Many people like to spend their time gardening. Gardening is not a cheap hobby anymore, you have to spend a lot of money for it. You need seeds or seedlings, dirt or soil, compost, and tools to start gardening.
But if you act sensibly, this hobby of yours will not affect your pocket. If your budget is very low then you can cut down your expenses by thinking smartly. Using kitchen scraps in your garden is also a way to save money.
As you know you can use kitchen scrap for making compost. Compost is full of nutrients and its application makes your soil fertile and rich. Composting is a challenging task, this is a complete process you must learn. To make compost at home needs your time and effort.
You should not lose your heart, you can also use food scraps to grow a better garden. In this article, we are going to discuss with you how to use kitchen scraps directly in the garden.
There are different ways to use food scraps in your garden. Make holes in the soil and fill the kitchen scraps in them. The other way is burying the scraps around your plants.
The decomposition process of the food scraps is done very slowly. Continuously your soil will be fed by these kitchen scraps and your plants absorb all the nutrients from the soil.
1- BURRY BANANA PEELS IN THE SOIL FOR EXTRA NUTRIENTS
When you eat bananas, never throw away their peels because they are a good source of potassium. Potassium is the basic nutrient that is needed by plants.
One banana peel contains 422 milligrams of potassium. When you bury banana peels in the soil then your plants will grow healthy and strong.
The peels of bananas break down slowly and release potassium directly into the ground and your plants will absorb it. Potassium helps to boost the growth of roots, fight against diseases, and as a result produce more fruit for you.
2- USE CRUSHED EGGSHELLS AS A FERTILISER
Eggshells are of no use to you. Instead of throwing them away, you can use them for your plants. Eggshells are a good source of calcium. Just as your bones need calcium, so do plants.
After using the eggs, wash the eggshells with water. After rinsing them well, leave them for a few hours to dry. When egg shells are completely dry you can crush them.
Sprinkle the crushed eggshells on the soil in your garden. Besides making your plants strong and healthy, egg shells also keep some pests such as slugs and snails away from your plants.
As you know these tiny monsters are a big problem for you. This is a very simple and easy way of using kitchen scrap for your plants.
3- ORANGE PEELS HELP TO DETER PESTS
Pests are a big problem for your plants. They create alarming situations for your plans. As a gardener, you know that you can’t handle pests easily.
If you don’t want to apply pesticides in the garden because they have chemicals and you are looking for natural ways to avoid them. Then orange peels are a good solution for you.
If you are a gardener then never throw orange peels into the trash you need them against pests in your garden. Orange peels act like a natural pest deterrent.
You will be shocked to know that they are used in bug-repellent sprays. You know orange peels have a strong fragrance. Most insects such as fire ants, flies, mosquitoes, roaches, and fleas don’t like it.
Now we will tell you how to use orange peels to deter pests in your garden. Their use is very easy. You just need some pieces of orange peels and scatter them around the base of your favourite plants.
The other way of using them is just to bury the peels below the surface of the soil. To stop the movement of the aphids around your plants you can incorporate shredded peels into the soil insert areas.
4- USE COFFEE GROUNDS TO IMPROVE THE GROWTH OF FOLIAGE
Leftover coffee Grounds are useless for you. Instead of throwing them away, you can use them for plants. Coffee grounds have nitrogen so you can use it to improve the growth of foliage of your plants.
Nitrogen is the basic nutrient that helps to grow healthy vegetation and the presence of nitrogen in the soil supports plants to thrive well without facing any difficulty. Coffee grounds are one of my favourite composting materials.
You can easily use coffee grounds and just mix them in the soil. You can also make a solution of grounds by mixing it with water. Now use this nitrogen-rich solution to water your plants.
The application of coffee grounds in the ground will make the soil more rich and fertile. The other advantage of the coffee ground is that it keeps pests at bay.
Keep in mind that coffee grounds contain caffeine too so you should use them moderately. If you apply many grounds in the soil then it can stunt the growth of plants.
5- COOKING WATER
You use water to boil vegetables, pasta, and rice. When you boil food in the water some nutrients are left in the water. As you know the food you use for boiling in water has different nutrients such as potassium nitrogen calcium and magnesium.
