In April last year, 2022, a dear one living in Norway, sent me a photo with an explanation of how he grows roses in banana.

“Growing roses in banana. Roots in three weeks. Just water and soil that’s it. Banana is rich in phosphate. Works with vegetables too using seeds or cuttings.”

D. O

My initial reaction was to protest for I love, love, love, love eating my bananas. Well, 10 months later, I am experimenting on growing roses in banana. I have combined another idea I learnt from a friend who sent me a video on how to turn plastic water bottles into self-irrigating gardens.

Cut the bottle in half so that the upper part upside down fits well in the bottom part. Place in the bottle a rope that connects the upper part and the bottom part. Fill the upper part with soil and the lower part with water. The rope shall suck the water from the bottom part to the upper part and vice versa.

Am thinking, organic farming is really not ‘rocket-science’. It is easier than many of us think. Plenty of rotting bananas in farmers’ markets all over Uganda that can be turned into fertilizer for growing flowers and vegetables. Why isn’t it a thing already?

In the meantime, I will up-date in three months on how my experiment is doing