In Today’s post, let us look into 15 household items and their miraculous uses for plants and garden.
15. Soap: Bar soap apart from cleaning purpose, there are some really powerful uses in gardening. You can scrape your nails into a bar soap before handling a potting mix and stuff like that. The dirt won’t enter your nail beds and this hack allows you to clean your hands easily after the job.
Liquid soap or even shampoo is used as a simple pesticide if you do not have any pesticide. Just add 10 to 20 drops or 1 or 2 teaspoons of liquid soap to 1 litre of water and spray on the affected plant. This will clear pests like mealybugs, whiteflies and aphids which are the most common pests in garden. Dish washing liquid soap is actually more potent than handwash liquid soap.
14. Chalk Sticks: Chalk is chemically Calcium Carbonate. You can take white chalk sticks and bury them into the soil while planting your veggies. That’s in initial stages. This really works wonders for plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, squashes, egg plants and almost any vegetable plant. You can bury two chalk sticks per container for these vegetable plants safely if you soil PH is around 6.0. For other plants to provide slow release calcium source, you can bury one chalk stick per container.
13. Turmeric: Turmeric powder has many effective uses in garden like: It repels ants when sprinkled around the plants. You can get rid of soil pests particularly fungal root rot and fungus gnats in the soil by mixing turmeric in soil. You can mix about 1 tablespoon per gallon of soil while making potting mix or 1 tablespoon of turmeric in 1 gallon of water or 1 teaspoon per liter of water and thoroughly water your affected plant with this solution. Its also helpful in healing tree wounds and in grafting as it prevents fungal rot. Another common use of turmeric is in rose die-back disease.
12. Vinegar: You can use vinegar to clean your rusty garden tools and pots. To make your soil more acidic for acid loving plants like hydrangeas, rose, hibiscus and so on and increase flowering in these plants. To do this, Mix one table spoon of white vinegar to one litre of water and water you acid loving plants with this solution once every 15 days to reduce the soil PH. Vinegar is also a strong pesticide. Its almost 100% effective in clearing powdery mildew fungus. To make this spray add One cup of White Vinegar to 1 litre of water and shake well and spray it on the affected leaves. It is also effective against white files and mealy bugs. It is also an animal repellent. Just soak some pieces of cloth and stuff them at entrances or behind pots to deter animals that can spoil your garden.
11. Baking Soda: Apart from cleaning your dirty garden tools and stuff with baking soda, you can also use it for other purpose like sprinkle to drive away Foul Smell from your Compost Pile or compost bin. To kill cabbage worms – Sprinkle Baking soda + flour like wheat flour in 1:1 ratio on the cabbage or broccoli leaves. The worms munch on this and die within 1 or 2 days. Baking soda also encourages flower blooming. Make a solution of 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 litre of water and spray on your plants with flower buds or unopened flowers.
10. Asafoetida or Hing: The most effective use of asafetida is to treat leaf curl disease in plants. Add 5 gms of asafetida powder to one liter of sour butter milk. Mix well, leave for an hour, then sieve the solution and load your spray bottle. Spray over your affected plant. Repeat this every 3 days for 3 – 4 times. Leaf curl disease which is common in pepper and tomato plants will be completely cured by this treatment. Asafoetida can also be used to repel animals in your garden. Just hang some pieces of it in your garden entrances. Animals hate the pungent odor of asafetida. It also repels other insects and termites.
9. Charcoal: Hard wood charcoal has lots of amazing uses in garden like filling your pot bottom with charcoal pieces reduces pot weight. It can be used for mulching and garden décor. Mixing charcoal in soil can act as a good fungicide and prevent root rot, especially for expensive succulent plants. It also increases soil PH, when your soil is too acidic. It also works as a soil conditioner making the soil well draining. It also hold the fertilizers added for a longer duration and make them act like slow release fertilizers. Sprinkled charcoal powder helps deter many insects like the voracious beetles which can create havoc in your garden or on your crops.
8. Alum: Alum or Potash Alum can help to boost flowering. It makes the soil acidic for acid loving plants like hydrangeas, rose, hibiscus and so on. Just 5 gms alum powder per litre of water and water your plants once in a month. Alum is also a good pesticide in higher concentrations, like 100 grams per litre of water and spray on the plants to kill many pests including cabbage worms, cutworms, slugs and snails, etc. It is well known for mostquito control as a larvicide when sprinkled over the stagnant waters.
7. Banana Peels: Banana peel is one of the highest organic sources of potassium. It helps strengthen the plant and increases flowering and fruiting. You can make banana peel tea or banana peel fertilizer powder if you intend to store it. To make banana peel tea, soak pieces of banana peels in water for about 3 to 5 days. Use this banana tea in 1:5 dilution to water your plants once in a month. To make banana peel fertilizer powder, sun dry pieces of banana peels for 2 to 3 days till they are crispy enough to make a powder. Add one tablespoon of this powder once in a month and see the effect.
6. Aloevera: Aloevera has numerous benefits not only to the human body, but also to plants, like: It helps in faster rooting. Just insert a cutting into a piece of aloe vera and plant into soil. Rooting is faster and success rate is higher. Diluted aloe vera gel sprayed or watered to your seeds helps in faster and healthier germination. High levels of certain compounds found in aloe vera confer immunity or resistance against many plant diseases. Aloevera can also be used as a potent pesticide if mixed with other agents like neem oil, especially for pests resistant against certain pesticides.
5. Onions Peels: contain many useful substances like sulphur, quercetin, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and so on. So, do not throw away the onion peels. The simplest use of these peels is to use them for mulching. If you have time you can make a fertilizer out of these onion peels. Just soak the peels in water for 1 to 2 days and water the solution to your plants once in a month to notice the benefits.
4. Tea and Coffee Waste: Do not throw this away. It can certainly boost flowering in your plants. It contains tannic acid which helps plants like Rose and hibiscus to increase flowering. You can wash the waste for any sugars and directly add to your plants or collect this and sun dry this powder and use it for your plants. You can also add this waste directly into your compost bin for making a rich compost.
3. Cinnamon: Cinnamon powder from your kitchen is well known for its wonderful uses in gardening. It can be used as a rooting agent to increase the chances for rooting cuttings. Just dip the cutting into cinnamon powder and plant it. It also deters ants when sprinkled around your plants. Its antifungal properties also fight fungal attacks to your seedlings. Just sprinkle fine cinnamon powder over your seedling and prevent dampening off.
