Tag: plants
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Can I Water My Plants With Tea?
Can I Water My Plants With Tea?
Have you ever been sitting out in your garden enjoying a cup of tea and when your finished there’s some left in the tea pot. You could put it down the drain however that would be a waste of water. You maybe wondered “Can I water my plants with tea?”
Let’s find out…
What benefits are there in watering with drunken tea? If you conduct a chemical analysis of tea, you can find in the composition of the drink minerals and organic matter, as well as tannins, that will acidify your soil. Not all houseplants need such acidification.
We can certainly say that ferns that suffer from the action of carbonate salts in soil or water as well as cacti that love hard water and the tannins it contains, respond well to tea.
The rest of the houseplants, however, react to the watering of the teapot with a lot of disdain or probably disgust. More so, there is no reliable experimental data that would prove the obvious benefit of such a fertilizer.
There is an opinion that regular mulching of the soil with tea residue helps to retain moisture, and if you make tea leaves under flowers indoors and gently store them in a flowerpot, the plants will receive a fertilizer with an extended lifespan.
Disadvantages of Watering Your Plants with Tea
Flavored tea with additives can lead to dramatic consequences for flowers including root rot and imbalance of soil nutrients.
Watering plants with tea leaves that contain sugar provokes the appearance of a fungus mosquito in the pot, black midges, and other pests that are not easily eliminated. These pests will start a toxic relationship with your flower and will require a huge chunk of alimony to severe the marriage.
When using moldy tea, you can introduce bacteria, mold in the soil (apparently) and cause soil contamination.
For cases of domestic greenhouses that prefer acidic soil, such addition can only do more damage than good.
Top Tip: You can determine the acidification of the soil by such signs as a greenish coating on the soil, which gives off an unpleasant smell, rotting of inflorescences and leaves, as well as mold on the petioles of plants.
These arguments will make the supporters of the “grandmother” methods reflect and think deeply. But if you are a cultured person and can’t be dissuaded by what neighborhood folks think, you might as well go ahead with teeing up your flower, pun intended.
How to Use Tea Leaves for Irrigation and Fertilizer?
This option may be acceptable to supporters of organic floriculture, as natural remedies have recently become widespread.
Top Trick: Any tea can be used for watering: black, green, herbal. The main thing is that it does not contain additives and flavors of synthetic origin.
How to Water Plants With Tea Infusion?
Make sure your flowers need soil acidification. Plants like tomatoes, oxalis poinsettia, and east lily thrive in acidic conditions. A simple soil test can be performed with a litmus test.
You do not need to constantly pour this fertilizer under the flowers, several times a month is enough. Avoid watering your plants with tea that has added sugar, acidic or moldy solution. You can use a cool, weak, unsweetened solution at room temperature.
Top Trick: If, in addition to watering, the tea leaves also flow under the flowers, then it is necessary to strictly fix the amount of them, mixing them with the top layer of the soil. This method will help maintain humidity, which will require you to water the plant less often.
Some Other Ways to Use Tea Leaves.
If you are a tea addict like many of us, then you might be “elated” to discover that there are other means to use them.
A large amount of waste after drinking tea can be turned into a drainage layer when planting a flower in a new pot.
To do this, lay the tea leaves on the layer of expanded clay, sprinkle with earth and plant a flower. When it reaches the roots of the lower soil layer, part of the tea leaves already decompose and serve as organic fertilizer.
Instead of a drainage layer, the dried tea leaves are mixed with the flower soil when a plant is transplanted into another pot. This additive is acceptable if the soil is dense, then it acts as a baking powder.
Wrapping Up
So, if you use tea for watering, then you should do it following all the rules, do not use additives and flavorings, or moldy raw materials. This method is best for plants that prefer acidic soil and hard water with tannins.
When adopting this method, try to regularly loosen the soil under the flowers indoors and monitor the condition of the plants. When midges and other insects appear, you need to cultivate the soil and reduce watering.
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Interesting Ways To Use Epsom Salts In Your Garden
Interesting Ways To Use Epsom Salts In Your Garden
Having green spaces and in particular, a vegetable garden, is always a big advantage, because it is very pleasant to grow beautiful and delicious things! Both amateurs and the most experienced are therefore often interested in methods to promote healthy and abundant growth.
Although not popularly known, Epsom salt can do real wonders if you know how to use it — no, not as a foot bath or a relaxing bath — but in the garden, where Epsom salt, which is also often called magnesium sulphate, is a natural fertilizer.
