Oranges are delectable fruits packed with vitamin C, but believe it or not, orange peels have several benefits for your garden. The peels can act as a compost material to enrich your soil or be used in the garden to deter common pests like aphids. Rather than throwing your peels away, we spoke to gardening experts who shared their tips for using orange peels in the garden.

Use Orange Peels as Compost

Several fruit and vegetable scraps, including orange peels, can be added to your soil as compost. Orange peels enrich the soil with essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, boosting plant root development. “Be sure to only use organic orange peels in your garden as you do not want chemicals to steep into your garden soil,” says Adam Weiss, gardener and founder of Pike Lane Gardens. 

To use orange peels in your compost, start by drying the peels out. Grind the orange peels or very finely chop them up. Add this material to your compost pile or spread it directly around the base of your plants before watering. Orange peels take a while to decompose, so chopping them up into smaller pieces is essential. 

Create an Ant Repellent

Orange peels can make for excellent natural ant repellents. “Ants dislike the smell, and oranges contain d-limonene, which is a natural insect repellent,” says Steve Corcoran, CEO, Lawn Love. Like with the compost idea, the best method for using orange peels in this way is to first dry the peels completely. After this, you can then grind the orange peels up into a powder and next sprinkle the powder material around your garden. Because it’s a loose powder, you may have to repeat this process several times as the material decomposes or blows away.

Make a Biodegradable Seed Starter Pot

For plants you wish to start as seedlings, you can use half an orange peel as a biodegradable seed starter pot. According to our experts, orange peels are full of nitrogen and potassium, which can help give young plants a nutrient boost. Cut the fruit in half and remove the flesh and seeds. Fill the halves with soil and sow your seeds. Once the seedlings have one or two sets of true leaves, transplant them into larger containers.

Utilize Orange Peels as Aphid Deterrents 

Create a spray mixture using orange peels to deter aphids from your garden. “Add your fresh orange peel to a spray bottle with hot water and a touch of dish soap,” says Weiss. Shake the mixture and then spray it periodically on the lower leaves and stems of your garden plants. “The dish soap allows the solution to stick to the leaves, and the orange smell deters the aphids,” he says. Reapply the mixture after it rains.