12 Home remedies for the care and protection of plants

It is among the most well-liked household and natural treatments, particularly since it is safe and serves as a helpful partner in battling certain pests. Potassium soap works as a bug and mite killer that can target some parasites, including aphids, bed bugs, whiteflies, thrips, and red spider mites, among others. Additionally, it can combat some fungi, like powdery mildew, if the plant is in the initial stages of the infection. Potassium soap provides a cleaning action on leaves, removing leftovers caused by insects and stopping them from spreading.

Instructions for use

Mix one liter of water for 25 gr. of potassium soap. In order for it to dissolve, you will have to heat the water with soap and wait for it to cool. Then pour it into a spray bottle and spray the lower part of the leaves and the most tender stems. Repeat the operation several times every 3 or 4 days until the plague has disappeared.

2. Chamomile infusion: improves the plant’s defense

Chamomile tea can help your plants have a stronger defense against pests, mainly aphids. Chamomile activates the microbial population in the substrate, helping the plant and making it more resistant.

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Instructions for use

Boil 50 gr. of chamomile for every liter of water until it boils. Let it rest and cool. Then strain the infusion and pour it into a spray bottle. To use it you need to spray both the leaves and stems of the plant. Do this two days in a row and repeat the entire process when 2-3 weeks have passed. Avoid doing this during the hottest hours and when the sun shines on the plants.

3. Garlic alcohol: prevention of parasites

Garlic is a natural and environmentally friendly insecticide, fungicide and repellent that can help you fight certain pests in your orchard and garden. This staple of our diet contains allicin, the active ingredient in garlic, which helps keep insects away and is also not toxic to humans or animals, making it an eco-friendly alternative to taking care of your garden.

Instructions for use

Clean the garlic and cut it into small pieces. Mix it with half a liter of white alcohol and let the mixture rest for 24 hours, thus further increasing the insecticidal power of garlic. The next day add half a liter of water, so that the mixture dissolves and sprays well, and a drop of neutral soap, which will help the mixture adhere more easily to the leaves. Use it preventively.

4. Coffee grounds: the cheapest organic fertilizer

If you are one of those people who can’t go through the day without a cup of coffee in the morning and, moreover, you like plants, you are in luck. Coffee adds organic matter to the soil, as well as improves drainage, maintains moisture and aerates the substrate. Furthermore, it is ideal for acidophilic plants, such as azaleas, hydrangeas or gardenias.

Instructions for use

Let the coffee grounds dry. You can place them in the sun to prevent fungus from appearing, and you can store them in a glass or plastic container if you won’t be using them at that time. Once you have a good amount, sift the coffee grounds onto the plant’s substrate. You can also mix them with the substrate to enrich it. Then it is applied in small quantities in pots. You will see how the plant will grow with more vigor.

5. White vinegar: perfect against weeds

White vinegar, in addition to being widely used in household cleaning, has many properties that will help you take care of your plants. On the one hand it serves as a disinfectant for seedlings and pots, especially if the plants had fungi. Also use it for cleaning tools.

It also serves to neutralize the limestone present in the water and therefore prevent leaf chlorosis. But one of the functions for which vinegar is best known in the orchard and garden is because it acts as a herbicide, fungicide and insecticide and, moreover, in small doses, enriches the soil.

Instructions for use

To use it as a herbicide, mix a glass of lemon juice and a liter of vinegar and pour the solution into a spray bottle. Spray the areas where you don’t want weeds to appear. You need to put it in the areas where you don’t want it to grow more, because the vinegar will ruin the soil. If you want to plant something there again, renew the substrate.

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6. Egg shells: calcium for plants

Chicken eggshells are made up of 96% calcium carbonate, making them a perfect source of calcium for your plants, whether grown in pots or in the garden. Furthermore, it also serves to protect your plants from slugs and snails, reduce the acidity of the soil or produce home compost.

Instructions for use

As a slug repellent, you will need to crush the egg shell and spread it on the affected area or that you want to protect. Snails don’t cross it because they bump into them and disturb them.

As a source of calcium, let 10 or 12 eggshells dry in the shade to avoid losing the nitrogen they contain. When they are dry, put them in a bag and crush them with a mortar until a very fine powder remains. You can store it in a container with a lid until ready to use. Then add a teaspoon or two to each pot – more if the pot is large – every 40 days or so.

7. Whole milk: The leaves of your plants will do splendor

Although it is not recommended to water plants with milk, it is very useful for brightening the leaves of green plants. You can moisten a cloth with whole milk and you can gradually clean the leaves of the plant.

Milk is also an excellent preventative fungicide. To do this, you need to add one part milk to 10 parts water. Respect the proportions, because if you overdo it with the milk, other mushrooms could appear.

8. Lavender: a plant that repels ants

Lavender is a very easy plant to maintain, which can also help repel ants. And it is that this plant has a very intense aroma that these insects do not like at all.

Instructions for use

You can grow it and take advantage of its flowers and stems to place them where the ants pass. But if it attacks one of your plants, make an infusion with 300 grams of fresh lavender in a liter of water. Bring the mixture to the boil, let it cool and spray the mixture on the plants that are being invaded by ants.

9. Lemon juice: lowers the pH of water

If you have acidophilic plants, the water in your area has a lot of limestone or the substrate of your plants has a very high pH, ​​you can acidify the substrate or irrigation water by adding a few drops of lemon. Be careful not to overdo it with lemon juice, because it could acidify the water too much, damaging the plant.

Instructions for use

Add the juice of half a medium lemon to each liter of tap water and use it to water your acidophilic plants or those whose substrate has too high a pH.

10. Onion: against parasites and antifungal

Onions have very beneficial properties for fighting parasites and diseases. It can also act as an antifungal, helping to eliminate or prevent the appearance of fungi on plants, and it also has insecticidal and antibacterial properties.

Instructions for use

Take a kilogram of onions and, without having to clean them, cut them into four or six pieces. Throw them into a container and then crush them with a mortar. Pour into a bucket and add 10 liters of water. Cover the bucket and leave to ferment for ten days in a cool, dark place. After those days, filter and dilute each liter of preparation with three liters of water. Spray the leaves of the plant and the substrate.

11. Tobacco water: a pesticidal effect

If you’re thinking about quitting smoking, first of all, congratulations! Secondly, you can use leftover cigarettes to protect your plants from pests.

Instructions for use

You need 10 new cigarettes or 20 grams of rolling tobacco, a liter of water and medical alcohol. Extract the tobacco, removing the paper and filter, and place it in a small container with a lid. Add the alcohol to cover the tobacco and close the container. Then let it rest for 24 hours in a place where there is no light. After 24 hours, filter the mixture through a strainer and pour it into a new container, adding one liter of water. Spray your plants about 3 times a week and it will help you avoid pests like aphids or red spiders.