Let us tell you more about its benefits and the possible uses of this great natural product on your plants. Below are 13 interesting ways to use epsom salts in your garden.
What Are The Benefits Of Epsom Salt?
Epsom salt is composed of hydrated magnesium sulfate, a natural mineral first found in the waters of Epsom wells in England. It has a variety of home remedy applications – the two best known, being a saline laxative and pain reliever. What many people don’t realize is that Epsom salt also has several uses in organic gardening for healthy plants.
Thanks to its richness in sulfate and nutritious magnesium, the natural mineral nutrient that is Epsom salt has many virtues for the garden which are useful at all stages of growth. In a nutshell, this salt adds the following benefits to your garden:
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It solidifies the seed and allows it to better absorb minerals.
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In addition, it allows the roots to be stronger.
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It offers longevity and vigor to plants to avoid dead plants and grasses.
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It promotes photosynthesis processes as well as those related to chlorophyll.
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These trace nutrients allow the plant to develop fruit and flowers in abundance.
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It causes plants to green even more and yellow even less. The flowers are brighter in color, and the fruits are bigger and tastier because they have more energy and therefore produce more sugar.
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And most importantly, it does not accumulate in the soil or water over time.
Now let’s break down in detail how Epsom salt optimizes your garden to the fullest potential.
Interesting Ways To Use Epsom Salts In Your Garden
1. Improve Seed Germination
Using Epsom salt as a soil amendment before seeding will give your garden a boost from the start. Magnesium facilitates seed germination and helps strengthen cell walls, resulting in more and stronger plants.
Thus, it contributes to the development of seeds. The chemical reaction generated by magnesium sulfate causes an acceleration of the reproduction phenomenon, that’s too much biology jargon, right? Let’s just say it promotes the multiplication and growth of plants.
For best results, apply 1 cup of Epsom salt per 100 square feet of cultivated soil or mix 1 to 2 tablespoons into the soil at the bottom of each hole before seeding.
2. A Salt that Protects Against Salt
Magnesium sulfate is also beneficial for potted plants as it removes common salt that naturally accumulates in the container. They undertake this job by blocking the cells at the level of the roots of plants and prevent them from assimilating nutrients in the soil. Thanks to Epsom salt, potted plants can eat properly, which promotes their growth.
3. Increase Nutrient Uptake
Many commercial fertilizers add magnesium to help plant roots absorb essential nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur). For those who are for all organic matter to nourish their gardens, adding Epsom salt to the soil will improve absorption naturally, eliminating the need for processed chemical fertilizers.
4. Countering the Shock of Transplanting
We have all seen how our plants and seedlings wilt when we move them from a small pot to a larger one, indoors to outdoors, or from a greenhouse to the ground.
Try feeding the transplants with Epsom salt once they are in their new environment to help the injured roots overcome the shock of the transplant. Remember to add a layer of soil over the salt strewn with holes so that the roots do not come into direct contact with these concentrated minerals.
5. Green Foliage
Plants that don’t get enough magnesium can be identified by their yellowing leaves. Indeed, magnesium is an essential element in the production of chlorophyll. Try sprinkling Epsom salt around your plants for healthier foliage.
About 1 tablespoon per 12 inches of height once a month will benefit the plants in your vegetable garden, as well as any trees, shrubs, flowers, and herbs that you want to green.
6. Prevent Curling
Short-term curling, a very common defect in plants, can also be caused by a deficiency of magnesium in plants. Again, add Epsom salt to the soil around the base of the diseased plant.
For faster absorption, you can also mix 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt in a gallon of water and apply directly to the leaves.
7. Garden Pests
Although Epsom salt does not dehydrate slugs and snails like table salt (sodium chloride), it can still be used to deter pests. Hydrated magnesium sulfate crystals are sharp, and when sprinkled around plants, they can scratch and irritate the body and feet of unwanted creatures in the same way as diatomaceous earth.
Keep in mind that Epsom salt dissolves very easily in water, so any amount of rain will likely wash them away.
8. Growing Sweeter Fruits
The production of fruit bodies is the most trying process in a plant’s life cycle. Apply Epsom salt to fruit and walnut trees, shrubs as well as vines using the same methods and amounts as given above to stimulate chlorophyll levels inside the plant cells. Increased energy means more sugar, which allows the plant to produce sweeter, healthier fruits.