2. Eggshells: Though eggshells are a great source of calcium, do not add crushed egg shells directly to your plants. It takes many years to decompose and release that calcium into the soil. You need to instantly release this calcium from eggshells by using Vinegar. Make eggshell powder first and then add a cup of vinegar to it. Stir it well and leave for an hour. The acetic acid breaks the eggshell compound and release free calcium into this solution. You can then dilute this solution to 1: 10 or 1:20 and then water your plants to treat or prevent acute calcium deficiency problems like tomato blossom end rot disease and other problems like bud or flower or fruit drop off and increase your flowering and fruiting. You can also add egg shells to compost bin for a calcium rich compost.
1. Aspirin: Aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is a plant auxin and a rooting hormone which is proven to accelerate rooting and also it confers immunity against many plant diseases. You can use a dispersible 350 mg Aspirin tablet. Just a little of it will do the trick. A quarter or half a tablet is sufficient. You can read all detailed articles on these individual stuff by searching our website for that particular stuff.
In today’s article, we will quickly debunk 20 interesting and unbelievable gardening myths and reveal some extremely useful scientific facts and tips related to Gardening.
- Fresh Cow Dung or Horse Dung is very Good for Plants?
This is absolutely false! Fresh Cow poop should never be applied for your plants, because it not only stinks but contains high levels of ammonia and salts which can burn your plants. It also contains harmful microorganisms like e-coli which are harmful to plants as well as humans. Plus, it also contains weed seeds which can produce a lot of weeds or unwanted plants in your garden. So always use decomposed cow-dung or horse dung for your plants. You can watch a detailed video on 5 hacks to quickly decompose cow dung from a link in description below or from end-screen link at the end of this video. Let’s move on..
- Is it Dangerous to Expose Roots to Light?
Well, This can be a very nice high school project for kids, to grow two similar plants, one in a transparent container and one in an opaque container and then compare these two. As you can see nothing happens to the plant grown in transparent containers. The actual concern is, root exposure to AIR and even the heat from sunlight that can cause drying and can damage your plant. But still you are advised to keep the roots in the dark. This is because of algae growth due to light and your roots are not getting enough oxygen because the algae is stealing the oxygen and nutrients for itself. So light as such does not hurt the roots, but air, heat and algae hurt the roots and kill the plant.
- Do Plants feel Pain?
There are many studies and researches conducted on this topic. Basically, Plants lack a nervous system – that is a brain and other neurological structures like nerves and pain receptors, so they should not feel pain, unlike in humans and animals where we have specialised pain receptors.
But according to some researches, “Plant can know of themselves being eaten” because studies have shown that plants release defence chemicals in response to caterpillars munching on them.
Other points include: Plants fight for territory, seek out food, evade predators and interestingly trap prey like what your see in carnivorous plants like the venus fly trap. They are as alive like any animal, and – like animals – they exhibit behaviour.
- Talking to You Plants will help them Grow?
People who really love plants and gardening will often tell you that talking to plants or even music has a beneficial impact on their overall health and growth. Despite many different scientific studies on this theory, there’s still no conclusive evidence that talking to plants helps them grow. One theory says that since plants take up carbon dioxide, and hence talking to plants releases carbon dioxide when we exhale. So, that explains it all.
- Plants can Die of Old age or aging. The oldest known tree in the world is the Great Basin bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California which is over 5000 years old. Actually Trees grow indeterminately, meaning that with the right conditions, they can grow and grow and grow. But the only problem that limits them from reaching up to the sky is the food and water transport through xylem and phloem to the growing end from the roots. The taller the tree the more difficult it is to transport water from roots to the foliage near the top. But here what happens is instead of growing taller they increase in width and also branch out more, as you might have noticed some old trees with huge girth of their stems.
- Animal or Human Urine can be used as a Fertilizer. Yes, this is a Fact!For example, cow urine contains loads of NPK – that’s nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are the most essential plant nutrients for agricultural use. But it has to be applied in dilution of at least 1:20 in water.
- Is it Dangerous to go near Trees during Night Time? Well, In day time under the presence of sunlight – that’s photosynthesis, plants take up Carbon dioxide and release Oxygen. But during night they take in Oxygen and release CO2 and hence the air near trees will have lesser concentration of Oxygen and higher concentration of CO2. But, this impact will be negligible for small plants and at home gardens and only be noticeable near very large trees or in thick vegetation.
- Naphthalene balls or Moth Balls contain Naphthalene Acetic Acid and can be used as a rooting agent. It’s a Myth. NAA – Naphthalene Acetic Acid and IBA – Indole Butyric Acid are plant auxins or hormones which are entirely different compounds and used for rooting your plant cuttings. These two are entirely different from moth balls which are used to keep insects at bay.
- Watering plants on a hot sunny day will magnify the sunlight through the droplets acting as convex lenses and burn the leaves badly! No doubt, watering plants early in the morning or late in the evening is great! Because less water will evaporate during this time. But This theory that water droplets on leaves can act like mini magnifying lenses, focusing the sun’s rays and causing leaf burn has been completely disproved by physicists.
- Planting by the Moon affects plant growth and yield?
The idea that the Moon affects plant growth is an old one that is believed by many people. This is a myth! No study has proven the effect of moon on plant growth. And the only plants that use moon light for photosynthesis are certain types of phytoplanktons which are not normally found in gardens. - Crushed egg shells are a good source of Calcium to treat calcium deficiency? This is False! Even Powdered Egg shells take a long time to decompose and release that calcium into the soil and make them available for uptake by plants. You can make a water soluble calcium using egg shells by mixing it with distilled Vinegar to make this happen. You can find this detailed video from a link in description or from a link at top right corner of this screen.
- Saplings or seedlings need to be supported to protect them? True or False?
This is False! Many people recommend you to provide support to these young slender plants due to the risk of wind blowing them and things like that. Unless it’s a strong wind, tying a sapling or young plant to a support stick or any kind of support will actually do more harm than good. Research has shown that trees without support, over a period of time will develop thicker trunks, more supportive roots and more resistance to breakages.
- Do Magnets affect Plant growth?
This is a fact. Magnetism affects plant growth and seed germination positively. Studies have shown that when plants are exposed to a magnetic field with south pole facing towards the roots, Seeds germinate faster and plant grow faster and stronger in the presence of magnetic field in the soil. You can check a detailed video on this experiment from a link in description or from a link at top right corner of this video. - Can Harvested or Collected seeds be stored in a Refrigerator or Freezer?
This is not correct! Most seeds that are stored in a seed banks are first dried up so that the moisture content is reduced to about 10 percent and then these can be stored for several years. But if you freeze freshly collected seeds, the moisture content in these seeds will form ice crystals within and can destroy the seed viability. - Growing Fruit Trees in Containers is not possible due to limited space?
This is not true. You can grow them but you need little larger containers or fabric bags like more than 18 or 24 inch. You can watch a detailed episode on the top ten terrace gardening myths and facts from a link in description.
