Banana Skins

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by cajary, Jun 22, 2010.

  1. PeterS

    PeterS Total Gardener

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    I'll bet that was an interesting visit Shiney.
     
  2. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Hi Peter,
    It was very interesting - apart from the snake part of it. When they go to harvest the bunches they first use a long hooked pole to pull the branches down and try and shake the snakes out of their little plastic greenhouses. Like Chairman Mao and his comment about waking a tiger. :hehe:
    They use all of the banana plant, leaves and trunk as well as the fruit.
     
  3. Melinda

    Melinda Gardener

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    This was similar to my first thought- apart from looking ugly as hell, wont they use up soil nutrients while being digested by soil organisms?
    Like what occurs when applying fresh animal manure?

    Explained here:
    From here: http://www.biodynamics.in/Compost2EEP.htm

    Also wouldnt it be better if the nutrients were in a soluble form?
    Stick the skins in a blender with some water and pour it on. Or burn the dry skins and water on the ashes.

    /chemistry student!
     
  4. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Sounds reasonable but I don't know whether blending or burning may change the chemical constituency. I don't think letting them biodegrade will have much effect on the other nutrients as it would be a fairly lengthy process if just left on the surface.
     
  5. Melinda

    Melinda Gardener

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    The breaking up of the skins first will increase its total surface area and the rate of decomposition, meaning any nutrients will be more quickly/ freely available for use by the plant.

    But in any case, surely while the skins are decomposing, the process will actually deplete nitrogen in the soil. Any nutrients contained in the skin will only be available to the plant (in water soluble form of course) after decomposition.

    Ive just eaten another banana, makes 3 for the day!
     
  6. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Hi Melinda,
    Do you get attacked by mosquitos? A non-related outcome of some research done at Warwick University found that mosquitos are attracted to the smell of bananas that permeates through the skin. Apparently their sense of smell can spot it from miles away. :scratch:
     
  7. PeterS

    PeterS Total Gardener

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    Melinda - thanks for that link. It took some reading, but there is a lot of good stuff in there. Fertilisation is a highly complex subject. I can sort of get my head round the NPK bit (but even that is difficult, because there are several salts involved for each of the elements). But I still have little feel for the retention of fertiliser.

    At the Harrogate flower show, some time ago, I got chatting to some people who were selling - not a fertiliser, but a fertiliser retention material. They said that this material, which was quite expensive, would make fertiliser more available to the crop. They had obviously done a lot of research on the subject. If I were a big scale farmer, I would have taken it very seriously - but I would need some proof. But as an amateur gardener I didn't feel I could pay for something I didn't understand.

    I think for most of us, even if we think we understand a bit of the theory, plant feeding is a very hit and miss process.
     
  8. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    I think that most gardeners just consider that everything is OK if the plant flowers or produces fruit well. It's only when that doesn't happen that we start to look for other ways of doing things. Of course, some of us do experiment but it is mostly hit and miss. Well!! it is with me, anyway. :hehe:
     
  9. andrewh

    andrewh Gardener

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    The chemical process involved in nutrient exchange are complicated (it's all about positive and negative charges on particles and how they interact - you don't want to know!)

    For us gardeners, though, it's pretty simple to improve a soil so more nutrients are available to the crop via these processes- lots and lots of well-rotted organic matter!
     
  10. johnbinkley

    johnbinkley Gardener

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    Burning will result in the gas CO2 and water as major decomposition products the rest being largely metal and non-metal oxides. Essential nutrients should still be there though but likely to be in a different form.
    John
     
  11. Melinda

    Melinda Gardener

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    That's really interesting because I get bitten very often! :D I have to cover up in the early evenings, even in the UK. I also eat quite bit of garlic- and that's supposed to ward off biting insects.

    I dont think I like the idea of walking around alternately attracting and repulsing clouds of biting insects!
     
  12. Melinda

    Melinda Gardener

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    Im very like you in that I fear the hit and miss feeding, especially of long term border plants. By the end of the summer Ive sometimes had to water in sequestrated trace elements to correct imbalances Ive spotted in the leaves.

    Im off for a google about this fertiliser retention material you were referring to. It might be worth it to coddle some of the more valuable plants.
     
  13. andrewh

    andrewh Gardener

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    Chuckle. Lots of well rotted organic matter / compost is the only "fertiliser retention material" you'll ever need, Melinda!

    There is also Micorrhizal fungi, which is kind of a similar thing. It's a fungus that forms a sort of 'sheath' around plant roots, providing them with more access to soil nutrients. You can buy that in most garden centres these days.
     
  14. Melinda

    Melinda Gardener

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    Is that the stuff the younger guy one Gardener's World Team has started using when planting? He said something about it promoting root development.

    Well if I can get some for under a tenner ... :D Im in London and the soil is very heavy clay. We've dug in lots of compost over the years, but it could never be enough. :(
     
  15. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Clay soils contain lots of nutrients and just need lots of compost dug in. The old traditional way of breaking up the clay and improve the soil condition was to dig loads of straw in to it as well as compost. This helped stop it clogging together and also helped aerate it. We used to just go and collect the straw after harvesting but I don't suppose they do much of that in London. :)
     
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