Bananas and tomatoes

[Davyburns]

erm, its 2320, and this is Davy pleading the fifth...

[snohare]

erm, its 2320, and this is Davy pleading the fifth...

We'll let you off, as long as you don't start snoring in five minutes, or begin singing "Scots Wha Hae" !
Mark you, it normally takes whisky to get a spirited rendition of that one.

[Sylvan]

I think Davy pleading the fifth may have been asking for whisky

[snohare]

Excuse my error - being a Scotsman, and an Aberdonian to boot (ie, thought mean by the Scots) I thought that taking the fifth was only done when buying a round !

[Davyburns]

We'll let you off, as long as you don't start snoring in five minutes, or begin singing "Scots Wha Hae" !

Not sure of the connection there unless your geographys a bit off

[chris]

Depends on the pesticides used. The ones used on bananas are carbamyls and organophosphates I believe - so fungicides and insecticides. The latter breaks down relatively quickly but might affect slugs et al I suppose; the former would probably make a longer-term difference to composting and soil structure over a period of years, due to the importance of fungi in the process.
Non-organic bananas are pretty close to the top of the list of things I avoid, due to sensitivity to pesticide residues. (Out of season salad veg and tomatoes, grown in Spanish polytunnels, would be up there too.)
I've never thought about it - I would normally never have non-organic skins to use - but I suppose that non-organic ones wouldn't have the same fungus gnat problem ! Given the horrendous mutagenic and teratogenic properties of the pesticides used, I think I prefer the gnats thank you, even without the stomach problems they are likely to cause me.
Quite apart from anything else, I feel sorry for the poor b***ers who have to work amidst the poisonous growing environment, and I refuse to support it.

Same here, exactly.

I believe all the use of chemicals has made the farmers sterile too.

[JamesM]

The only problem is those damned tiny flies...!

I think i have more hate for them than anything else on the planet. Even the cat which disturbs my border night after night.

I've never done it, but will certainly be using bananas to ripen green toms this year as whatever i tried last year failed

[Alison]

Never heard of using bananas in the planting whole and very rarely have enough problem ripening to bother using them for that either although it defo works. Re the organic debate, don't eat many but do always buy organic although that could have more to do with the delivery company I use as I'm not sure they do conventional ones. Any peel I have goes either in the wormery or compost bin and gets used either in the garden or taken in trugs up to the lottie to use as a lovely mulch.

[Sylvan]

The only problem is those damned tiny flies...!

I think i have more hate for them than anything else on the planet. Even the cat which disturbs my border night after night.

It's those odd little grey hares that really bother me...

[snohare]

It's those odd little grey hares that really bother me...

Hey, careful what you say, that's my relatives you're talking about there !
(No, I'm not a champion boxer, but I did acquire this name for my ability to be at home dug into a snowdrift. )

[eskymo]

The first time I ever grew tomatoes I grew them outside in a window box and I used banana skins burried into the soil. I had the best ever crop. Not used bananas since then and not had much luck with my tomatoes. So there you go - it worked for me. I'm growing most of my tomatoes in the greenhouse this year but will be planting four plants outside and think I'll use bananas with those ones and see how they get on.