Organic gardeners try their best to preserve the health of their plants, except for using harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Therefore, we will provide some really efficient tricks that will help you keep your plants in the best shape in a completely natural way. These remedies may appear strange at first, but do not hesitate to try them, as they provide magnificent results!
To improve soil:
- Bury the kitchen waste in the garden
Every single part of your kitchen waste can be used in the garden, regardless of the fact whether you have a compost pile or not. You should make a ditch between the rows of vegetables, deep 1 foot, for the waste, and dump the kitchen waste there every day.
Cover up it with the soil piled along the edge of the ditch, to avoid bad smell and flies. As soon as you cover up the ditch, it will look like a raised bed, so plant the vegetables there the following year.
- Adjust pH with wood ash and coffee grounds
The pH of the soil varies if you plant various plants, and you should bring it as close to neutral as possible with large-scale soil amendments. Alkalize the soil in the asparagus patch, or the vegetable beds for beet, beans, broccoli with the wood ash from wood burning stoves and fireplaces. On the other hand, you can use coffee grounds around ericaceous plants such as azaleas, roses, and rhododendrons.
- Weed tea as fertilizer
The weeds use the nutrients of your garden plants, so you can use a weed tea fertilizer. You should cut them up and dunk them in some water which has been kept in the sun, and in several days, your nitrogen-high green tea will be prepared, so use it as folia spray or soil fertilizer.
You can also use comfrey (Symphytum officinale) to make a tea, as its deep roots absorb nutrients from deeply in the soil and make them available for the plant.
- Use your pee to fertilize plants
The urine is high in nitrogen, and even though its composition varies, its general NPK ratio is 11-1-2. Therefore, the nitrogen in it promotes lush foliage growth and is especially effective in the case of greens and grassy plants, such as corn.
If you pee directly on them, the high amounts of salt may scorch the plants, so do it a bit away from the plant’s base, or collect the pee in a bottle, dilute it with water in ratio 1:10, or even more, in the case of tender plants, and apply it to the root zone.
- Vinegar as weed killer
When it comes to weeds, gardeners would try anything to eliminate them. However, instead of the chemical weed killers, you can use vinegar, which is their better, natural variant.
Just pour it into a spray bottle and drench the weeds, preferably on a hot and sunny weather. The acid will scorch the weeds and destroy them in a couple of days.
You should water the place afterward to eliminate the excess acidity, or you can sprinkle some baking soda to neutralize it.
- Add oyster shells and eggshells to your garden beds
Sweeten the soil and boost its health with the use of a slow-release fertilizer made of crushed shells of oysters and eggs. Make the pieces as small as possible, so you can use a rolling pin. The soil is alkalized by the calcium carbonate in the shells.
To fight diseases:
- Bury some pennies in the garden
If you bury a few copper coins in the garden, you will support the health of the soil and keep your plants safe and healthy, as you will avoid fungal infections.
Copper is a popular fungicide, and the known fungicide Bordeaux mixture is made of copper sulfate and lime. As soon as you bury a copper coin in the soil, it will start releasing metal slowly, and kill the fungal spores in the soil.
- Fight fungal diseases with baking soda
Commercial fungicides are extremely harmful as they are loaded with toxic ingredients, and their use for your houseplants, vegetables, and plants is not recommended.
On the other hand, you can use baking soda, which is an effective, cheap, non-toxic anti-fungal spray, which is used easily and provides amazing effects.
You should add a tablespoon in a glass of warm water, and pour the solution in a spray bottle. Then, Soak the plant in it to drip down and drench the soil.
For bug control:
- Neem oil
The best way to protect your plants from pests is to use Neem oil extracted from the seeds of the Neem tree. This oil prevents the development of insects and their ability to proliferate.
You should add a few drops of any detergent t ½ of water and a teaspoon of Neem oil in a spray bottle, shake well, and after 8 hours, drench the soil and the surrounding soil. Repeat this once a week.