- Does Potting Mix Cause Legionnaires’ Pneumonia in Gardeners? True or False?
Do not worry! This is not True. Legionnaires’ Pneumonia is a severe form of pneumonia or lung infection mostly cause by inhaling the bacteria. Though these legionella bacteria survive in outdoor soil, it rarely causes infections. But still, prevention is better than cure. Better wear a mask while handling potting mix, specially people with weaker immune systems.
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- How do I know my plant is still alive and how to save a dying plant?
There are many signs to know whether your plant can still survive. If your plant is looking dry and has shed its leaves, most of us think its dead. But actually, it may be alive or can be revived. Please watch my detailed episode on this topic demonstrating how to save a dying plant. I have linked that video in description below.
- Can we grow plants from leaves?
Yes! Some, but not all plants can be propagated from just a leaf or a section of a leaf. Leaf cuttings of most plants will not generate a new plant; they usually produce only a few roots or just decay. There are many ways you can grow leaves into a new plant, like 1. from a leaf petiole, 2. by dividing a leaf into multiple pieces for example fleshy succulent plants like sanseviera or the snake plant and other succulents. Other methods of propagation like cane or stub cuttings, root cuttings, leaf bud cuttings and so on.
- Gardening on Terrace is Bad for the Building. This is not completely true unless your building is too old with a poor construction. Otherwise if wisely planned, a garden on terrace will not be a problem, like placing the heavy containers along the walls on your terrace which are weight bearing or main walls of the building and things like that.
Water proofing the terrace is not always necessarily, unless you plan to build raised bed terrace garden. If you grow in container, you only need to check whether the water draining out of the pots is easily flowing out of the terrace and not stagnant.
- Does Electric Current affect Plant Growth? Well, there is a separate science called electro-culture farming which utilizes this effect. I have conducted a simple experiment on this topic to study the effect of electric current on plant growth. You can watch that episode from an end-screen link or from garden tips channel.
We all know that Composting can return a significant portion of the nutrients we waste back to the Earth, where they can do so much good for plants, animals and also humans. Conventional methods of composting like Bokashi’s anerobic method or even the conventional method of aerobic composting can take a lot of time like atleast a couple of months, before we can use the finished compost for our plants. And these methods involve quite cumbersome procedures and techniques like turning the compost pile every other day and stuff like that. I have done a detailed tutorial on Composting A to Z like the Basics of Composting, various methods of composting, what are greens and browns, etc. You can check that post HERE.
In this article, we will demonstrate you an absolute fastest way to compost your food waste in less than 24 hours. Thanks to the latest technology by reencle which brings you this Kitchen-to-Garden-Fertilizer-Composter. Its an electric composting machine which can turn food scraps into garden fuel.
Let us unbox and test this fastest composting machine and check how fast it can compost food scraps within few hours. This handy gadget effectively composts up to 2 pounds of food waste every 24 hours and returns 90% of it back to nature!
Now, Let us quickly learn How this gadget works? Reencle’s technology emulates the animal or human digestive system, that’s pretty much similar to how the beneficial microbes in your gut help digest what you eat. The specific microbe that does the job is the Reencle-Microbe
, They have just named it as Bacillus. Like in Human digestive system the process of digestion starts by breaking of larger chunks of food by the teeth, this work is done by Reencle mixing rods which chop larger food waste particles into smaller ones. In Human system, the Stomach churns the food, secretes Gastric juices and enzymes that help in digestion – that’s both mechanical and chemical action. In Reencle composter, this job is done by the Reencle Microbe Bacillus which breaks down and transforms food waste into compost. This Bacillus has great ability to decompose organic matter such as Carbohydrates, proteins and even fats.
Now, Lets quickly look at the this Elegant gadget. What’s in the Box?
When you order a Reencle, you get 1 x Reencle Prime Composter, 2 x Reencle Prime – Carbon Filters (1 x pre-installed, 1 x replacement filter), 1 x ReencleMicrobe Packet, 1 x Reencle Handy Shovel, 1 x Power cable, A user manual with 1-year warranty, and also a composting guide sheet.
Let me show you the parts of this composting gadget. This is the Small lid, The bid lid, the stirring or the mixing tank with rods and blades. These are the touch buttons. This is a foot motion sensor which automatically senses and open the door when you approach near the machine. This one is Purifier carbon filter behind, you get another spare filter with your order. These knobs on either side for lifting the composter. You can check complete details and order at Reencle website reencleus.com. You can find the link in the description below. This is not a very expensive gadget. It costs about 499 dollars with the new year sale going on.
Now let’s Start Composting using Reencle.
The first thing to do is to prepare or activate the composting microbes. This looks like saw dust powder initially with lot of useful stuff in it. You can also see paddy husk, activated charcoal pieces and lot of stuff. Just open the lid and pour the entire packet of this microbe powder into the machine and then add about 1.5 litres of clean water to it and close the lid. Turn the machine on and leave it for 24 hours. After few hours you can open the lid to check. If its looking too dry, then add or spray some more water. Water condensation on the underside of the lid is a good indicator of sufficient hydration of the compost mix.
After 24 hours, you are ready to start making your first compost. Simple concept here is – the new activated microbes are not strong enough to digest too much of load and all types of food waste in the initial 3-4 weeks. You start with lighter foods like Rice and bread first. Also its better to make smaller pieces of the food items for faster and smooth composting.
Now, After 12 hours, you don’t see any food waste, its all disappeared. Its really fast. It completely composted after 24 hours. So this way for initial few weeks you can add lighter foods.
After this period, you can add most of the food waste, except a few items which I shall mention shortly. Make sure you cut large-sized food waste into smaller pieces. Also rinse and put salty and seasoned food waste.
Acceptable food wastes which can compost faster include – Fruits, Vegetables, Cooked Meat and Fish, Grains, Noodles, Cookies, Bread, Cooked egg, etc.
Acceptable Food Wastes that can slowly decompose include – Pizza Crust, Watermelon peels, banana peels, Radish, Cabbage, Cucumber, Sweet potato and other Raw vegetables.
Unacceptable Waste includes – obviously plastics, Bones, Butter, Cream, Oils, Raw Meat, Roots, Uncut Fruit and Vegetables, Large seeds of Stone Fruits, Hard shells like walnuts, Egg shells. Eggshells will not decompose but will only be broken down into small pieces. Egg shells take a long time to decompose. You can check my detailed post on egg-shells and its uses in garden.
I am sure, you will have a lot of questions in your mind about Reencle composter. You can check their website and an online guide book that answers most of these questions.
If you want to take composting to the next level and generate a 24 hour supply of nutrient rich fertilizer for your home garden, this is a great gadget to invest and I would certainly recommend this product. You will be really happy to see the compost ready in 24 hours which can never happen in conventional methods of composting. I shall use this compost on my plants, experiment more on this and get back to you with an update later on.
