How to Compost Using Bananas

Bananas are nutrient-filled organic "green" compost material.

Composting is a process of turning organic waste such as kitchen scraps into useable organic loam. You can turn anything that was once living into compost, including those blackened bananas sitting on your kitchen counter. Bananas are filled with nitrogen and are considered an organic green compost material. You can create compost using bananas by mixing them in a compost bin along with organic brown compost material. Organic brown compost materials are filled with carbon.

Things You'll Need

• Bananas
• Dead leaves
• Old newspaper
• Kitchen scraps
• Grass clippings
• Kitchen shears
• Lawn mower
• Paper shredder
• Chicken wire
• Garden hose
• Pitchfork
• Sieve

Instructions

1. Divide compost materials into nitrogen-filled organic green compost material and carbon-filled organic brown material. Examples of organic green material include grass clippings, bananas and kitchen vegetable scraps. Examples of organic brown material include dead leaves and old newspaper.

2. Cut the compost items down to size using a paper shredder, kitchen shears or a lawn mower. Move all the compost items to the location where you plan to build your compost pile.

3. Create a compost bin by bending a roll of chicken wire into a tube that is 3 feet in diameter. Place the tube on one end to form a compost bin.

4. Pile your compost in the compost bin in alternating layers of organic green compost materials and organic brown compost materials. Soak the compost with a garden hose until it is as damp as a wrung out sponge.

5. Check the internal temperature of the compost every day by inserting the probe of a cooking thermometer into the center of the compost pile. The internal temperature of compost should remain between 120 degrees and 160 degrees Fahrenheit .

6. Unfasten the chicken wire hoop and pull it away from the compost pile when the internal temperature of the compost drops below 120 degrees. Reassemble the hoop next to the pile and shovel the compost ingredients back into the hoop to mix them. Mixing the compost will help raise the internal temperature of the pile.

7. Sift the compost with a sieve to separate the fine loam from large, undecomposed pieces. Return the undecomposed pieces to a new compost bin. Allow the loam to sit for 6 weeks to kill any bacteria before using it in your soil.

Tips & Warnings

• The more organic browns that you use in your compost, the less stinky it will be. For compost to quickly decompose without odor, it needs a diverse balance of organic brown and organic green material.

References

• Washington State University Extension: Backyard Composting
• University of Minnesota Extension: Composting and Mulching
• Texas A&M University Extension: Don't Bag It™ - Compost It!!

Resources

• Texas A&M University Extension: Home Fruit Production--Banana