Do Orchids Like Banana Peels?

The Relationship

• Orchids and bananas are both monocots, having similar characteristics, including floral parts that bloom in multiples of three and parallel leaf veins. Orchids belong to the Asparagales order and the Orchidaceae family of monocots, while bananas belong to the Zingiberales order and Musaceae family. Botanically, orchids and bananas thrive on similar soil nutrients, and these nutrients -- and those synthesized by the banana tree as it makes its fruit -- find their way into the banana peel. This makes banana peels suitable fertilizer material for orchids.

What Nutrients Do Orchids Need?

• Orchids need nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulfur and calcium from the soil, for general health, leaf and stem growth and successful flower production. They also need minerals. Some trace elements are only needed in small amounts, including boron, molybdenum, copper, manganese, iron and chlorine. From the air, orchids take in oxygen, carbon and hydrogen for their food production.

What Do Banana Peels Offer?

• Banana peels are a natural and readily available source of many of the nutrients that orchids need. As related by the Ohio State University Extension, the nutrients in banana peels include magnesium, calcium, sodium, phosphates and sulfur. There is also potassium, iron, zinc, copper and lead, according to North Carolina State University's BioResources.

  Banana peels rapidly degrade, and this is easily noticed in a banana's extremely short shelf life. This quick breakdown of the banana peel in the soil makes its nutrients readily available to the orchid plant, and its soluble and insoluble fibers loosen and aerate the soil, both as soil additives and as a food source for beneficial soil microorganisms.

Banana Peel Application

• There are a few ways to avoid banana peel rot or spoilage coming in direct contact with the delicate orchid plant, which may encourage rotting of its crown root. One way is to set the banana peels to dry in the sun before breaking them up into small pieces and inserting them into the soil around the orchid plant.

  Another method uses the fresh banana peels blended to a puree and mixed with water, egg shells, a few drops of vinegar and a pinch of cinnamon. Set the mixture aside to brew for 24 to 48 hours. Apply a small amount of this well-diluted liquid nutrient mix to the soil around the orchid, and refrigerate the rest.

  The vinegar preserves the banana peel and thwarts its decay; eggshells leach calcium into the mix; and the cinnamon's antimicrobial properties are beneficial to preventing damage to the orchid and healing its wounds, according to the Sacramento Orchid Society.