Happy Gardening and A very happy new year!
Aloe vera is sometimes known as “the plant of immortality” – because of its properties to heal, soothe, and refresh. This is because Aloe vera is rich in nutrients, enzymes, and antioxidants that offer numerous benefits to the human body. So, what if I told you that aloe vera can provide many of those same benefits to plants too? Yes! It’s true! Let’s list out the top 6 benefits of Aloe vera for plants and your garden.
6. Seed Germination: Aloe vera is not only a rooting agent, but also promotes healthy seed germination and strong seedlings. Watering your seeds and seedling once in a week will improve the overall growth and yield. Mix 1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or 1 table spoon per gallon. Spray this over the seedlings or water them once weekly.
5. Plant Immunity: Aloe vera gel is fully loaded with over 75 beneficial useful nutrients and enzymes like amino acids, antioxidants, calcium, magnesium, zinc, salicylic acid and so on. High levels of acemannan and saponin found in aloe vera both provide antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. This helps to protect plants and confers resistance or immunity against certain harmful microbes, fungi, yeast, mold, blight and so on. Just water the plant once in a while – like once in a month with aloe vera solution and see the difference. It not only gives resistance against diseases but also boosts overall growth and health of the plant. Add 1 table spoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or a quarter cup per gallon of water, mix it well and water your plant. If you start this in early growth stage of a plant, it’s actually much beneficial in the long run.
4. Transplant Shock: Certain high levels of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral compounds found in aloe vera help plant recover from transplant shock. A plant goes into Transplant shock when you repot it or transplant it from one place to another. The plant looks wilted and unhealthy after transplant. To help recover from this shock, you can water your plant with aloe vera solution at least once after repotting. Repeat after 3 – 4 days if necessary. Add 1 table spoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or a quarter cup per gallon of water, mix it well and water your plant.
3. Fertilizer: You can either make a soil drench or a foliar spray. To make a soil drench, take some fresh aloe vera leaves and cut them into pieces and throw them into the blender and add some water. You don’t need to peel them. Add half a cup of this gel to one gallon of water or 2 table spoons per litre of water and water your plants with this solution once 15 days. Make sure you drench this within half an hour of making, because if exposed to air, fresh aloe vera quickly ferments and begins to degrade.
The second preparation is a foliar spray or foliar feeding your plants to help them absorb these beneficial nutrients directly through the leaf stomata. You need to make a fresh aloe vera solution like one table spoon per litre of water or quarter cup per gallon. You can sieve this to prevent your sprayer getting clogged. Mix it well before spraying. Spray more on the underside of the leaves because leaf stomata or openings are more concentrated on the underside. Spray this in the evenings to avoid quick evaporation in the presence of sunlight.
2. Natural Rooting Agent: The salicylic acid and other anti-bacterial and anti-fungal compounds help promote rooting faster. There are many methods to use aloe vera for rooting: Let’s look at them one by one:
a. Dipping the cuttings into fresh aloe vera gel and inserting into soil. I recommend you soak the cutting for few hours into aloe vera gel and then plant the cuttings into soil. This will not only promote faster root development but also the success rate of rooting cuttings is high because aloe vera fights fungal rot.
b. Second method is just inserting the cutting into a small piece of aloe vera leaf and plant the whole thing into the soil to achieve the same results.
c. A piece of aloe vera can be used for Air Layering to multiply your favourite plants with great success rate. Just wrap a piece of aloe vera leaf and wrap around soil or toilet paper and tie the ends.
1. Pesticide: Aloe vera alone may not act as a potent pesticide to fight all pests and diseases. You need to other natural agents to make it a powerful organic pesticide that fights common garden pests like aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and so on. Let’s quickly learn how to make this organic pesticide using Aloe vera leaves plus 5 more ingredients from your kitchen.
– Take Fresh Aloe vera leaves and cut into small pieces and drop approx one bowl into your blender.
– Drop four to five green chilies.
– Add 1 large onion.
– Add 1 full garlic.
– Add one bowl of Neem leaves if you have.
– Add 2- 3 teaspoons of Turmeric powder or fresh turmeric rhizomes if you have.
– Add a cup of water and blend into a fine paste.
– Sieve this solution and collect the extract.
– Mix 100 ml of this to one litre of water or 300-400 ml of it per gallon and spray it on the affected plants. Repeat this after 4 to 5 days.
It might sound weird but, there are many incredible Uses of Charcoal in the Garden. If you want to develop a healthy garden, please watch this episode till the end.
There are many types of charcoal available to purchase. But the good news is charcoal is very inexpensive to buy, though online prices are a bit on higher side than offline purchase. You get Hardwood and Softwood charcoal. Hard wood charcoal is best for gardening. Will tell you why as we proceed further. You also get special charcoals like coconut shell charcoal, bamboo coal, horticultural charcoal, activated charcoal and so on. It doesn’t matter, you can just use hard wood charcoal for your garden.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Wood Charcoal https://amzn.to/3FsyoNh
Coconut Charcoal https://amzn.to/3KTRKw3
Let us discuss the benefits of charcoal in gardening.
10. FILLING YOUR POT BOTTOM: Charcoal is porous and light weight and filling your container with pieces of charcoal at the bottom of your container, instead of using heavy weight rocks and pebbles, reduces your pot weight and you can lift or move your pot easily. This is a great boon for terrace gardeners.
9. CHARCOAL MULCHING: You don’t always need straws and twigs for mulching your top soil. You can use spread small charcoal pieces and enjoy the benefits of mulching. Mulching creates a protective covering over the soil surface and prevents moisture evaporation from the soil. It also helps to prevent weed growth over the soil.
8. GARDEN DÉCOR: Using a layer of small pieces of charcoal as mulch, especially around light-colored plants is a nice and unique way to create a different look in your garden!
7. AS AN ANTI-FUNGAL: Mixing charcoal to soil is an effective strategy to treat or prevent fungal infections in plants, especially succulents and adeniums which are more prone to fungal rot. Just include 10% of small pieces of charcoal in your potting mix to keep harmful fungi at bay.
6. INSECT KILLER: Sprinkle powdered charcoal over your plants. This helps deter many insects like the voracious beetles which can create havoc in your garden or on your crops.
5. PESTICIDE RESIDUE REMOVAL: The absorption qualities of charcoal powder, especially activated charcoal, helps in neutralizing the harmful effect of pesticides. Mix 500 grams of charcoal powder to 1 gallon of water (1 gallon is 3.78 litres). Spray or sprinkle this over the pesticide treated plants. This is very useful in edible gardening.
