Roses may often need a little helping hand to bloom and while there are many fertilisers on the market, gardeners may be able to save their money and make their own.
Over recent years, gardening enthusiasts have been raving about the magical powers banana peels have on roses to yield better results.
Adding banana peel to the soil around your roses this spring and summer might sound slightly mad, but it can be an easy and organic way of providing potassium, which all plants need to boost their immune system, helping them to resist disease and grow strong and healthy.
Banana peels are also a great source of calcium, magnesium, phosphates and sulphur, which all plants need to survive.
So how do you use banana peels to boost roses? Taking to the Gardening Hints and Tips Facebook page Shirley Brassell asked: “Can someone tell me how to put banana peels around my roses? Do they need to be rotten?”
The comments section was flooded with responses from gardeners sharing how they use banana peels, with some using them directly on the plant while others soak them in water.
Michaels Reed commented: “Put the banana peels in a quart jar, cover with water and cover the jar. Wait about a week and then pour off the liquid around your roses. The liquid is good for all your flowers.”
Gwen Bray wrote: “I put my peels in a sun tea jar. It’s on my counter in a sunny window. When it’s full of peels I water my roses, hydrangeas and tomato plants with it. They’ve never been this big and healthy!”
Jenny Anne Ritchie said: “Bananas are brilliant for roses ours have grown 100 times better since digging the chopped-up skins around them, and also good for the tomato plants and hydrangeas.”
Muriel Warwick claimed: “I cut the banana peels with scissors before adding to the soil. Never ever had roses like it since I started doing this.”
Patricia Davis wrote: “I chop them up, pour boiling water over them and let him sit for a while then scatter the pieces around the plant.
“It adds potassium to the roses. Some people actually boil the skins first and some people just use the liquid.”
Joyce Hart said: “Let banana peels sit in tap water for three days. Use the water for plants. Do not let your banana skins rot. Since doing this my roses prolifically bloomed. I’ve even started to use it on my hydrangeas.”
Clive Harris, a keen gardener from Essex, has shared with garden retailer Thompson & Morgan how and why to use banana peels in your garden.
He said: “Banana peel is an excellent source of potassium, phosphorous and magnesium, making it an ideal fertiliser. Chopped peel can be added directly to your garden for a nutritional boost.
“Soaking banana peel in water for at least 48 hours will give a fertilising solution that can be sprayed directly onto plants and flowers.
“To give your perennials the ultimate start in life, line your bed trenches with whole banana skins before planting. This works exceptionally well for roses.”
