Have you ever thought that ordinary baking soda or used coffee grounds can become a secret weapon in the fight for a perfect harvest?
Everyone has products in their kitchen that have been gathering dust on the shelves for years, but few people know that they can be used for more than just cooking.
For example, eggshells, which we throw into the trash without thinking, contain calcium, which plants need to strengthen their roots.
And iodine diluted in water saves tomatoes from late blight better than many store-bought products. We'll tell you how to turn trash into gold for your garden beds without spending a penny.
Imagine: instead of buying expensive fertilizers, you just take what you already have on hand.
The coffee grounds you throw away every day are a natural fertilizer for roses and hydrangeas. Not only does it saturate the soil with nitrogen, but it also repels slugs. And if you mix it with water, you get an ideal solution for watering seedlings.
Tea leaves placed under currant bushes stimulate the growth of berries.
Even banana peels buried at the roots of peppers will make them sweeter and juicier. The main thing is to know how and when to use these “kitchen life hacks” so as not to harm the plants.
Take regular sugar - it can be an excellent stimulant for flowering plants. Dissolve a tablespoon in a liter of water and water geraniums or petunias with this solution. Sugar will give the plants energy for bright and long flowering.
Just don't overdo it: too much sweet stuff will attract ants.
And if you notice that the leaves of your plants are losing color, try spraying them with a solution of hydrogen peroxide (1 tablespoon per liter of water). This will not only restore the rich shade of greenery, but also protect against fungal infections.
Don't forget about yeast - it works as a natural growth stimulant. Dissolve a pack of dry yeast in a bucket of warm water, add a spoonful of sugar and let it sit for a couple of hours. Pour the resulting mixture over cucumbers or zucchini.
The result will surprise you: the plants will begin to actively grow leaves and ovaries.
You can also use the yeast solution to root cuttings - just place them in the liquid for a day before planting.
Another secret is vinegar. If weeds attack the paths between the beds, mix vinegar with water (1:1) and treat the unwanted vegetation.
The product is especially effective in sunny weather: the acid burns the leaves, and the roots, left without nutrition, die. But be careful: do not allow the solution to come into contact with cultivated plants.
Use onion peels to protect against pests. Pour a liter of boiling water over a handful of peels, leave for a day, strain and spray on cabbage or radish.
The smell of onions will scare away cruciferous fleas, and the vitamins from the infusion will strengthen the immunity of plants. And if you mix the husk with garlic peelings, you will get a powerful remedy against aphids.
Don't rush to throw away potato peelings. They can be buried in holes when planting cabbage - the starch and potassium contained in the peel will nourish the plant all season.
Or dry the peelings, chop them up and add them to the compost - this will speed up its maturation.
The main rule is to experiment, but keep it in moderation. For example, too much coffee grounds can acidify the soil, and too much eggshells can slow down the growth of plants that prefer acidic soil.
Start with small doses, observe the reaction of the plants and gradually find the ideal balance.