You should not waste this water because it is full of nutrients and you can use it in your garden to fulfil the needs of your plants.
After boiling your food items, keep this water aside and let it cool for some time. Now this cooking water is ready to use. This cooking water plays a double role.
On one side it makes the soil moist and on the other hand, It plays the role of fertiliser because it nourishes your plants. This is an organic way to feed your plants. The interesting thing about this cooking water is that it is a very tip way of making your soil fertile.
Keep Reading:
- 15 Simple And Inexpensive Homemade Fertilizers
- How To Improve The Fertility Of The Potting Soil Cheaply?
- 10 Magical And Organic Fertilizers For Your Vegetable Garden
6- NUTSHELLS
You can also use nutshells in the garden as they can stop the growth of weeds. Weeds are unwanted plants that grow by themselves. Weeds affect the health of your plants because they steal nutrients from the soil.
As a result, there is a combat between the plants and the weeds for nutrients and minerals. Hand-picking is a simple and easy way of getting rid of weeds. You can also use herbicide for this purpose.
If you don’t want to use chemicals as they are also harmful to your plans then you must try nutshells. Don’t throw the nutshells in the trash but make small pieces of them and apply a thick layer around the plants.
If the soil in your garden is compacted then you can also mix the nutshells in the soil. It will help to aerate the hard and compact soil. Hard soil doesn’t allow the roots of the plant to expand.
7- FISH SCRAPS
You may find it unbelievable that the head and frame of a fish can be used. Yes, you can indeed use fish heads and frames to make your soil rich and fertile.
Fish straps are a good source of nitrogen. As you know nitrogen encourages the new growth of plants.
There are some disadvantages to using fish scraps. Unwanted animals are attracted to parasites and pathogens that are contained in fish scraps.
The most common way of using fish scraps in your garden is burying them in the soil. It is suggested that you bury the fresh scraps at least 30 cm deep in the soil.
Fish scraps decompose quickly in the soil and it feeds organically without using chemicals.
8- USING CARDBOARD BOXES
Kitchen waste also includes cardboard boxes. You can use cardboard boxes or newspapers as a weed barrier in your garden. It is not easy to stunt the growth of weeds in the soil. Cardboard boxes help to reduce the growth of weeds by 75% or more.
Take all the card boxes you have and turn them into pieces. Now place all these pieces around the plants you want to protect from weeds. After placing the cardboard you must water the plants so they stay in place.
Gradually the cardboard breaks down into the soil and turns into a useful organic matter that improves the fertility of the soil.
9- USING GARLIC, ONION AND SPICY PEPPER
Pests are a big problem for your plans. If you have pets, they often go into your garden and damage your plants. You have different spices in your kitchen.
Mix these materials in the water and fill this solution in a spray bottle. Spray this solution on your favourite plants to protect them from insects and pets.
Black paper is one of the spices that can be used to treat fungus infestations. It is a natural antibacterial agent that performs the function of pesticides and keeps your plants healthy.
Black pepper has aromatic properties when you mix it in the garden soil it will protect your plants from ants and insects.
10- LEFTOVER TEA
Tea is a natural ingredient that is used to make a comforting beverage. You can use leftover tea as a natural powerhouse for your plants. Tea leaves give extra lush to your plants. The nitrogen, aluminium, fluorine, and manganese present in the tea leaves help your plants to grow fast.
Before adding leftover tea in the soil you must check the pH of the soil by a soil test. Soil tests tell you what type of nutrients are needed by your plans.
In case you are growing plants that like to grow in alkaline soil then you must avoid using leftover tea in your garden. The reason is that leftover tea can raise the acidity of soil. It is better to choose plants that like acidic soil so you can easily apply leftover tea.
There are different ways to use leftover tea in your garden. You can remove the tea leaves from the tea bags and use them in the garden. If you are using paper tea bags then you can easily use them directly in the soil because they are compostable.
One thing you should keep in mind is that If you use tea with milk and sugar then it will be harmful to plants. Sugar becomes the reason for wilting your plants and the presence of milk encourages the growth of mould.
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