There are many hacks you can use in your yard without spending much! Here are some Cheap Gardening Tricks Every Gardener Should Know!
There are many valuable tips and tricks that you can use for the plants in the yard without burning a hole in your pocket. Surprised? Don’t be! Here are some Cheap Gardening Tricks Every Gardener Should Know!
Here are some clever plant tricks you can use
Cheap Gardening Tricks Every Gardener Should Know
1. Use Spices to Prevent Fungal Diseases
You can get rid of fungal diseases by using spices like clove, cinnamon, turmeric, and mustard loaded with antifungal properties.
Just sprinkle more than a pinch on topsoil while planting the seeds in pots to stop mold on houseplants and in homes to prevent damping off.
Note: Re-apply the spices at regular intervals after watering.
2. Recycle Pots
This pocket-friendly trick will save your money from buying seed starting trays and containers. You can also use empty egg cartons, mason jars, and other bottles or jars in the house.
You can make containers of used plastic bottles or old kitchen items. Learn how to do it here
3. Save Tea and Coffee Grounds
Do not trash leftover tea and coffee grounds—use them in the garden beds for soil amendments. They help in improving soil texture and acidifying the pH. Just make sure you wash them to get rid of sugar and milk before using them.
Sprinkle 1/4 inch tea and coffee grounds around acid-loving plants like rhododendrons, blueberries, and azaleas once a month.
Check out our article on how to use coffee grounds in the garden here
4. Add Hydrogen Peroxide Before Watering Plants
Add 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide in a gallon of water before watering the plants—it boosts the oxygen going to the soil, preventing bacterial and fungal diseases that develop in anaerobic conditions.
Soaking seeds in hydrogen peroxide also improve their germination. Find out how here.
Have a look at some fantastic hydrogen peroxide uses in the garden here
5. Use Leftover Tea and Coffee for Watering
Instead of draining leftover tea and coffee, use them on your potted plants as the solution is rich in nitrogen and a bit low in phosphorus. Use leftover tea and coffee on acid-loving plants.
Note: If your plants prefer neutral soil, do this not more than once a month. Also, dilute it in the ratio of 1:2 with water before using.
6. Aquarium Water as Fertlizer
Aquarium water can be beneficial in several ways for plants as it contains phosphorus, nitrogen, ammonia, potassium, and beneficial microorganism.
Learn everything about using aquarium water for plants here
7. Prepare Compost Tea from Manure, Weed, and Garden Waste
Every gardener must follow this simplest gardening trick to boost micro-nutrients and nitrogen in the growing medium with compost tea.
Take a large bowl and fill 1/3 with manure, garden weeds, leaves, and top with water. After two weeks, you can use the tea on plants like cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli.
8. Make Smart Use of Kitchen Scraps
Kitchen residue and waste stuff are not for trash bins only as gardeners can use them intelligently to boost the healthy growth of plants.
Read all the beneficial uses of kitchen scraps here
9. Don’t Trash Pasta Water
Pasta water is full of starch and has calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, and potassium that encourage growth. It also aids in bacterial activity in the soil.
Learn all about using pasta water for plants here
10. Use Wood Ash
Ashes from the woodstove (untreated wood) can be used in the garden to raise soil pH, rectify acidic soil, kill weeds, prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes, save plants from frost damage, and many more.
Have a look at some helpful wood ash uses in the garden here
11. Use Eggshells
Eggshells are made up of 95 percent minerals, out of which 37 percent is calcium carbonate and 3.3 percent is protein. They also contain a good amount of potassium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus.
Here is all you need to know about using eggshells in the garden
12. Beer to Get Rid of Slugs
Slugs can destroy your garden. To get rid of them, place a shallow dish filled with beer in the yard. They’ll get attracted and will drown.
Have a look at some fantastic beer uses in the garden here
13. Reserve Moisture with Sponge
Every gardener knows that water settling at the bottom of the container leads to root rot. The simple trick to overcome this issue is to cut the old sponges and place them at the bottom of the planter.
Sponges will hold the moisture, keep the soil moist, and create the required air space.
14. Use Epsom Salt as Fertilizer
This kitchen ingredient has impressive uses in the garden; it helps the plants absorb more nutrients, is great for tomatoes, prevents leaf curling, and many more.
Read all about Epsom Salt uses in the garden here
15. Use Rusty Nails
Plants require iron to stay healthy, but only in small amounts. Rusty nails contain iron oxide, which helps the plant’s chloroplast structure and function. As a result, making them greener, healthier, and more active!