9. Grow Tastier Tomatoes with Epsom Salt
Epsom salt promotes the growth of fruits and helps in the development of vegetable plants, such as tomatoes. For starters, it helps prevent blossom end rot. This disease is usually caused by a deficiency that causes the tip of the fruit to darken.
Tomato vines are among a handful of ordinary garden residents whose ratio of fruit to plant size is heavier than average, resulting in an even greater probability of magnesium deficiency. For this reason, tomatoes should be fed Epsom salt twice as often as other plants.
Additionally, because tomato vines are prone to calcium deficiency, which causes the flower tip to rot, the majority of tomato fertilizers contain calcium which will compete with magnesium for root absorption. Therefore, foliar feeding is the most efficient method of delivering magnesium to these plants.
For tomatoes growing in the ground, pour 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt mixed in 4 liters of water. Do this once a month from planting to harvest. This natural blend promotes growth and prevents rotting during flowering.
10. Grow Healthier Peppers
Peppers are another popular garden plant with an above-average size-to-fruit ratio. As such, they should also be fed magnesium every two weeks for better yields of larger fruit.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt for every foot of height around the drip line of your bell pepper plants once a week.
11. Beautiful Abundant Roses
Don’t you wonder why your neighbor’s rose bushes are denser than yours and produce so many flowers? The answer is very likely to be Epsom salt.
Not only does this help roses produce larger flowers in greater numbers, many successful rosaries will agree that the magnesium also helps the growth of new canes from the base of the plant. And of course, Epsom salt increases the production of chlorophyll, which means your leaves will brandish a stronger color.
For maximum benefit, roses should at least be fed Epsom salt at the time of planting, then at the first sign of new growth, and once more when the flowers are in full bloom.
12. A Substitute Foliar Fertilizer
In principle, fertilizer is an organic or human-designed material that stimulates plant growth. In the same way, Epsom salt is a substance containing nutrients essential for plant growth. It promotes better yield since the natural nutrients which it comprises are easily absorbed by the plants.
Epsom salt is often used as a foliar fertilizer, meaning it is sprinkled directly on the leaves. To do this:
Dilute a large teaspoon of salt in 1 liter of water and spray the mixture on the leaves of your green plants once or twice a month.
They will be more powerful and greener because the salt activates photosynthesis.
13. Enhance Your Lawn
It is pleasant to see very green lawns. Like all other plants, lawns need nutrients to optimize their development. And you can cheaply get that optimization in magnesium sulfate which participates in the formation of chlorophyll, thereby giving plants their green color.
However, it is advisable to follow some recommendations so as not to abuse this. Thus, the amount to be used varies depending on the surface to be treated:
1.5 kg of Epsom salt is enough for 25 m2;
3 kg are needed to maintain 50 m2 of grass.
It is advisable to seek the help of a specialist or to draw up a calculation sheet so as not to make a costly mistake in the exact dosage of the product
Another thing! Note that the addition of magnesium sulfate should preferably be done in spring.
How to use Epsom salt in Your Garden?
When planting, sprinkle about 250 grams of Epsom salt per 10 m² of land and turn the soil over before planting your seeds or plants.
At least once or twice a month, water the plants with a mixture of 3 liters of water for a tablespoon of Epsom salt. This chemical-free watering brings nutrients to the soil.
Every two weeks sprinkle a tablespoon of this salt on the tomato and pepper plants. For rose bushes, you can use a teaspoon occasionally.
For a green lawn, gardeners should sprinkle 1.5 kg of Epsom salt per 25 m². Thank you for reading 13 Interesting Ways To Use Epsom Salts In Your Garden
15 Interesting Ways To Use Coffee Grounds In The Garden
15 Interesting Ways To Use Coffee Grounds In The Garden
With coffee being one of the most consumed drinks in the world, chances are you have it in your home. If you belong to a household that never misses their daily morning filter coffee, chances are also high that you throw your coffee filter and its coffee grounds into the household garbage. Without giving up the satisfying taste that your coffee provides you can find new uses, both ecological, economical, and practical, for this ‘waste’, in your garden.
The whole breakfast can work as compost, so before throwing away leftover fruit or coffee grounds, give it a second thought. This drink will not only give you the energy you need to start a new day, but now it will also be your ally to fertilize your plants, and create a natural pesticide.