- Bring in some guests to feed on the pests
You should introduce potent natural enemies in order to keep pests at bay, as they may cause great damage. You can purchase aphid eaters online of garden supply stores. Also, you should plant yarrow, or clover, or herbs like mint and fennel, which are also helpful against insects.
- Remove aphids with soap and water
Ants like to milk them, so they help aphids to colonize very quickly and multiply even quicker. However, you can prevent and remove mild infestations with a nice bath with water and soap, as its oil- cutting formula eliminates the waxy coating on the aphids, and makes them prone to dehydration. In a gallon of water, add two tablespoons of dish soap and mix well. Spray the plants with this mixture.
- Control ants in the garden with borax and honey
Ants are not too dangerous for your plants, but their aphid farms can actually lead to a serious damage, as they carry soft-bodied pests which suck plant to buds. Therefore, make sure you control the ants to prevent further complications.
Mix borax and honey to prepare a paste which will serve as an organic ant-killer. Apply this borax paste around the base of the stems of plants infested with aphids. The consumption of the borax will dehydrate ants, and even destroy the entire colony if they carry some of it home.
To promote plant health:
- Drive a nail into a tree to make it yield
The practice has shown that driving a nail into a tree provides great effects in jolting a tree into flowering and fruit set. If you drive a nail into the trunk of an old apple tree, it will be coaxed to flower.
This is also done in India to stimulate coconut trees to bear fruit. Try this trick to make your trees bloom. The trees are not damaged by the nails, as they have a self-healing mechanism which produces scar tissue and isolates such foreign bodies.
- Coconut water for root development
Coconuts contain a clear liquid inside, known as coconut milk, or coconut water, which is high in minerals, and improves the root development.
Replace the synthetic rooting hormones with coconut water, which is high in gibberellic acid and cytokinins to enhance the germination of seeds and root development in cuttings.
- Improve fruit set with Epsom salt
Epsom salt can help you if your pepper plants drop fruits, as this salt is extremely high in magnesium, which is a vital chlorophyll component.
In a quart bottle of warm water add 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt, and shake well. Spray the plants with it for 2 weeks, when they start flowering until the fruiting process is over. You can also sprinkle Epsom salt crystals around the plants once a week.
- Extend growing season with tubs of water
You can use tables of water to regulate the microenvironment in the garden. The water is heated by the solar radiation, as well as the garden soil. The soil is quickly cooled down in the evening, so the water slowly releases the stored up heat. The garden is kept warmer due to the water, so your plants are boosted a bit more before the winter.
To help the absorption of heat energy, you can use water tubs in controlled environments within plant tent. Just cover the tubs with black plastic sheeting to prevent water loss due to evaporation.
- Rusty nails in watering can help fight iron deficiency
The growth of your plants is significantly determined by iron, and its deficiency may lead to a condition known as iron chlorosis, manifested by yellowing of leaves, while their veins remain green.
Iron chlorosis is most often a result of the inability of the plants to absorb the iron, which may be caused by excessive amounts of phosphorous in the soil or high pH.
For a quick-fix, spray the plants with some water high in iron. The regular supply of iron can be ensured by several rusty nails in the watering.
- Play music
Almost all conscientious gardeners talk to their plants, and you can now start playing some music. Plant biologists have confirmed that music significantly improves the growth of plants.
Interestingly, Dorothy Retallack has conducted experiments which have shown that plants even lean towards the speakers that play the kind of music they like.
Observations have found that plants prefer classical music to country music; absolutely love jazz, and hate rock.
Other interesting facts concerning the affinity of plants towards music are the following: DeMorgenzon vineyard in South Africa plays baroque music, while Paradiso di Frassina in Tuscany, Italy, plays selected classical pieces to stimulate their growth and development.
Sources and References:
www.naturallivingideas.com
familylifegoals.com
Featured image sources:
www.naturallivingideas.com
www.mychamplain.net
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