4. REDUCE FERTILIZER FREQUENCY: Charcoal will also absorb any fertilizer you put into the garden and will hold it over a long period of time, providing the plants a slow, steady supply. Here, you need to know one thing – Hard wood holds more nutrients than soft wood.
3. INCREASE SOIL PH: If your soil is highly acidic like PH of 5 or below, you need to increase the soil ph to desired level. A soil ph of 6.0 +/-0.5 is considered ideal for most plants. The potassium content in charcoal and also wood ash raises the pH balance of the soil and neutralizes the acid. Just don’t add too much ash, because if you increase the soil ph too much – like over 7, the plants may not do well, because most of the nutrient absorption in soil happens at a PH of around 6.0. So, How much of charcoal to add per container or per plant? You can add 100 gms or max 200 gms of charcoal per standard container – like a 12-inch container. Of course depending upon your soil PH level. You can read a detailed post on soil ph and its importance in improving flowering HERE.
2. IN POTTING SOIL: Charcoal acts as an excellent soil conditioner, thanks to its low cost, and in fact it’s a suitable replacement of lime in soil additive mixes. It makes the soil a well-draining soil which is very important for plant growth. It is the high porosity of charcoal that benefits plant soils because it offers more of the oxygen that plant roots need to stay alive.
1. REMOVES BAD ODOURS IN SOIL AND COMPOST: You can sprinkle charcoal powder over your compost to reduce foul odors that may arise during composting. Also, when included in potting soil, charcoal soaks up the nauseating odors of compost and manure, while leaving the nutritional integrity of the mixture intact.
- Rooting Hack: For faster and guaranteed rooting of stem or branch cuttings, take a small piece of fresh aloe vera leaf and insert the cutting into it and then plant into the soil. Roots grow as early as 10 days depending on the plant you choose.
- Candle Hack: Seal the upper cut end of your plant stem or branch cutting using few drops of candle wax. This helps prevent moisture evaporation and result in faster rooting.
- No Browns for Composting? Use a paper shredder and use the shredded paper and card board to add into your compost bin for faster and smell free composting.
- Easy Tomato Stakes: Tomato plants require support to avoid awkward bends and also to get the best yield. String Support your Tomato plants using a small piece of GI metal wire. Make it into a U-shaped loop and insert it near the roots. Tie one end of a string to this and the other end to some support at the top.
- Banana Peel Fertilizer for Flowering: To make banana peel tea, soak pieces of banana peels in water for 2 to 3 days. Dilute this liquid with water in 1:5 ratio and water your plants to provide potassium to your plants which increases flowering in plants and also makes the flower size bigger.
- Anti-Gravity Plant Support: While growing climber veggies, do not take them to a height above 6 feet, but instead support in a slope like fashion, like take it to a height and then slope the growing ends downwards to assist in long-distance transport of water and nutrients for healthy growth. The arch like trellis is the ideal support fence for growing climber or creeper veggies.
- Hairs to Roots: Insert tomato seedlings as deep as possible to increase the density of roots formed from tiny hairy projections from tomato stems and this makes the plant stronger to produce the best yield.
- Big Leaves: To get large sized leaves in your money plant, use a moss stick or coir stick to anchor the aerial roots to it. Wet the moss stick whenever you water the money plant.
- Onion + Aloe Vera Rooting Agent: Making a paste using onion and aloe vera gel and dipping the cuttings into it for few minutes before planting in soil will help in faster and guaranteed rooting.
- Spoon Transplant: To transplant your seedlings, use a spoon, dig out as much soil with it including the roots of the plant and hold the leaves of the plant and not the STEM to pull out, because this can squeeze and damage the water and food conducting tubes – xylem and phloem and the little plant may die.
- Grow From Junk: Never throw away a pine apple crown, just remove the bottom leaves and keep the bottom inserted into a glass of water for a week and then transfer to a container. It will bear fruits within a year.
- Eggshell Water: One eggshell contains about 2gms of calcium. When you boil eggs, a small percentage of this calcium and phosphorous is released into the water. Do not throw away this water, but use it to water your plants that require a lot of calcium – like tomatoes and peppers as well as flowering plants.
- Cello Tape Pest Trap: Wrap the cello tape in reverse on your fingers and use the sticky part to touch on leaves infested with pests like aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs.
- Clay Soil Hack: Remove Clayey or sticky soil from roots using this simple Hack: When you bring your plant from a nursery and start repotting, most often you find they have stuffed the plant in a clay-rich sticky soil. You can remove this soil without damaging the roots by soaking the root ball in water for few minutes till this soil dissolves. Then you can repot this plant in a well-draining potting mix.
- Root Teasing: Always Loosen up or tease your roots before repotting into a new container.
- Toilet Paper Cloning Hack: Use Aloe vera and Toilet paper to produce roots faster during air layering your favourite plant.
- Aspirin Hack: During conventional air layering to produce faster and better roots, use one tablet of aspirin 350mg per litre of water and add this water you’re the potting mix and then wrap it around the injured stem for faster and dense root formation.
- Hydroponic Cloner: For faster rooting, make your own hydroponic plant cloner using a plastic bucket and an aquarium pump. Healthy Roots develop within 8 days.
- Free Calcium: Egg shells easily dissolve in vinegar and release free calcium to your plants. Make egg shell powder and the add about a cup of vinegar to a cup of egg shell powder and stir nicely and leave it for any hour. Then dilute this to 1:100 or more to water your plants and treat acute calcium deficiencies which can produce blossom end rot disease in your fruits and veggies.
- Simplest Plant Cloner: Use any container and place a couple of aquarium air stones to pump oxygen into the water. This helps in faster and guaranteed rooting of any plant cuttings in water.
- Wheel-Barrow: No Wheelbarrow to move garden stuff? Do not worry, the cheapest alternative is a large cloth or an old bed sheet. Just load on the heavy objects and drag it along.
- Aspirin for Rooting: When you propagate cuttings in water, do not forget to add a small piece of Aspirin tablet into it for faster and stronger root development.
- Seed Split Trick: Split the Cilatro or Corinader seeds before planting them the sand paper paper method and apply gentle scraping pressure to split the seeds and do not crush or damage them using a heavy objects like these. This helps to grow enormous cilantro harvest.
- Scrape and Sow: Use sand paper to scrape the hard seed cover of certain seeds like apple, chickoo and those with hard seed over for faster seed germination.
- Treat Leaf Curl Virus using Asafoetida: Take 500ml of sour butter milk. Add one teaspoon or about 5 gms of Asafoetida powder to it and mix well. Let it stay for 1 or 2 hours. Sieve this solution and Spray thoroughly over the affected plant including the underside of the leaves. Repeat this, every 3 days for 3 – 4 times to completely cure the leaf curl disease.
