Vent: My orchid was dying and I tried something weird with a banana peel

My phalaenopsis hadn't bloomed in over two years, and the leaves were getting limp. I read online about using banana peels for potassium, so I chopped one up, soaked it in a gallon of water for three days, and used that to water it. Honestly, I thought it was nonsense. But about six weeks later, I saw a new flower spike starting. Has anyone else tried this kind of kitchen scrap fertilizer with their houseplants?

3 comments

3 Comments

aarons362mo ago

Wait, so does the water just smell like old bananas after sitting for three days? I tried something like that with leftover coffee grounds for my ferns once, and my whole kitchen smelled like a wet ashtray for a week. It did make the plants look pretty happy though, so maybe the stink is part of the magic.

jesse_barnes372mo ago

Oh yeah, the stink is definitely part of the process... my compost bucket smells like a science experiment gone wrong but the tomatoes love it.

the_vera19d ago

Wet ashtray" is such a perfect description, I'm stealing that. The banana water thing is definitely its own kind of stink, more like a funky sweet smell that makes you wonder if you're watering plants or marinating them. But hey, if the plants are happy and we're just standing there holding our noses, maybe that's the trade off. I've definitely been the person apologizing to guests for the "garden experiment" smell coming from the kitchen counter. At this point I just tell people it's my signature perfume.