct way to extract all of the goodness out of banana peels is by fermentation. Continue the water treatement you have started for 20 days. The natural sugars will react and will feed the fermentation process. Boiling and soaking will only bring out the nutrients that are water soluble. Fermentation is the key to fully breaking down the organics into its component parts. The resulting syrup will smell a bit of alcohol and will be sweet to the taste. I suggest using 1 tablespoon of this extract per gallon.

Snake oil? Maybe... but take a sniff of Terpinator sometime... it sure smells like the same stuff. I have seen banana peel extract completely eliminate a potassium deficiency several times... it is my impression that the stuff is for real.
 
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