- Egg Shell Planter: You can use egg shells to sow seeds. To make drainage holes, scrape with a sand paper and use a thin drill bit to make a hole without breaking the shell.
- Egg Trays: Card board Egg trays can be used as seed germination trays. You can directly transplant the seedling along with the card board into the soil, as this is bio-degradable.
- Chalk Sticks: Chalk is chemically Calcium Carbonate. You can bury a chalk stick into the soil while planting your veggies. This really works wonders for plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, squashes, egg plants and almost any vegetable plant.
- Strong Roots: Strong Roots means a healthier plant with a better yield. In its early growth phase, adding a source of phosphorous like bone meal powder or organic rock phosphate powder will produce stronger roots and produce a better harvest.
- Seed Viability Check: An Easy method to check viability of your larger seeds is to pour them into a bowl of water. If the seeds are floating, this means they are dry and not viable. Discard them and use only those seeds that sink to the bottom.
- No Garden Gloves? Scrape your nails into a soap before working with your garden soil or potting mix. This helps in cleaning your hands easily later on and also the dirt won’t enter into your nail beds.
- Repel Animals: A simplest way to repel Some animals like cats, dogs and rabbits – is to soak a some pieces of cloth with vinegar and stuff them in some areas of your garden. These animals cannot withstand the smell of vinegar and may not return if you repeat this process for few days. Similarly using Asafoetida wrapped in a piece of cloth will deter these animals and certain insects.
- Magnifying Lens: Use a Magnifying Glass to closely examine and diagnose your plant pests and insects to identify them and follow the treatment accordingly.
- Tea Fertilizer: You can also use tea waste or coffee grounds on flowering plants as an organic fertilizer to boost blooms.
- Tea waste compost: Add used tea waste or coffee grounds into your compost bin for faster composting because earth worms digest them very fast.
- Seed Spacing: You can do perfect seeds spacing for Tiny seeds like spreading them apart in a row on toilet paper – for better visibility and even spacing and sowing. You can make a seed tapes either in a row or a square or round seed board specially for carrot seeds for even spacing and better growth and ease of harvesting.
- Over-Ripe: Garden vegetables and fruits that become over-ripe are an easy target for pests. Remove them as soon as possible to avoid pest growth.
- Faster Germination: A simple hack for faster germination and healthy seedlings is to soak seeds in Epsom salt solution for a couple of hours before planting – like half a teaspoon of Epsom salt in 100 ml of water. You can also spray Epsom salt solution on your seeds and seedlings for healthy outcome.
- Pick Small: You can Pick small seeds for sowing with a stick or tooth pick dipped in water.
- Acidify Soil: For Acid loving plants like Rose, Hibiscus or Hydrangeas, use 5gms of Alum powder in 1 litre of water once every 15 days and this will boost flowering.
- Soil PH Test Using Litmus Paper: Mix Water and Soil in 1:1 ratio. Dip the litmus paper and match the color with your color coding chart that came along with your litmus paper kit.
- A Rough Soil PH Test Method: Take a soil sample and pour some vinegar. If it fizzes and bubbles you have an alkaline soil. What if the soil is acidic? Add baking soda one or two teaspoons and mix it with soil. Then wet the soil baking soda mix with distilled water. If it fizzes and bubbles your soil is acidic, because the acidic content in soil reacts with a base or alkaline stuff like baking soda.
- Free Bio Seed Pots: Never throw away the toilet paper card board roll. But use it to make seedling cups which are bio degradable and can be directly planted into soil without disturbing roots.
- Paper pots: You can also make seed pots by rolling newspaper and even this is bio degradable and similarly you can directly transplant with the pot into the soil or into a larger container.
- Mosquito Repelling Plants: Growing plants like Lemon grass, Citronella, catnip, basil, marigolds, eucalyptus and many other plants helps deter mosquitoes.
- Turmeric Treatment: You can use turmeric powder from your kitchen treat and prevent rose-dieback disease after pruning your rose bush.
- Silica Gel Packets: Never throw away these tiny sachets, use them in your seed storage container as desiccants which increases your seed life and protects them from fungus.You can also use these to preserve and protect powdered gardening stuff like bone meal, fungicide powder, rooting hormone, etc. Just tape the sachet to the underside of the container lid and that’s it.
- DIY Watering Can: Take the base of a soda bottle and place it around one end of a pvc pipe. Heat it up with a lighter. It should shrink and clamp around the open edge. No glue needed. Use a pin and poke some holes in the bottle base. Next, cut the edge of the pipe at an angle using a saw blade. Next insert the pipe into the inlet and use some hot glue to hold it in place. Optionally, colour it to get that beautiful look.
- Mini Green House: Use plastic bins or containers as mini green houses or poly houses for faster seed germinations.
- Do Not Kill: Avoid spraying a pesticide on the flowers. This is to avoid any harm to beneficial Pollinator insects like butterflies and honey bees which are essential for pollination and fruit formation.
First and foremost, I always repeat these lines: Please avoid the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers which have a lot of hazardous effects on humans and animals. That’s the main reason, why we promote the use of natural agents or organic pesticides and fertilizers in this gardening website.
What is Asafoetida?
Asafoetida, also known as hing, is a common flavoring agent found in most kitchens. It’s actually dried latex or gum exuded from the rhizome or tap root of Ferula Asafoetida plants.
What is the Scientific Basis of its use in gardening and Farming?
First of all, let’s look into its composition. Typical asafoetida contains about 40–64% resin, 25% endogenous gum, 10–17% volatile oil, and 1.5–10% ash. The resin portion and the volatile oil portion contains a lot of strong compounds that are responsible for its pungent odor and its beneficial properties. Apart from it’s medicinal properties, Asafoetida has some amazing uses in gardening and farming as a pesticide to control many pests and insects including termites, also to repel rodents and animals from your garden or farm, and also to treat some plant diseases like leaf curl virus or leaf curl disease which otherwise has absolutely no treatment. We will look into how to use Asafoetida for each of these problems.
How to use Asafoetida to treat Leaf Curl Disease?
Take one liter of sour butter milk. You can also take 500 ml, if you have fewer plants.
Add one teaspoon or about 5 gms of Asafoetida powder to it and mix well.
Let it stay for 1 or 2 hours.
Sieve this solution using a fine cloth to avoid spray bottle clogging.
Spray this thoroughly over the affected plant including the underside of the leaves.
Repeat this every 3 days for 3 – 4 times. Leaf curl disease which is common in pepper and tomato plants will be completely cured by this treatment most of the times.
How to use Asafoetida to Repel Insects and Termites?
Take 50 gms of Asafoetida – raw cake form is better.
Put this in a piece of cotton cloth and make a small sac like this.
