In comparison to many other fruit and vegetable plants, tomatoes are in need of a lot more nutrition to bear healthy fruit.
Gardeners will often find that nutrient-rich potting soil is not usually enough to sustain tomato plants.
If these plants remain underfed, they will begin to show signs of nutrient deficiency. This will either be from the off or when the plant’s tomato fruits emerge.
The type of fertiliser tomato plants need are those rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
For those who don’t want to spend money on commercial organic fertiliser, preparing a homemade alternative would not only be so much cheaper but also aim to achieve the same results.
In need of a new way to fertilise her tomato plants, one woman took to the Gardening UK Facebook page to ask for some organic methods to use.
Emma Wood wrote: “I’ve been using this tomato feed from Sainsbury’s for a while, but it’s run out now. Is there an organic alternative I can use instead?”
One of the most common suggestions was to use banana peels as fertiliser. Jane Wilson said: “Banana peels contain potassium, which helps tomatoes to grow more huge and juicy fruit.
“To use it on your plant either add it to compost first or cut it up and bury it around the plant.”
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Lisa Marsden commented: “Banana peels will fertilise the plant and prevent any diseases from developing.”
Rosalyn Fair said: “When I don’t have any of my Tomorite left I often use banana peels. I heard that it’s the best as it helps tomato plants to produce bigger fruit.”
Glenn Fields commented: “Even though banana peels don’t contain nitrogen, I still feel like it does the best job when fertilising the plant.
“I used them last year and my tomatoes had never grown so big. I’m hoping for the same outcome this year.”
Sara Dunster said: “I like to add a single banana peel to each planting hole before planting the tomatoes. Then in summer I just add one to two peels around the top of the plant’s soil around the plant.”
Banana peels make for great fertiliser for tomato plants due to the high levels of potassium they contain which aids plants in moving nutrients and water between cells. However, it is particularly important for increasing the number of fruits produced that taste better.
Some gardeners argue that this household scrap makes for a good fertiliser because of what it doesn’t have – nitrogen. While plants need nitrogen, too much will create lots of green leaves but few fruits.
To use banana peels on tomato plants, bury them around the plant where they will release their nutrients as they break down. Tomatoes should be first fertilised when gardeners plant them, then again when the plant starts to set fruit.
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