You may have already heard of the many different uses that can be made of coffee grounds in everyday life, such as deodorizing the refrigerator, maintaining its pipes, or even cleaning the chimney, but did you know that the garden has multiple uses as well? In this article, we will show you 15 different ways to use coffee grounds in the garden.
What is the Composition of Coffee Grounds?
The coffee grounds are what is left in the filter of the coffee maker after running water on them to make your little black gold. This residue is composed mainly of nitrogen but has components of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and copper. These elements are beneficial for both the soil and the plantations.
How to Get Coffee Grounds
To obtain a stable coffee supply, please maintain a good relationship with your local coffee distributor. Many coffee shops provide free coffee grounds in special packaging (such as Starbucks, Black Rock, & Dutch brothers). If they don’t, ask if they can do it especially for you. Most coffee stands will most likely be happy to give you their grounds. If you don’t drink much coffee, you can collect residues from your office lounge, grocery deli, or possibly your local restaurants particularly breakfast places (I.H.O.P., Elmers, Dennys).
15 Ways to Use Coffee Grounds in the Garden
A Compost Activator
If you have a composting bin, called a vermicomposter, to sort your organic or other waste, consider incorporating the coffee grounds into it. Putting coffee grounds in your compost will enrich it with the various minerals it contains such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and copper, but not limited to these.
Also, when buying coffee filters, opt for ones that are unbleached because they are biodegradable and often cheaper. They will therefore be able to go without problem in the compost while the laundered ones will only add to your trash of non-recyclable waste.
Regularly fertilizing with compost, mixing the coffee with the soil and other organic remains can completely reduce the need for conventional fertilizers.
A Feed for Worms
We all know that worms are a welcome sight in gardens because they are really pivotal to working the soil. The main ingredient in coffee is caffeine, and its stimulating virtues in humans are well documented. But we are not the only fans of this soothing effect, the earthworms will do anything for a swing or two.
They enjoy it and it boosts their activity. Earthworms are especially fond of it because it helps them digest the organic matter in your compost pile. Therefore, adding coffee grounds to your compost will allow a faster, and above all, more complete degradation.
Note: Since caffeine is the primary stimulant of interest for our slithering friends, decaffeinated coffee will not produce similar results.
Earthworms like coffee but only in minimal quantity. If you go overboard, the worms could die due to the inability to digest that much coffee acidity.
Hence, do not put more than one small cup of coffee a week in the soil of your garden, so that the worms survive.
Balance Soil pH
Due to their acidic content, coffee grounds can help balance the pH of overly alkaline soil. If you’re not sure what the pH level of your soil is, you can pick up a pH meter like this one. It will also show you the moisture level of you soil as well as the incoming light level.
Suppress Weed
There is a popular conception that fresh coffee grounds have some allopathic components, which are known for stifling plant growth. Therefore, they might become handy in suppressing the growth of weeds. This theory has however not been scientifically validated.
Nitrogenize the earth
A good alternative to nitrogen fertilizers, coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, since they are derived from processed seeds. Its proportion of around ten percent is ideal for enriching the earth with nitrogen, which will be of great help for the growth of plants, their flowering, and, in the case of having a garden, also their fruits.
An Odor Absorber
If you deal with plants like garlic or onions in the garden, you should be familiar with the very pungent smell left on your hands which are very difficult to wash off. Coffee grounds can be very useful in this case, as they eliminate bad odor. Just rub them with coffee grounds and rinse.
Maintain Natural Plant Color 
Coffee grounds are an excellent natural coloring. With its slight acidity, it is perfect for hydrangeas to help strengthen their blue coloring, as well as for tomatoes. To get premium results, it is best to use coffee grounds with blueberries, cranberries, and citrus fruits. Other plants that benefit from it are camellia, garden saplings, rhododendrons, and virya.
Its pH of 6.2 allows you to modify the color of hydrangea to a magnificent bluish hue. So coffee grounds might just be the ingredient needed to turn your back garden into a Dr. Who-style experiment site.
To do this:
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Spread the coffee grounds at the foot of the plant.
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Lightly hoe the soil of the garden to mix well.
Aids Growth of Seedlings
Mix one part of this brown gold with one part of garden soil to obtain an ideal soil to germinate your seeds.
Thanks to a carbon-nitrogen ratio of 20 (one part nitrogen to 20 part carbon), coffee grounds are ideal. They are also especially good as they gradually release nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, rather than at a go, which could be overwhelming for the young plants.