Hang this over the tree or plant where you want to repel unwanted insects including termites. The disagreeable odour repels termites and other insects.
How to use Asafoetida to Repel Unwanted Animals and Rodents?
Sometimes these rodents and other animals including our pets like cats and dogs create havoc in our gardens. Most of these animals hate the strong pungent smell of asafoetida. To make it effective you need to use a lot of Asafoetida wrapped up in cotton cloth to repel these animals. Perhaps about 100 gms of Asafoetida may help protect and area of about 1 to 2 square meters. It may not be so much cost effective, but it depends on the intensity of your problem.
How to Use Asafoetida as an Organic Fertilizer and Why?
Using Asafoetida as a liquid fertilizer is said to boost plant immune system and protect it from various diseases in the long run.
- Add 2 grams of raw Asafoetida or pure powder form to 1 litre of water.
- Mix it well by stirring continuously.
- Then water your plants with this solution once in a while, preferably in early growth stages of the plant.
- You can also mix more of it per liter of water and then dilute the solution accordingly and water your plants once in a while.
- You can also foliar spray this solution over your plants.
How to use Asafoetida as an Organic Pesticide?
Asafoetida alone may not be effective to control common pests in our gardens like Aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, thrips, mites and so on. But mixing this with other ingredients can make it a powerful natural pesticide to control these pests.
- Take 1 litre of water and add 5 gms of Asafoetida powder or cake form.
- Add Neem oil of about 5 ml.
- Mix it well and spray it on the affected plants once weekly.
Just google – “eggshells in garden” and your Google search will reveal hundreds of articles about the miracles of eggshells in the garden. Like using them for pest control, fertilizer or a source of calcium to plants, treat blossom end rot disease and what not! But do these claims hold water?
Let’s take a look at the apparent benefits of using eggshells in the garden and find out those which actually work and those which you can ignore.
- EggShells repel slugs and snails? The theory is: Broken eggshells have sharp edges, and if slugs crawl on them, they will get cuts on their bodies, and they die. This is a myth, and slugs and snails are not harmed by egg shells. You can see clearly them crossing the crushed egg shell barrier easily.
But some people say, egg shells have to be finely crushed to inflict injury to these creatures. You can see they are able to cross much sharper objects like a knife in this clip. So, this is completely disproved and will never work! - EggShells are rich in Calcium? Yes, this is a fact and they contain not only calcium – which is about 34%, but also rich in magnesium 0.3%, phosphorus 0.04% and potassium 0.03%. But remember eggshells do not contain any significant amounts of any major plant nutrients like the NPK – Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium. If this is true, then!
- Crushed Egg Shells are a good organic fertilizer for plants? Crushed egg shells added on to the soil will take years to decompose and release those nutrients into soil, especially calcium. So adding crushed egg shells will not help to treat acute calcium deficiency in plants. Many experiments have been conducted on this, where finely powdered egg shells actually help but still take at least 4 weeks to start decomposing and release some nutrients into soil. So as a slow release fertilizer finely powdered egg shells can be used in the prevention of calcium deficiencies in plants like tomatoes and peppers, particularly the blossom end rot disease. But they never work for acute treatment of calcium deficiency.
- Sun dry or Microwave Eggshells before use? Yes this is better! To use egg shells, you need to sun dry them for a couple of days or microwave them for few minutes to get rid of any pathogens and then grind with a mixer or grinder, or with mortar and pestle. You can also buy egg shell powder for garden from online stores like amazon.
- Brown Eggshells are Better than white eggshells? Chicken eggs can come in different colors, and it’s common to find both brown and white eggs in the supermarket. Several studies have found that shell color has no significant effect on egg quality and composition. The only real difference is the pigment in the shell.
- EggShells in Compost Bin? Yes adding eggshells to your compost is perfectly fine, but they take years to break down. Adding finely crushed or powdered egg shells will help in faster decomposition and produce a nutrient rich compost over a period of time. And in making vermicompost, the red wriggler earthworms love egg shells and so they make an excellent addition to vermicompost.
- Eggshells release calcium when boiled in water? This is a fact, One eggshell contains about 2,000 mg of calcium. But boiling process releases only about 0.2% of the calcium as well as potassium into the water, which is a very small amount. But still something is better than nothing and it’s a free source. So next time you boil eggs, do not throw away the water, cool it and water it to your plants for instant source of calcium and potassium.
- Eggshell as a seed starting pot? Well, this is actually silly, but works! Nothing extraordinary about it. You add soil into the egg shell and sow the seeds, but it won’t offer much space as the seedling grows and also plants cannot suck the calcium right out of the shell and it’s better to start seeds in a seedling tray or small containers than taking the pain to start in egg shells. Moreover its really difficult to make a drain hole in an eggshell. It’ really a cumbersome process. You can make a hole in egg by scraping with a sand paper and using a dremmel tool and a drill bit.
- Eggshells for Mulching? There are better options for mulching like straw, dry leaves, wood chips, mulching sheets and so on. Egg shells are nothing superior and you need a lot of them to cover the area for mulching.
- Eggshells to treat Blossom End Rot? This simple hack will produce instant supply of soluble calcium or free calcium using egg shells to instantly supply calcium or treat calcium deficiencies like Blossom End Rot problem (BER) in tomatoes and peppers. To make this solution, you take any amount of finely powdered egg shells – like say 1 cup or 250 gms. Now you add nearly equal amount of distilled white vinegar to it – say about 250 ml. You can even add more amount of vinegar to dissolve egg shells quickly. But your need to dilute it with more water later before watering your plants. Now stir this mixture well and leave it for 1 or 2 hours. Intermittent or continuous stirring will make the process faster. Now add about 3 to 4 liters or a gallon of water to this or mix it to a gallon of water and then water your plants suffering from acute calcium deficiency or the BER problem. That’s it!
Have you ever used eggshells in your garden? Have you sprinkled them around your plants? Did you have success? Please comment below with your feedback and queries.
The word ‘organic farming’ has become one of those buzzwords you are hearing everywhere. No wonder! It is tragic that in today’s era of rapid agricultural production, the use of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides has brought disastrous effects on public health and our beautiful mother earth is contaminated with all left over chemicals. Organic Farming comes to our rescue. Organic Gardening and Farming is based on using natural methods like the use of natural fertilizers and natural pesticides for plant growth and pest control and a complete NO to synthetic or chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Having said that, Let us preview two special books on organic farming using unique ultra-low cost methods which are really effective in horticulture. These books are even available in eBook editions at amazon.
The First book: JADAM Organic Farming – The Ultra-Low Cost Agriculture – second edition published in 2016.
The second book: JADAM Organic Pest and Disease Control with Powerful DIY Solutions to 167 common pests and diseases, published quite recently in June 2021 and probably I am the first to review this book.
