Neither Banana Peels Nor Eggshells: The Overlooked Tomato Fertilizer In Your Fridge

Why bother paying for fertilizers at the garden center when everything you need to grow stellar tomatoes can be found in your own refrigerator? Instead of throwing those browning banana peels in the trash, reuse them as fertilizer in your garden. Got leftover eggshells? They can benefit your tomato plants by adding calcium to the soil. However, there is another tomato fertilizer in your fridge that you’re overlooking because you’re most likely using it for your granola. Yep, we’re talking about yogurt.

A fermented product made by introducing beneficial bacteria to hot milk, yogurt has been promoted for years for having numerous health benefits. These include protein, magnesium, gut-friendly probiotics, and bone-building calcium. Now, it stands to reason that whatever is healthy for people to consume is also good for plants, right? While there are no scientific studies that concretely prove that yogurt is great for tomatoes, there are plenty of growers online who swear by its use. The biggest thing yogurt has going for it is its calcium content.

Calcium is a necessary nutrient for tomatoes to prevent blossom end rot. This occurs when dark rotting spots appear on the bottom of the fruit and is caused by a lack of calcium  in the fruit, which in turn is caused by calcium deficiency in the soil. By mixing yogurt into the soil around your tomato plants, you can potentially increase the calcium content in the plants, thereby saving them from blossom end rot and increasing fruit yield.

Before you go slapping yogurt all over your tomato patch, you need to make sure you are using the right kind. Try to only use plain, unsweetened yogurt. This way, it is devoid of any kind of flavorings or sugars that could easily attract pests. It’d also be best to use yogurt from a larger, 2lb container so you’ll have enough for your mixture. Apart from the yogurt, you’ll also need a measuring cup and a gallon container filled with water.

Measure out a cup of yogurt and mix it into the gallon of water. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes in order for the yogurt to fully incorporate with the water. The reason for the dilution is so that the yogurt is more easily absorbed into the soil. It’s the same principle as using milk, which is another DIY fertilizer that could make tomatoes thrive.

Once your mixture is ready, you can pour it directly onto the soil at the base of your tomato plants. Do this slowly so as not to disturb or wash out any soil. Also make sure the soil does not splash onto the tomato plant, as the dirt could carry other diseases to the tomatoes. A great way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to use mulch, which will also help retain level amounts of moisture to prevent your tomatoes from cracking and splitting.