Here’s all you need to know about using Rusty nails for plants
16. Use Milk
You can use milk in the garden as a disinfectant, fungicide, preventing black spots on rose bushes, improving soil health as a fertilizer, and a lot more!
Have a look at some fantastic milk uses in the garden here
17. Mulch with Dry and Dead Leaves
Collect the shredded leaves from your garden every week and use them as mulch to provide nutrition to the other plants. Dry leaves are slow-releasing elements that feed the soil with the required nutrients and prevent erosion.
You can also use wood shavings, hay, and dried citrus peels.
18. Do Companion Planting
Companion Planting is a cheap trick every gardener should learn; grow divergent plants that enhance each other’s growth and deter pests. This way, you will get a healthy harvest naturally without investing your time and energy.
Get the best tips on companion planting here!
19. Practice Seed Saving
Try your hands on seed saving instead of investing pretty bucks on buying new seeds every year. Store the seeds from your home-grown fruits and vegetables, and use them for growing the next batch in the following season.
20. Make Organic Pest Deterrents
You can easily make organic pest deterrents at home by mixing chili, vinegar, turmeric powder in a soap solution. This will deter unwanted pests and reward you with an organically grown harvest.
Neem oil is another option that serves this purpose the best.
21. Use Plant Covers to Fight Critters
Use hard paper rolls to cover the tender seedlings that’ll keep the slugs and snails from invading your territory. Also, make sure to get wire fencing around the garden to keep cats and other critters away.
22. Rice Water for Plants
Do not discard the water after washing/cooking rice. Rice water is a powerhouse of starch, amino acid, and antioxidants that will nourish your plant’s growth like nothing else. You can water the plant or use it as a foliar spray for lush growth.
Have a look at the benefits of using rice water for plants here
23. Make a Micro Greenhouse with Old Soda Bottle
Recycle a 2-liter plastic soda bottle and make a mini greenhouse from it. It is one of the best and Cheap Gardening Tricks Every Gardener Should Know!
24. Cardboard Seed Tubes
Roll the cardboard in the shape of tubes, fill potting soil, and plant the seeds. When the seedlings grow up to a few inches, move them to a pot or garden along with the seed tubes you made from the cardboard. They will decompose on their own. Learn more here.
25. Use Salad Boxes as Seed Starters
Recycle a salad box and use it as a seed starter, punch some holes in the top part for airflow, fill half bottom with potting mix, plant seeds as suggested on the seed packet. See more here.
26. Zip Ties to Keep Climbing and Vining Plants in Place
With this trick, you can direct the vines easily, fasten zip ties around the stalks, and strap them to anything strong but not very tight as they require to move and thrive.
27. Use Eggshells and Citrus-Rinds for Starting Seeds
Fill potting mix in eggshells or citrus rinds, spread the seeds, and cover them with a thin layer of soil. When seedlings emerge, transfer them to the pot along with these decomposable seed starters in the soil.
28. Ice Cream Sticks as Plant Markers
Re-use ice cream sticks as plant markers as they are biodegradable, flexible, and strong. Write the date of sowing and insert it into the soil.
29. Use Honey to Propagate Cuttings
Honey is cost-effective, readily available, and can be used as a rooting hormone to propagate cuttings. Read in detail here.
30. Plant Tags Using Key Rings
Keyrings are a superb option for making plant tags! Write a plant’s name on the id tags and attach a ring or holder to the stem.
31. Use Coffee Cups For Watering Plants
Make a watering can from the disposable coffee cups—the ones you get from Starbucks. The hole in the lid is ideal for slowly pouring out water.
32. Shredded Soap in the Garden
If deers or rabbits are constantly irritating you in the garden, keep them away by sprinkling shredding soap. Don’t worry; it won’t harm your plants.
33. Talcum Powder in the Garden
Talcum powder keeps the bugs away from the garden, deter squirrels, and remove grease from garden clothes, too! Read more here.
34. Use Disposable Plastic Forks to Protect Seedlings
Do not throw away little plastic forks you get in the lunch box. Press them in the garden soil around the seedlings to protect them from animals and other plants.
35. Wine Corks To Make Holes for Seeds
Stick multiple corks on a piece of cardboard and then press it on the growing medium to make many holes at a measured distance at once! It will save you a lot of time while growing multiple seeds.
