Should You Make Banana Water for Your Plants? Experts Weigh In

If you've been scrolling through social media, you may have stopped at the sight of someone steeping banana peels in water and then pouring that water over their houseplants. The idea is simple enough—soak banana peels in water to extract nutrients, and then pour the water into your plants as a kind of fertilizer. This method has gone viral, with the idea being that the nutrients in the banana peels (like potassium and vitamin C) will directly benefit your plants. But does this actually work? The experts we spoke with explain what banana water is, whether it really works to enhance your plants, plus what to consider using instead.

What Is Banana Water?

Banana water is water that's been steeped with banana peels to create a liquid plant fertilizer. It's similar to compost tea, though without the actual compost process. It involves soaking cut-up banana peels in water for two or three days and then straining the liquid from the peels.

Does Banana Water Work?

Unfortunately, the jury is out on this one. Bananas are high in potassium, and humans can benefit from eating them directly because we digest bananas and absorb the elements that way. But for plants to benefit from organic material, it needs to be decomposed to a fine enough degree by another organism before it's soluble enough for the roots to uptake it—and simply soaking banana peels in water doesn't release as many nutrients as you might think.

"If you mix banana peels with water and wait for a few [days], very few nutrients will be released because microorganisms' decomposition takes time," says Luke Gatiboni, extension soil fertility specialist and associate professor at the North Carolina State University. "You would need to wait until that material is 'rotten,' so the nutrients will be released. The soil microorganisms are the key thing in this process. These microorganisms will decompose the organic carbon chains and release the nutrients."

When it comes to the benefits of banana water for your plants, there's scarce research, so it's hard to say what, if anything, it'll do if you pour it on your plant. "The missing information is that I haven’t seen any studies that tell us what the components of banana water are," says Brooke Edmunds, professor of practice and horticulturist at Oregon State University Extension. "Does the potassium leach from the peels into the water? Does it matter how old the banana is (green, yellow with some spots, fully brown)? What else is leaching into the water? If anything leaches into the water, is it something that your plant needs? Is the plant potassium deficient, and does the banana water provide enough potassium? It’s a big unknown."

What to Use Instead of Banana Water

There are a few things you can use instead of banana water if you want to give your plants a healthy boost.

Compost Your Banana Peels

Quite simply, composting your banana peels will have a more direct benefit on your plants than making banana water. Because bananas are made of organic materials, let microorganisms and detritus eaters (like red wiggler composting worms) do their job. "During composting, at least part of the organic compounds will be broken down by the microorganisms, releasing nutrients that will be readily available for plants," says Gatiboni. And if you happen to have half-broken-down banana peels mixed in with your soil, it'll likely get broken down later by the same microorganisms.

"In short, banana peels are a good source of nutrients for plants but the recommendation would be to compost it before applying it to the soil as a source of nutrients," says Gatiboni.

Make Compost Tea

If you like the idea of liquid fertilizer, try making compost tea. Here, you take finished compost and steep it in water to extract the compost's nutrients and microorganisms.

Use Commercial Fertilizers

You can also use standard, commercial fertilizers. There are many fertilizers on the market, both liquid and solid plant food, that can aid in the growth of your house plants.