About the Author: Dr. Youngsang Cho, from South Korea with over 30 years expertise in organic farming with a Master’s Degree in Horticulture and PHD in Plant pathology. He learnt agricultural technology from his father, Hankyu Cho, who was a founder of Korea Natural Farming (KNF). He started his agricultural research since 1991 and developed several low cost innovative technologies in organic farming and plant pest and disease control. These books are translated into 20 different languages and available worldwide.
Let’s First Preview:
JADAM ORGANIC FARMING – The way to Ultra-Low-Cost Agriculture.
This is the second edition of this book published in the year 2016 and the first edition was published way back in 2013. This book has about 379 pages.
The thing which I like most in this book: are these Four Aims of JADAM Farming Technology: SIMPLE – principles are simple and not complicated, EASY: Easy to make and use, SCIENTIFIC: that’s based on scientific research and results and lastly EFFECTIVE: these are highly effective and ultra-low-cost.
Now let’s check out Contents of this book:
So many interesting chapters starting from basic principles, Soil managment tips, Natural pesticides for all types of pests and much more. We will quickly flip through few pages and see how useful this book is.
- Some new concepts of symbiosis with grass or weeds looks interesting to me. This is explained in detail and scientifically.
- The Current State of our Soil – contaminated by chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
- Leaf Mold Soil, Seed and Seedling Treatment using leaf mold soil.
- No-Till Soil Management method using landscape fabric.
- The Main Chapter on Making Organic Fertilizers – which has topics like Natural Mineral Water, DIY Advanced Irrigation System, DIY electric Power Distribution Board,
- Making of JADAM Microorganism Solution (JMS), JADAM liquid Fertilizer, using boiled potatoes, Grass, Food Waste, Human Excreta, Fish meal and a lot of other stuff, like how we discussed on the Waste Decomposer technology by National Centre for Organic Farming, Indian Agriculture, in one of my episodes. Everything explained with beautiful photographs and illustrations.
- Natural Pesticides. Jadam DIY Water Softener, Then Jadam Wetting Agent, Jadam Sulphur, Jadam Herb Solution and much more.
Let’s quickly Preview the second book by the same author:
Jadam Organic Pest and Disease Control with Powerful DIY Organic Pest Control solutions with proven effectiveness. This book is published recently in June 2021. This book has about 506 pages.
We will quickly look through table of contents: some basic principles, then natural solutions to various types of pests like Mites, Aphids, whiteflies, Thrips, scales, bugs, Moths and other pests and insects. Then about the beneficial insects – that’s biological pest control. Then a detailed chapters on various plant diseases like blackspot disease, mildew, blight, mosaic virus, Damping off and many more and controlling with JADAM natural pesticides. The effect of JADAM natural pesticide has been proven by the National Agricultural Research Institute. This book is beautifully explained with nice clear photographs and illustrations on various pests and diseases.
These books will certainly help bring a revolution in organic agriculture if implemented worldwide without the need of commercial pesticides and can reduce the cost of pesticides by more than 95%. I am certainly going to try some of these methods mentioned in these books and implement them.
If you have any questions about Organic farming, you are most welcome to visit jadam website and ask them through ‘Sharing JADAM’. Another good thing is JADAM has not patented any of its knowledge and technologies but shared it all through seminars, books, and their website. These books are available worldwide at Amazon both as kindle editions and hard copies.
Book Links:
(Sales are good around the world, so stocks are often out of stock.This book stock will be filled right away. E-books are also being prepared.)
– JADAM Organic PEST CONTROL BOOK: (https://amzn.to/3wkYGf7
– JADAM Organic Farming Book: https://amzn.to/3jqEgOf
– Jadam Website: https://en.jadam.kr
Soil fertility, plant growth and yield is determined by three major elements namely Nitrogen, Phosphorus & Potassium (N, P, K). Out of these, nitrogen plays a very important role. For this reason, Urea consumption is very high all over the world. It contain 46% of N, with NPK value 46-0-0.
Why is the Use of Urea as a Chemical Fertilizers Hazardous?
When urea 46-0-0 is applied to soil, unfortunately, more than half (up to 60%) of the nitrogen leaches out or vaporizes in the form of nitrogen gas, ammonia & nitrous oxide due to the presence of denitrifying bacteria in the soil, resulting in contamination of groundwater and contributing to environmental hazards and pollution. Hence we recommend organic farming and avoid the use of these chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
What is Neem Coated Urea?
There is a lot of difference in Neem coated urea and the Plain Urea. In Neem coated urea, they put a layer of neem oil over the plain urea. Scientists have found that neem oil effectively reduces the solubility of urea and ensures that it is not wasted through leaching and contamination and does not cause pollution. In other words, coating urea with neem seed oil ensures that all the urea applied is utilised by the plants. For beginners, Neem oil is obtained by crushing the seeds of neem tree – botanically Azadirachta indica. Neem oil is the safest and best broad spectrum natural pesticide available for organic farming.
What are the Benefits of using Neem Coated Urea?
It has lot of advantages like:
- It prevents the loss of urea in the soil, as we already discussed.
- Reduction in pest and disease attacks: It controls a large number of pests such as caterpillars, beetles, leafhoppers, borer, mites and so on.
- Increases crop yields due to better nitrogen utilization.
- Reduction in environmental pollution of ground water due to leaching of nitrates and gaseous emissions.
- Coating urea with neem puts the urea fertiliser in slow release mode, nourishing the saplings for a longer period, and thus avoiding the repeated use of fertiliser.
- It Increases shelf life of urea fertilizer.
- Then lastly, an Opportunity for entrepreneurs to commercialize local Neem Resources and start production and sales of neem coated fertilizers.
Now the most important questions for organic gardeners: Can I use this Neem Coated Urea for Organic Farming or Home or Backyard food gardening? And How to use it safely? Are there any ill effects of using this?
I have provided all links to research articles on these topics and the link to purchase neem coated urea online in the description below.
Now, How to use this fertilizer?
You can use this in two modes:
- Soil Application: Add about 1/4th Teaspoon per plant or per container once in a month. Do not over fertilizer as this can burn your plant.
- As Foliar Feed Spray: Add about max 5 grams or 1 teaspoon per litre of water and spray on the plant leaves, more on the underside of the leaves because the stomata or the leaf pores are more in number at the underside of the leaves.
PURCHASE LINKS:
RESEARCH ARTICLES & REFERENCES:
https://gkvks.com/downloads/NEEMCOATEDUREAANECO-FRIENDLY.pdf
https://gkvks.com/downloads/NCUreportrevised.pdf
https://gkvks.com/downloads/ncu-links.txt