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Usually, when we give gardening or plant care advice we are referring to sunlight, soil types, fertilisers, plant treatment potting techniques, and other more conventional garden hacks. However, dwelling in the average home there are some lesser known gardening hacks - lingering specifically: in the kitchen.
Rather than throwing out your empty egg shells, banana skins and other kitchen scraps, you can reapply and upcycle waste - to the garden. Here’s how…
1. TEA BAGS
One of our favourite garden hacks uses the common teabag in an innovative and original way. Allegedly, if you cut open used teabags and rake out the damp tea leaves, you use the mixture by stirring it into your plant soil. The nutrients and tannic acid in the tea act as a natural fertiliser for soil, which improves plant health. A fun twist on the English tea obsession - our plants love it too!
2. CINNAMON
When re-potting plants or taking cuttings, add a dust of cinnamon to deter pests and prevent fungus. Alternatively, if you already have a fungus problem on your plants, the cinnamon will kill the unwanted spore-producing organisms. It will also help deter and kill slime mould and mushrooms. You can add cinnamon to warm water and then allow it to rest overnight. After this process, put the mixture in a spray bottle and harness cinnamon fungicide control by spraying your plants.
3. EGG SHELLS
One of the most frustrating things about growing plants which produce fruit (such as strawberry plants), is coming down in the morning to check on the ripening process, and finding your beloved leaves and fruits have been munched on by slugs. To combat this issue, harness the power of the egg. If you’re a fan of omelettes or scrambled eggs - this is a great gardening hack for you.
After eating breakfast, leave your cracked egg shells to sit and dry out, and then crush these shells into fine pieces. You can then scatter the egg debris around your plants to create an impenetrable ground covering, which will stop slugs and snails feasting on your plants.
4. VINEGAR
Adding a couple of teaspoons of vinegar to the water of cut flowers will freshen them up and add vibrancy! This is thought to work because the vinegar alters the pH or the water in the vase. Vinegar raises the pH, and this helps to reduce the rate and scale of bacteria growing in the vase water. Bacteria is often the reason that freshly cut flowers die and decay sooner than expected.
5. TEA BAGS - AGAIN
Brew a very weak tea with previously used tea bags and water your indoor plants with it. Brewed tea leaves make a fabulous liquid fertilizer as they contain high levels of minerals, carbohydrates, and other nutrients that help plants to grow. However, great as this gardening hack is, remember not to pour scorching tea onto your plants, or you will run the risk of burning and killing them! Also, be aware that if you’ve already watered the plant that day, you might oversaturate the soil if you also then add a whole mug of tea, which can create a plethora of health issues for your plants - so check the soil moisture first.
6. BANANA PEELS
If you place banana skins onto the soil surface, they’ll seep a balanced slow-release fertiliser into the soil. Boost your plants with calcium, potassium and phosphorous! Banana peel works best as a fertilizer on plants which have low-nitrogen requirements like radishes, tomatoes, cucumber and peppers. However, the peel will still have positive benefits for other plants too!
7. EGG SHELLS
Mix egg shells into the soil to give your plants a calcium boost. Calcium builds healthy bones, in plants this means strong roots that can develop better plants! The finer the eggshells are ground, the better the soil can absorb their calcium. A great garden hack for this involves using a rolling pin to finely crush the shells. Alternatively, you can use a tilling machine to achieve the same result and mix the eggshell powder into your planting soil. Ideally you should do this a couple of months before you start planting crops in order to ensure that the soil is peak growing condition.
8. GARLIC
Deter moles from the garden with the strong odour of garlic! Place crushed or whole cloves into their tunnels.
9. VINEGAR
This isn’t a gardening hack per se - but we are obsessed with this tip, which is an absolute must for the summer! If you are acquainted with the horror of coming downstairs on a warm sunny day to find a trail of ants threading its way around surfaces and doors - then spray vinegar onto trails, doorframes and cupboards as the ultimate means of ant deterrence.
10. MILK
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that attacks many different types of plants. You can tell when your plants have it because their leaves and stems become speckled in white powdery spots. Fortunately for us, the proteins in milk act as an antibiotic when combined with direct sunlight.
It is believed that the proteins in milk act like an antibiotic when exposed to sunlight. To treat powdery mildew with milk, spray susceptible plants with a mixture of 1 part milk to 3 parts water - this will help cure infected plants or prevent powdery mildew from attacking in the first place. Spray the plant’s leaves every 10-14 days.
11. BEER
It turns out that humans aren’t the only species who can’t get enough beer! Slugs are so attracted to beer that they’ll even risk their lives to get a taste! Fill a saucer with beer and slugs will be so attracted to the yeast that they’ll crawl in and drown.
12. VASELINE
Smear sections of narrow cardboard with vaseline, and then hang vertically with a cord to capture all the small and evasive bugs that roam the greenhouse, and - when we say evasive bugs - we are talking mainly about spiders and flies.
13. PEPPER
Anyone with a cat will probably be acquainted with their less-than-charming tendencies to dig up borders, throw bulbs and plants up in the air, and use our precious plant beds as toilets. If you have a cat who is known to dabble with your plants - or have neighbours with cats - just scatter pepper around your prized plants to deter them from messing in your borders!
14. EGG BOXES
It’s our third egg-related gardening hack! We’ve covered the egg shells, but there’s another great way to utilise your breakfast. Start your seeds off in old egg boxes! When the time comes to plant them out, you can just plant the whole container into the soil, and it will decompose naturally.
15. BRILLO PADS
If you’re growing acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, blueberries, strawberries and heathers, you’ll find that they are acid-loving, meaning they need a soil pH of about 5.5. Consequently, you’ll need to feed them with iron - which is highly available in acidic soil. Soak your old brillo pads in water for a few days, and then water your acid lovers with the solution.
16. YOGHURT
If you want a vintage look to your rockery or old wall, you can accelerate mossy, algae growth by smearing it with yoghurt. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the sun for a few days and sit back to enjoy an interesting display of what plant overs are calling “green graffiti.”
We hope this has been a helpful garden hack guide and has left you feeling inspired to recycle some of your kitchen waste. If your garden needs a spruce, don't forget to check out our plants by subscription boxes!
