Learn How to Use Bananas for Fertilizing a Staghorn Fern and find how this eco-friendly approach benefits your plant.
Banana peels are a good source of potassium and also contain small quantities of phosphorus and manganese, along with important nutrients for indoor and outdoor plants. Gardeners generally think of composting it to supply essential nutrients to plants, but have you ever thought about feeding the plants with banana peels directly? Well, you can consider staghorn fern for this purpose and use Bananas for Fertilizing a Staghorn Fern. Now, the question arises: how can you feed bananas to a staghorn fern and whether it provides any benefits? So, you can place a whole banana peel, or even an entire banana, among the fronds. This method provides the necessary nutrients, similar to composting.
Related: Banana Peel Uses in the Garden
Banana Peel and Staghorn Ferns
Staghorn ferns are epiphytes, and feeding them bananas is a good idea due to the distinct nature of this plant. This epiphyte grows on high surfaces without soil. They develop two varieties of fronds:
Antler Frond: It extends outward from the center of the fern.
Basal Fronds: They appear in overlapping layers and stick to the surface of the plant on which they grow.
The upper part of the basal fronds grows upward and makes a cup shape that can collect water. In their natural habitat, staghorn ferns usually grow connected to tree , trunks,limbs, and rocks. In this setting, organic materials like leaf litter accumulate in the cup formed by the inverted basal fronds. Water coming down from the forest canopy hydrates the fern and provide nutrients. The organic materials collected in the cup decompose over time and gradually supply minerals for the plant to soak up.
Related: Use Dried Banana Peels As A Fertilizer
How to Use Bananas for Fertilizing a Staghorn Fern
Feeding bananas to staghorn ferns is an eco-friendly way to improve the health of your plants and recycle kitchen waste. You can feed up to four bananas to your staghorn fern, depending on its size. This dose will provide potassium and a small quantity of phosphorus and micronutrients. The banana peel acts like a time-release fertilizer that slowly releases nutrients.
You can place the peels in the upright part of the basal fronds or between the fern and mount. If you’re concerned about attracting fruit flies to an indoor fern, soak the peel in water for a few days, then discard or compost the peel and use the water to nourish the plant.
As banana peels are low in nitrogen, it is important to provide staghorn ferns with an additional nitrogen source. Fertilize your ferns monthly with a balanced fertilizer in the growing season. If bananas are not organic, wash the peels before giving them to your staghorn fern. Bananas are often treated with fungicides to combat fungal diseases, and these fungicides may be applied to the peels, which are not considered edible.