Love growing Roses? Here are some DIY Rose Fertilizers and Remedies available right in the kitchen that you can use to have more blooms!
Check out these DIY Rose Fertilizer and Remedies available right in your kitchen! These are pocket friendly and the best ways to grow healthy and productive rose bushes.
Find out the best things to put in rose growing holes here
DIY Rose Fertilizer and Remedies
1. Used Tea Bags or Leaves
What It Does: Improves soil texture and helps the roots
As roses love tannic acid that naturally occurs in tea leaves, it’ll be great to fertilize them with used leaves or tea bags. Tea leaves also make the soil porous and create a favorable environment for the growth of these flowers.
Tear open some tea bags and disperse the contents around the plants.
Learn about amazing Tea Bag Uses in the garden here
2. Egg Shells
What It Does: Great calcium boost, speeds up the overall growth of the plant and promotes bigger blooms.
Excellent source of calcium, eggshells strengthen the walls of plant cells and help them in resisting the entry of pathogens. The calcium content promotes healthy foliage and strengthens root systems, allowing roses to uptake more nutrients from the soil.
Crush a few eggshells and put them around the base of your rose plants, or add them before planting. Learn more here!
3. Banana Peel Fertilizer
What It Does: More flowers with better growth and improved root structure
Ripe banana peels are a useful addition to your rose fertilizing regimen. Since they decompose easily, they rapidly release valuable minerals such as sulfur, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and trace elements into the soil.
Grind 4-6 banana peels into a smooth paste using water and mix it in the growing medium.
Learn other alternative ways to use banana peels as fertilizer here
4. Apple Cider Vinegar
What It Does: Helps the plant to fight diseases
Both white and apple cider vinegar works well to lower the pH of the soil and therefore boost the growth of acidophilic plants like roses. Keep in mind that vinegar lacks nutrients, and adding it regularly in large amounts can have harmful effects on your plants.
Add 1-2 teaspoons of ACV to a liter of water and use it on your plants once in 2-3 months.
5. Fish Bones
What It Does: Better foliage with deeper colors in blooms due to its many micronutrients.
Store the fish bones the next time you cook them, as they can greatly benefit the roses! Grind them up thoroughly and mix 1-2 cups in the growing medium. Water well and watch the plant thrive in no time.
Fishbones break down slowly, adding nutrients to the soil and helping your precious rose plants to grow.
Note: You can also bury a fish head in the planting hole at the time of growing roses.
6. Powdered Milk
What It Does: Prevents black spots, improves soil health and beneficial bacteria
Powdered or liquid milk is not just suitable for human consumption but also for rose plants. It’s a rich calcium source and promotes root and foliage growth. It also keeps the fungal growth in check.
Dilute milk with an equal amount of water and apply it to plants’ foliage to save the plants from black spot disease. To provide quick calcium and mineral boost, apply it around the base of the plant.
Learn the best milk powder uses in the garden here
7. Expired Dog and Cat Food
What It Does: Boosts growth and flower production
Pet food contains a wide spectrum of protein and micronutrients that benefit the soil and rose plants. Grind a handful of pet food and mix it in the growing medium.
Note: Grind the pellets properly to convert them into a fine powder before mixing in the growing medium. Do not overuse. Once in 2-3 months would be just fine.
8. Cooking Water
What It Does: Great for the overall growth and development
Instead of throwing vegetable cooking water you have in your kitchen, use it to fertilize your roses and other garden plants. Let the water cool, and then use it to give a garden plant or two a healthy drink.
Do not add salt to the water because salt is harmful to plants.
9. Baking Soda
What It Does: Keeps the plant safe from fungal issues
Baking soda helps prevent downy mildew, black spots, and other fungal diseases on roses. Mix 1 teaspoon of it and a few drops of liquid dish soap in a liter of water.
Mix well and spray the solution on the infected parts of the plant. It will keep the infection at bay, resulting in more flowers!
Check out some more benefits of baking soda for plants here
10. Dish Soap
What It Does: Helps to keep pests away
Not a fertilizer recipe but a remedy to help your rose bushes grow better. Dish soap kills aphids, mealybugs, and mites by destroying their protective waxy cover and leaving them vulnerable to weather effects.
Add 1-2 teaspoons of dish soap to a liter of water and spray on the pests directly.
11. Bone Meal
What It Does: Better growth and more flowers
Do not throw away the bones of chicken and meat the next time you cook them. They can be an excellent organic feed for the roses. Bone meal is a great source of phosphorus that helps the plant to bloom. It has an NPK ratio of 3-15-0.
Grind the bones after boiling them to make a fine powder, toss a cup in the planting hole, and watch your plant thrive! You can also buy it from a garden store.
Learn how to use bone meal on plants here
12. Coffee Grounds
What It Does: Speeds up the plant’s growth by improving soil texture
In moderate quantities, coffee grounds can be beneficial for rose bushes, just like used tea leaves. Mix 3-4 spoons of coffee grounds in the growing medium. Alternately, mix 2 cups of coffee grounds into 2 gallons of water and use it around the soil.
Learn the best uses of coffee grounds for gardening here
13. Aquarium Water
What It Does: Aids in flower production, encourages growth
Aquarium water contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, ammonia, and many other micronutrients. Use it to water the plant twice a month and notice more blooms.
Do not use it if you have a salt-water tank. Read details here.
Bonus!
14. Kelp Meal
Kelp meal or seaweed extract encourages root development, strengthens stems, and restores deficiencies. Use it as a spray when your plants are budding.
Add 1-2 teaspoons to a liter of water and use it on plants once in 2 months.
15. Cottonseed Meal
Cottonseed meal can increase the acidity of the soil, which greatly helps plants like roses and azaleas. Mix 1-2 teaspoons of the meal in the growing medium at the planting time.
It will add a dose of nitrogen, potash, and phosphorus, which will result in more flowers.
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