Banana Peels ?

[Duff Bromley]

So, for the third time I read an online article saying do not feed worms banana peels due to the pesticides on them. My worms love them. I guess I could buy the organic bananas but they are expensive !! And if we don't do it for our own health, should we buy them for the worms health LOL

So what do you all think? Banana peels or no banana peels?

[Kayla]

I add banana peels all of the time and haven't noticed any issues, but I don't know.

[Eve]

I also add Banana peels with no problems. And in this economy I'm not shelling out the big bucks for organic.
You can wash the peels off if your worried about sprays.

[catherine daly]

I had a total worm die off in a healthy bin about a year ago, a day after adding about six large banana skins. Normally I buy organic bananas only, but this time I was making muffins and there was a bunch being sold off cheap cos they were nearly rotten. The worms all developped yellow sores within a few hours and crawled to the surface to die- all dead within 24 hours. Since then I have cleared well clear of non-organic. Especially in products from developping countries. Apart from what pesticides might do to the consumer- imagine living and working on a poorly regulated plantation and breathing that stuff in all day?

[Kayla]

How big is your bin? I can't imagine adding 6 banana skins to my bin at one time, but I'm just in a worm factory.

[catherine daly]

It's a can-o-worms, but I left them on the surface, just under the moisture mat, and didn't dig them in. The bin was out doors at the time, and it was spring, so fairly cool, and temperature or heating up definitely wasn't an issue. I hadn't fed in a few days, and alot of my other waste was going into my other worm bin. The banana skins were almost untouched, it was like as if something had leached out of them into the surrounding bedding. I read since that it may not just be pesticides used in growing, but in storage and transportation.

[Woo]

Yes to banana peels. They are my worms favorites.

[Kristie]

I am too cautious to add banana peels to my bin, having heard too many stories like catherine daly's. I trench compost my banana peels outdoors instead, so they aren't going to waste, but the earth provides a buffer against whatever nastiness might be in them. If I don't finish a banana or there's a dark spot on it that I don't want to eat, I do put that in the bin and have seen no problems from that.