You buy a bunch of yellow bananas at the supermarket, let them sit for a few days, because, well, life, and then when you finally reach for one for a snack, you discover that they’ve already started to rot—a disappointing outcome not only for your belly, but also your wallet.

Bananas may be delicious and nutrient-packed (that sky-high potassium content? *Chef’s kiss*), but as any fruit fan knows, there’s a major catch: their short shelf life. To put it bluntly: “They’re not going to last long once you buy them,” Martin Bucknavage, MS, a senior food safety extension associate at Pennsylvania State University, tells SELF.

Sure, you can always mash up a few overripe ones to use in oatmeal, banana bread, and smoothies—they have a sweeter, more intense flavor and an easily blendable texture that actually makes them better suited to these types of recipes—but there are also ways to extend bananas’ seemingly blink-and-you-miss-it window of peak quality so you have more time to enjoy them fresh too. Here are three strategies for boosting their shelf life (for at least “a couple days longer,” Bucknavage says) so they don’t turn mushy and overripe before you have a chance to chow down.

1. Store them in a cool, dry place (or in the fridge once they’ve fully ripened).

High temps increase the activity of microorganisms and other factors that cause spoilage, so keeping your bananas out of heat and humidity can help increase their lifespan. For example, “you wouldn’t want to put the bananas on a counter where the sun’s shining through the window and hitting [them],” Bucknavage says. “That’s not going to be helpful.”

Ideally, the storage environment should be around 54 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Bucknavage: It’s “sort of that magical temperature that prolongs the shelf life without cold-damaging the fruit,” he says. While that point may be ideal, anything below the normal room temp in your home (which is likely significantly warmer than 54 degrees at this time of year) will still help delay ripening. Depending on your household layout, a cabinet, cupboard, or pantry could work well. “I store mine on my kitchen table where it’s away from the light,” Cindy Brison, MS, RDN, an extension educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, tells SELF. Select a location not too close to your oven or fridge, since those “have a tendency to give off heat.”

Once your banana reaches peak ripeness, you can also buy yourself some extra time by stashing it in the fridge. Basically, the lower temps will slow down continued maturation in the banana, preserving it for an extra day or two, Bucknavage says. While the chill will cause the peel to turn black, it won’t damage the fruit inside (like, the part you eat), so don’t freak out over any changes in appearance. “Don’t be afraid of that,” Brison says. “It’s natural.” Just make sure not to jump the gun: Storing bananas in the fridge before they’re ripe will mess with the ripening process. (Plus, they’ll end up with an off flavor and mealy texture, according to the University of Arkansas.)

2. Wrap their stems and keep them away from other fruit.

We know this tip might sound weird, but there’s some legit science behind it: You’re limiting the bananas’ exposure to ethylene, a gaseous plant hormone emitted by certain types of fruit “that causes fruit to mature,” Bucknavage says. Not only are bananas among the types of fruit that produce ethylene, they’re also particularly sensitive to it, so minimizing that exposure is maybe the single most effective preservation technique.

Most ethylene is released from the banana through the stem, according to Bucknavage. So by wrapping it, you effectively trap the gas, preventing it from reaching the rest of the fruit and thus averting that accelerated ripening process. All you have to do is cover with tinfoil or plastic wrap, and secure with a rubber band. This will “give you a little extra time on it,” Bucknavage says—around a day or two.

To further guard against extra ethylene exposure, you’ll also want to keep your bananas away from other ethylene-emitting produce, like apples, kiwis, peaches, pears, avocados, peppers, tomatoes, and cantaloupe. Try to avoid storing apples and bananas next to each other, for example—yes, even in the refrigerator.

3. Hang them up rather than letting them hang out on your kitchen counter.

Not only are dark, mushy spots in fruit unappetizing, they can also speed up deterioration, so preventing bruising in your bananas is yet another way to boost their longevity.

To do this, hang them from a hook rather than placing them on your counter (or another solid surface), where constant jostling and increased pressure on certain areas will “enhance them to start to turn brown,” Bucknavage says. Suspended in the air, “they’re not getting bounced around that much, so you’re not getting those big brown spots on ’em,” he says.

This way, your bananas will ripen more evenly, according to Brison. In contrast, say, a banana at the bottom of a fruit bowl might not ripen at the same rate across the board because it could be under varying amounts of pressure: Sometimes, you might find the top is green and the bottom is yellow depending on “how much stuff you have crammed on top of it”—so by the time certain portions are ripe enough to eat, others have already turned the corner.

Hanging your bananas also keeps them out of small, enclosed spaces (like a covered container or tied plastic bag), which speeds up the (over)ripening process, according to Brison. With nowhere to go, the concentrated ethylene will “ripen [them] faster,” she says. “You don’t want that because, again, it’s going to cause deterioration very quickly.” In contrast, hung-up bananas have improved air circulation, helping dissipate the surrounding cloud of ethylene gas. For that reason, Brison also keeps her bananas under her ceiling fan.

Together, wrapping the stems of your bananas and then hanging them in open air is a “good way to really maximize how long you could hold those,” Bucknavage says. Keeping your bananas fresh for longer and avoiding that swarm of fruit flies that comes when your produce has turned? Both big wins in our book!

Related:

• Are Prunes Really the Natural Constipation Remedy They’re Cracked Up to Be?
• You Really Should Be Washing Your Watermelon, According to a Food Safety Expert
• What Really Happens If You Eat Grapefruit With Your Meds?

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