Garden secrets & natural remedies

[sterling]

I know everyone has a few, but I thought it would be nice to have a little spot for all the natural remedies, & secrets everyone has. For example:

Slugs: Beer
Pour beer into a bowl, it attracts the slugs to crawl into it, they get drunk and die.

Cinnamon: Fungus
Cinnamon is a natural fungicide..

[angmf2233]

Break a piece off and put the juice on a burn!And they just keep on growing!

[sterling]

more....
Keep the water after you boil eggs, it's good to water your plants with it! It has a lot of minerals in it.

Grow extra large and juicy tomatoes. Before planting add one tablespoon of Epsom salt in the hole.

Homemade Insecticide: Spray plants with your old dishwater. The soap kills off the bugs.

Sprinkle crushed up eggs shell around flower plants and roses to keep slugs and bugs away.

Clean the leaves of your plant with a cotton ball dipped in milk. Makes it shiny.

A simple way to get rid of weeds that grow along pathways, patio stones or sidewalks easily is by spraying them with undiluted white vinegar.

[msmacgyver]

Besides the Epson salts I add a bannana peel and some curshed egg shell in the hole before planting tomatoes. Also plant them leaving only the top two sets of leaves makes the plant stronger.

I love Coffee grounds. I get them from Starbucks for free.

Feed acid loving plants fresh used coffee grounds.

Old coffee ground makes a great soil conditioner. Just scratch it in and it will loosen your soil and make it drain better over time.

Coffee grounds keeps slugs away from your plants.

I am told worms love coffee grounds and people use them in their worm farms.

Thanks for starting this thread Sterling. I didn't know about the cinnamon and I am always happy to learn anything new.
Bernie

[dustin]

when i was little my mother put cobalt blue jars with water in them at the corners of the garden to keep bunnies out. i'm thinking that this is just an old wives tail but if one spreads blood meal on the bed they WILL stay out. one needs to spread it after it rains every time but it works.

[sterling]

That's It!!!!!!!!! 53 views and only 4 people can share a secret!!! Come on swappers dish out those secrets!!!

[Diane]

Tomato Booster: 2tbsp.. epsom salts
1 tsp. baby shampoo
1 gal. water

Mix , soak the soil around tomato plants in early summer, just as they show a bunch of yellow flowers to stimulate fruit sets.

[msmacgyver]

Diane usually the first flowers don't set for me so I'll try anything that helps. Thanks!

Label perennials once and for all. I cut up pop cans CAREFULLY. I rub the edges on cement to dull them so I don’t get cut later when I’ve forgotten where I placed them. I write on them with a ball point pen. The ink washes away but the indentation lasts forever. I have ten year old labels I can still read like the day I made them. I poke a hole in it and attach to plant with a garden tie like they do roses or just stick it in the ground next to the plant. In the spring it’s wonderful to know where those plants are that disappeared during winter but hasn’t come up yet. Just for fun I’ve cut a few in the shape of butterflies and hung them so the wind makes them move.
Bernie

[stevenbick]

i put whole tea bags in the bottow of my pots keeps them moist if you ( forget) to water your plants works wonders

[ChrisVyper]

Chammomile Tea- Helps prevent root rot and damping off. In my own tests with it plants have grown an exceptional amount the following day when I check them, ESPECIALLY Sunflowers, Marygolds and stargazer lillies.

Marigold- repels lots of bad bugs

Mint/Cantnip/most mint familly plants- repel mice and aphids(I think) however they are very invasive so watch thier growth

coffee- ingeneral is good for plants as its rich in nutrients and IMO is better than most other fertilizers because it actually smells... GOOD!

Sunflowers- Aphid heaven when blooming. Just try and use some beneficial lureing plants so you get a good little 2 hit combo on them. 1st they swarm sunflowers which are pretty dang resilient, then beneficials come in kill aphids, or you spray.

Snails & Slugs- beer, alchohol, grape juice, acidic liquids; all make for good traps especially if you break a glass bottle and sink the bottom into the soil, space about 5 ft apart. Lime and other alkaline/basic things are said to repel them but dont go overboard soaking your pansies in lye or bleach will hurt more than it will help. so things that are slightly basic.

You can make your own Stakes, trellis, pots, etc from grocery bags, and other plastics, or from styrofoam and acetone.

heres links:
1 Grocery bags/other plastics: http://www.instructables.com/id/HomemadePlastic/
2 Styrofoam and Acetone: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...stic/?ALLSTEPS


Hope everyone finds this helpfull, btw instructables is a great DIY/DIY "ecoGREEN" site.

[needmoresoil]

Thanks for the post. I have seen insturctibles a couple of times and love it. Great site.

[frugal gal]

I've used the following at various times.

Garlic Oil SprayUse for control over aphids, cabbage loopers, earwigs, June bugs, leafhoppers, squash bugs, and whiteflies. * Mince 1 bulb garlic * soak in 2 t mineral oil for 24 hours * mix 1 pint of water with 1 T liquid soap(I use Dr. Bronners peppermint) * add garlic mix to water and soap * Mix throughly * Strain out garlic and place into a jar for storage Use 1 to 2 T garlic oil mix to 2 cups water. Spray plants covering all leaf surfaces.

Mini GreenhousesWhen you first place your seedlings out you will want to protect them from to much wind, sun or frost. A gallon milk jug with the bottom cut out and the lid off is the perfect mini green house for setting out your plants. If it is going to frost, just put the lid on for the night. If the jug keep blowing off, cut off the top of the handle. Next run a stick through the handle, this will secure the jug to the stick. Push the stick down into the ground to anchor it. The wind will not pick it up now.

Dress up Your GardenUse old panty hose for tying up your plants. The panty hose are strong and will not cut into the tender stems.Another use for old panty hose is to place them over the heads of your cabbage. As your cabbage grows the panty hose will stretch.

Baking Soda SprayUse baking soda to control fungal diseases, especially black spot on roses.Dissolve 1 t baking soda in 1 quart of water, add 1 t liquid soapSpray entire leaf surfaces of plants every 3 days for 21 days. Reapply after every rain

[eliza28]

when i was little my mother put cobalt blue jars with water in them at the corners of the garden to keep bunnies out. i'm thinking that this is just an old wives tail but if one spreads blood meal on the bed they WILL stay out. one needs to spread it after it rains every time but it works.

You know I just last week saw a big garden that had blue canning jars all over and I couldn't figure out why.... interesting.. Thanks for that.

All the tips on here are great!

[msmacgyver]

All the tips are wonderful. After all these years of gardening I'm learning a lot. Thanks Everyone!

ChrisVyper! Welcome to Plant Swap. You are going to love it here.
Bernie

[walkbyfaith79]

Everyone has listed some great tips!

Let's see... I save all my old boxes and newspaper and lay it under the mulch to supress weeds. Cheaper (free) and much less aggrevating than the fabric. Plus when it breaks down it adds nutrients to the soil.

When you get done boiling anything drain the water while it is still hot on weeds. "where water boils, weeds coil" Works especially good along paved areas or where the weeds roots are not too deep. Or use the water once it cools too add nutrients but only if you didn't add salt to your dish.

Place some tape sticky side out around the base of plants, keeps ants off.

I save old coffee ground containers to place my food scraps in for the compost pile. Easier than running outside every time I have a banana peel and the coffee masks any oder. Or you can place them in a freezer bag in the freezer...no oder problems this way.

Panyhose are also great for making "compost tea" Place compost in the hose and fill with water. The result is compost tea, a great natural ferilizer.