For the green-fingered among us, the warmer summer weather is good news as it means better conditions for growing fresh produce.
Tomatoes are a popular choice for growing at home and summer is their peak season. But they aren't always easy to grow, as they need plenty of vital nutrients in their soil.
If they're underfed, they won't be as rich in nutrients, so a good fertiliser that's packed with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium is recommended.
And there's no need to spend huge amounts of money on it either, as "the best" natural fertiliser can be made from other common household ingredients.
The Express reports that 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.
She 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.
One person 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.”
“Banana peels will fertilise the plant and prevent any diseases from developing.”
A third person 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.”
And a fourth raved: “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.”
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.
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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