HOMEGROWN Life: Household Items You Can Use in the Garden
The following tips for frugal gardeners are not only quick, safe, and easy, but also involve using items you probably already have in your house.
ASPIRIN: Dissolve ¾ of an uncoated aspirin tablet in 1 gallon of water. Spray plants every 2-3 weeks with the mixture to prevent fungus problems, including powdery mildew and black spot. It’s also been found to help some plants yield more fruit than using commercial fertilizers.
BAKING SODA: Mix 1 Tbsp of baking soda and a ½ tsp liquid soap into 1 gallon of water. Spray this weekly on plants that are prone to powdery mildew. This works as more of a preventative, as it won’t do much after the powdery mildew has taken hold. Make sure to spray the undersides of leaves. Also, apply it in the evening if you can, as it can burn some leaves.
BEER: Put beer (or water with yeast in it) in a shallow container. Sink the container so that the lip is at ground level in the garden. The beer attracts snails and slugs. They’ll fall into it and drown.
BORAX: This is a common laundry additive (20 Mule Team is a popular brand), especially for those of us with hard water. But it also works as a nontoxic ant killer. Ants are a huge problem for us as they “farm” aphids and mealy bugs for their honeydew. We have tons of ladybugs but they are useless if the ants are protecting the pests.
CORNMEAL: Corn Gluten Meal can be used as an effective pre-emergent herbicide, but most of us don’t have that just laying around. Cornmeal, however, is an effective soil fungicide. For every 100 square feet, work 2 pounds of cornmeal into the soil. Water well. One application per season is all that is needed.
DRYER SHEETS: If you’re having a picnic or BBQ and are being plagued by yellow jackets, aka meat bees, and mosquitoes, place dryer sheets around the area to deter them.
EGGSHELLS: Save all of your eggshells! Rinse them and then crush them when they are dry. When preparing a planting bed for tomatoes or peppers add the eggshells (approximately the shells from 1 dozen eggs per plant) to the planting hole to avoid blossom end rot.
EPSOM SALTS: Epsom salts contain sulfur and magnesium and are good for using as a foliar fertilizer. Dissolve 2 Tbsp Epsom Salts in 1 gallon of water. Mist plants as a foliar feeding.
MILK: Dilute milk in a 1:1 ratio with water. Spray your tomato and pepper plants weekly to avoid blossom end rot.
RUBBING ALCOHOL: Apply 70% isopropyl alcohol to a cotton ball and apply to scale insects. The alcohol desiccates them. Rub them off when they’re dead so you can continue to monitor their levels.
SHAMPOO: Mix 2.5 Tbsp Shampoo and 2.5 Tbsp cooking oil with 1 gallon of water. Spray insect pests with the mixture to control them. Do not use in full sun, and a few hours after application, rinse the plant off to reduce injury.
If you have other tips on using household items in your garden, please share them!
MORE HOMEGROWN GARDEN HELP:
- Learn about your common plant predators in Common Garden Pests 101.
- Know your plants’ allies in Companion Planting 101.
- Read Soil Testing 101, the quick and dirty on soil structure, nutrients, and tests (and written by Rachel herself!)
Rachel’s friends in college used to call her a Renaissance woman. She was always doing something crafty, creative, or utilitarian. She still is. Instead of crafts, her focus these days has been farming as much of her urban quarter-acre as humanly possible. Along with her husband, she runs Dog Island Farm, in the San Francisco Bay Area. They raise chickens, goats, rabbits, dogs, cats, and a kid. They’re always keeping busy. If Rachel isn’t out in the yard, she’s in the kitchen making something from scratch. Homemade always tastes better!
PHOTOS: (BAKING SODA) RACHEL; (HOMEGROWN EGGS) PETE & IZZY’S MOM
Tags: Dog Island Farm, frugal, garden, Rachel
April 30th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
For more helpful information and control, see links below:
. This combination provides the best of both worlds,
greatly reducing environmental impact whilee keeping pests out oof your home.
Then, youll want to find how the roaches are getting into your home in the first place.
May 1st, 2015 at 2:34 pm
Spread powdered boric acid over any cockroach; it wull suck out the moisture and cause hem to shrivel on the spot.
Little deposits of foodstuff or fat collected in kitchen drawers and also within some other difficult to access places (for instance under dishwasher or perhaps behind refrigerators) is perfect food stuff for
German roaches. So, it is very essential to keep these places clean aas possible.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:24 pm
Ants, roaches, mice and other pests are not only troublesome, but they are also disease breeding.
These experts typically give an estimated cost prior
to beginning the extermination process. Cleanliness of Put
Dust could be the source of their meals.
May 2nd, 2015 at 11:28 am
Be that as it may, cockroaches have been present virtually everywhere for longer than we have and they seem determined to stay.
There are various methods that can be used to get rid of pests.
If you have managed to do that, pests like rats,
spiders, roaches and squirrel won’t find a lace to infect your home.
May 5th, 2015 at 11:38 am
Also, cleanup any spills you may have in your
cabinets, on your flors or on your countertops.
The following is a lust of roach extermination techniques using simple tools.
Mostly, I am proud and satisfied that ourr house is less roach-friendly than our neighbors.
May 9th, 2015 at 7:58 pm
Do not overwater indoor plants because accumulated water will be available tto cockroaches.
Natural bay leaves discourage roaches from coming out to
play. The exposed roaches will bring the poison that’s on its body,
back to the nest area, and spread the poison through-out the whole roach
colony, which will in turn â¦.
May 20th, 2015 at 12:55 am
Moroccan Argan Oil iss plant oil created from the kernels of the Argan tree that is prevalent to Morocco.
– It revitalises and nourishes the skin on thee scalp as well as the
roots. Argan oil is highly rich source of oleic acid content, which creates it very beneficial
in regulating blood cholesterol.
May 21st, 2015 at 4:20 am
Many people are afraid of spiders and just want them out.
New ant colonies are established by a single fertilized queen that lays hundreds
of eggs. To apply Borax, you just sprinkle it onto your carpets and brush
it in.
May 21st, 2015 at 7:52 am
Join us on Twitter Wednesday April 27th from 12:00 pm EST ‘ 1:00 pm EST to ask
Terri Bennett questions about indoor air pollution, how it poses a heath risk to your family, and how
you can Do Your Part to breathe easier at home. Why not try using these non-toxic green repellents and pesticides to rid your home of roaches.
You should be especially concerned about roaches in your home, if you’re
a mom.