Why experienced gardeners stock up on conifer cones: take some too – excellent material
Spruce and pine cones are excellent material for gardening and vegetable growing.
The expert of the online publication BelNovosti, agronomist, and landscape designer Anastasia Kovrizhnykh shared methods of using them on a summer cottage.
First of all, cones can be used as mulching material, and whether to crush them or not is a personal matter. In both cases, the mulch is very durable.
Some people worry that the pine cones may acidify the soil, and this is true, but the acidification is very slight and does not pose such a big threat to the plants.
Cones are great for trichoderma to inhabit. They themselves are often a source of natural trichoderma, and if you want to speed up this process, you can “settle” trichoderma in cones yourself.
To do this, you will need to dilute the drug "Trichoderma-KME" in a proportion of 1:100 and water the cones with the resulting solution.
Cones absorb moisture very well, so when planting any plants – be it annual seedlings or perennials – you can fill the holes with crushed cones. This is especially useful during dry periods and when humidity fluctuates.
Another way to use cones (crushed) is as a soil loosener. It is necessary to use about one third of the volume of soil, which has a very good effect on the growth of seedlings.
Finally, you can use the same material (in crushed form) as drainage for indoor plants.
Previously, we shared a useful method that will help you save seeds until next season.
