I just struck it rich with the nearby Starbucks; they can give me all the coffee grounds I would ever need. In addition, my locally owned discount (out of date sometimes) grocery store frequently has bananas that are definitely headed for the garbage bin. I think I will talk to the manager about taking some of them off his hands.
So what do you think? Are they good for brugs?
brugs: coffee grounds, bananas?
Ive never used Bananas but, I put coffee grounds in everything!
My brugs love 'nanas ;-D
The whole naner or just the peel?
coffee grounds http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/385772/ http://www.plantea.com/slug-baits-coffee.htm http://www.sustainableenterprises.com/Business/coffeefert.htm
banana peels http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roses/msg0303063421657.html?25 http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_gardening_basics/article/0,1785,HGTV_3589_1392780,00.html
Ma Vie,
What great sites! I am really on a roll. My "salvage grocer" just sold me unusalbe bananas for ten cents a pound (he has to make money some way.) My blender has been working overtime, and I have my second big batch of pureed bananas and peels to pour on each of my plants. I will follow that up with more coffee grounds to deter slugs.
Also, as I passed a nearly completed construction, I saw many bales of rained-on hay (straw?) which I intend to wrangle from whoever owns it. How to get it home? Who knows. I can cover my beds with it and keep them moist during our inevitable summer drought.
My mind is really clicking about free ingredients to mulch with or to enrich the soil with. Sum Fun!
Gloria, be sure to use some newspaper below the straw/hay --- will prevent weeds from sprouting. i know! i had done it and it works! be sure to use rock/bricks to hold down the newspaper for it might fly away when the paper is dried. yes, the newspaper and straw/hay will keep moisture for ur plants. u can also use pine leaves.
it is good u are using blender cuz banana peels takes too long to deteriorate. i have an old food processor i use only for garden stuff.
if u got are near a beach, u can also gather some seaweeds, a great source of nitrogen and extremely good plant food too! since i am too far from the beach, i ask my siblings to buy sea weeds for me in oriental stores when the sea weeds are on sale. they send it to me via priority mail. a 2 oz. pkg. cost about less than $3.00. the price is well worth it cuz my plants do love seaweeds, not to mention that i love it as salad too. LOL! the 2 oz. pkg of seaweed, mix in with the alfalfa pellets can feed all the plants i had!
I make mulch out of my banana plants when the get done blooming and die....and I also mulch the leaves and stuff that comes off of them. I use the nanner mulch in the botoms of pots to help with drianinage but also ahd good fertilizer...and I use the mulch around some of my plants. The leaves, stlaks, 'trunks' etc off of nanners are just as high in potassium as the fruit. Just my 2 cents on nanners. BTW, my first anner tree that bloomed will be ripe for picking soon...just in time for a second tree to start blooming...so as long as no storms knock the fruit ofut of the trees, I should have a great year for nanners...not to mention a LOT of nanner mulch!
I've never used banana peels for brugs because I put them around my roses. Will have to try some on other plants and see how they do. I'd love to have a banana plant bloom, but our short summers don't allow it. Hope you have some good eating with your nanners.
I think I will experiment with banana peels and coffee grounds....
BamaBelle, I wonder if an Ensete ventricosum has the same rich leaves. I have a huge one that is much taller than my house that has leaves that need to come off. I still am unclear how I would cut it up. Though on my brug beds I could just lay them down between the rows and let them disintegrate. The leaves are bigger than my station wagon though. It would take me forever to cut them up with a knife.
I keep meaning to stop by Starbucks for coffee grounds. I can't stand the smell of coffee though, will my garden smell of it?
Carol, let us know what yoru experiment shows!
