Taking care of your garden might seem like a lot. Especially when you have to deal with pests, animals, and weeds that can damage or kill your precious plants. However, you can follow some simple advice to avoid certain gardening mistakes.
Here are 12 interesting gardening hacks to help you with your gardening:
1. Use old tea bags to add nutrients to the soil
Tea bags contain nutrients that will increase the nitrogen level in the soil. They will also provide food for earthworms that are wonderful for tilling the dirt in your garden and also, they process the leaves, resulting in nutrient-rich fertilizer output.
2. Use old tea bags to help with plant water retention
If you bury used tea bags near the root of your flowers and vegetables, it will help the plants retain more water by acting like a sponge. This advice can be very helpful in the hot summer months when water is scarce.
3. Use old tea bags to grow seedlings
Tea bags are great plant food, so it only makes sense that they’d be the perfect vessel to grow seedlings. Since they were steeped in boiling hot water, they are sterile, which makes them great for growing healthy plants.
*There are no harmful environmental effects of planting tea bags in the garden – Most tea bags are made from Manila hemp, a strong, fibrous material. However, according to UK Tea & Infusions Association, “despite its strength, once in your compost heap, the bag will break down just like any other vegetable matter?
4. Use coffee grounds as fertilizer and compost
Coffee grounds contain essential nutrient nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and other micronutrients. This means it can be used as a slow-release fertilizer. You can also toss your leftover coffee grounds into your compost pile.
5. Feed acid-loving plants with coffee grounds
If you have roses, rhododendrons, azaleas, lilies, holly, or gardenias, you might need some extra help from. The coffee grounds react well to the acidity in the soil, and these plants will thrive.
Be careful, though, and keep it away from your veggies, since they might not respond well to coffee grounds.
6. Use coffee grounds to increase your carrot and radish harvest
This advice may seem odd to you, but it works. You can mix together the seeds of your carrots and radishes with your coffee grounds before planting them.
7. Use baking soda to get rid of ants
You can target ants specifically if you use a mixture of five teaspoons of baking soda, five teaspoons of sugar, and a teaspoon of water. The ants will be attracted to the sugar and eat it, though the baking soda they’ll eat with it will be fatal. Pour this mixture on any anthills you might find and add a little bit of vinegar. The last step will be sure to get any surviving ants.
See also: Sweet tomatoes – baking soda in the soil is the trick
8. Use baking soda to absorb compost odors
When you have a compost pile in your garden the bad smell that comes with it is inevitable. There’s an easy fix for this.
All you have to do is add a little bit of baking soda on top to absorb some of the odor and fix the acidity a little. Don’t do too much, though, or you’ll slow the decomposition process entirely!
9. Use baking soda to clean houseplants
If you have any big plants inside that gather dust, it can be hard to effectively clean them since you can’t use the usual chemicals. To shine them up a little without hurting them, just use a little bit of baking soda and warm water and wipe them gently.
10. Use baking soda to get rid of mildew
Baking soda can kill off mildew that can rot your plants (fruits and vegetables in particular). The best advice is to mix a tablespoon of baking soda with two-and-a-half tablespoons of horticultural oil in a gallon of water. Put it in a bottle, and spray it on your plants to give them a protective layer against mildew.
11. Use baking soda as a pesticide
You can make a safe and effective pesticide with baking soda! Mix a tablespoon of olive oil, two tablespoons of baking soda, and a couple drops of liquid soap in a gallon of water. Put it in a spray container, and apply gently to your garden every three days.
12. Use vinegar to get rid of weeds
You can get rid of unwanted garden growth by pouring apple cider vinegar onto weeds. Your weeds will die, but your soil will stay healthy.