A Natural Repellent against Pests
Many small animals can be harmful to the garden, such as aphids, slugs, snails, carrot flies, and ants. But don’t rule out cats, who especially love to dig up seedlings and do theirs do wherever they want. They have their place in nature but if they could leave our plantations alone, we would be very happy!
To ward off harmful insects and gastropods from your garden and thus preventing them from ravaging your plants and crops, coffee grounds will act in two ways. The first is due to its smell which some do not like and therefore prefer to go their way. The second comes from the fact that the coffee grounds have a granular consistency which is particularly unpleasant or even painful, for snails and slugs, in particular, when they walk on them.
Beware of the rain which dilutes the coffee in the soil and therefore makes it less effective. After heavy rains, refresh your soil by sprinkling coffee grounds around your vegetable plants or flower beds.
Rabbits will also bypass flowers that use coffee grounds as mulch. As coffee grounds quickly decompose into the soil, they should be consistently refreshed once or twice a week to maintain their effectiveness as a repellent.
Still having issues with pests in your garden? Check this out.
Natural Pest solutions
Coffee Grounds to Sand and Thaw Paths
Thanks to its acidity, coffee grounds make the floor less slippery, thereby effectively replacing salt which is not allies to plants.
Place it on the paths in the garden or around the house in winter in the event of snow, frost, or ice. It is both inexpensive and more environmentally friendly.
A Winter Soldier
Coffee grounds can also act as mulch for the feet of the most fragile plantations in winter. It protects them against falling temperatures naturally and free of charge.
Note: During sunny days, avoid using coffee grounds as a stand-alone cover, as they can form a waterproof shell when dry in the sun.
To Grow Mushrooms
Here is an amazing tip for growing mushrooms on your own. In a bag, slip coffee grounds and mycelium. Then put it in a dark, warm place for three weeks and then take it out to the light. Always maintain humidity in your mushroom crop and you will see them blossom in no time.
Perfume Your Garden
Use coffee to envelop your interiors and exteriors in a unique and beautiful scent. Stir a little coffee ground into melted beeswax, then place a wick in a jar. Pour the mixture into the jar to obtain a candle with a sweet scent of coffee … Ideal for your dinners on the terrace!
Growing Orchids
The favorite indoor flower of the French, the orchid is a plant with specific needs. Its substrate – or soil – must be rich in phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium, all of which coffee grounds bring! So don’t hesitate to use it.
A DIY Fertilizer
Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphate are found in most commercially available fertilizers, whether organic or chemical.
With the coffee grounds, you will therefore have a free and available fertilizer that will enrich your soil with the minerals and trace elements it needs. It will fertilize the soil by its slow degradation by gradually diffusing its benefits. So you will be eating your cake and having it, or more literally, drinking your coffee and having it.
Coffee grounds are therefore a natural and effective product, but they should not be abused, otherwise, you end up with the opposite of the expected effect.
Thus, to enrich the soil in your garden and/or your vegetable patch, it is recommended not to apply more than 500 grams of coffee grounds per square meter annually.
It is enough to sprinkle it in a thin layer directly on the ground, preferably where the flowers, fruits, and vegetables are planted.
Caution: Watch out for rainy days! Avoid dispersing your coffee grounds if drops of water are forecast in the weather because they will be diluted in the soil and the results will be reduced.
Preparing a liquid fertilizer: step by step
To prepare an effective and free homemade liquid fertilizer based on coffee grounds, simply mix everything you collect from the filter with 2 liters of water.
Stir well then let stand in the fridge for 2 days. After this, filter with a fine cloth. Your liquid coffee grounds fertilizer is now ready to water and feed your plants!
How to Store Coffee Grounds
Before wondering how to store coffee grounds, you should first learn how to collect them. The operation is simple but still requires a little patience. There is a risk of burning yourself if the grounds are taken directly into the filter after the coffee has been brewed. Therefore, it is best to wait until it has cooled down completely.
After this bridge is scaled, lay it out on a flat surface and let it air-dry. If you are in a hurry, you can put it in a not too hot oven, keeping a close eye and leaving the door ajar. The idea is to remove as much water as possible to minimize the risk of mold growth.
When your coffee grounds are dry, the preservation method will depend on when you plan to use them. For use within 10 days, place it in the refrigerator in a tightly closed box. Beyond that, it is best to store it in the freezer in a suitable bag. To thaw it, just take it out 2 to 3 hours before. Thank you for reading 15 Interesting Ways To Use Coffee Grounds In The Garden.
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