Your plants seem weak and are being attacked by pests? No problem! With simple home remedies, you can pep up your protégés again. Find out how here.
Healthy plants grow vigorously, bloom profusely and deliver a tasty harvest. Weak plants, on the other hand, are susceptible to diseases and pests. Important nutrients can help here.
There are two options: Plant strengtheners from the trade, a kind of vitamin preparation. Or you can rely on inexpensive home remedies that you can produce yourself, which also pass on many good ingredients. This is commonly referred to as herbal remedies.
“Traditionally, manure, broths, teas, cold water extracts and extracts are prepared from herb leaves, vegetables and flowering shrubs,” the author Natalie Faßmann lists the different variants. The recipes are based on old gardening knowledge and they primarily help the plants preventively a pest infestation can only be reduced to a tolerable level with these self-made aids.
Plant manure contains many nutrients, especially nitrogen and potassium. But it can also be used to deter pests.
In the usual recipes, one kilogram of fresh or 100 to 200 grams of dried and roughly chopped parts of the plant are mixed with ten liters of water. The German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) recommends rainwater. The batch is stirred regularly to allow oxygen to enter the mixture. You can clearly notice an unpleasant odor. “Simply stir one or two hands of rock powder into the liquid manure,” advises Nabu consultant Verena Jedamczik.
The liquid manure is left to steep in a warm place for around 14 days; fermentation takes longer in a cooler location. The manure is ready when no more bubbles form.
Many liquid manures are comparable to fast-acting liquid fertilizers, says Natalie Faßmann. The nitrogen contained is immediately absorbed by the plants. Nettle and comfrey are the two most common plants used to make plant aid. In addition to the nitrogen mentioned, stinging nettle also supplies silicic acid and iron, while stinging additionally contains potassium and tannins.
Manure must be diluted, either in a ratio of 1:10 for distribution with a watering can, according to Nabu. Or at a ratio of 1:50 for spraying on the leaves.
A tea also improves the resistance of the plant or wards off pests. For him, the herbs are poured over with boiling water in the same ratio as for the liquid manure and then have to steep for 15 to 20 minutes. Natalie Faßmann advises closing the pot with a lid so that the volatile, essential oils drip back from the lid into the container and don’t evaporate and get lost. Teas are used undiluted.
A classic is the onion tea, with a slightly modified recipe. The Nabu advises pouring ten liters of cooking water over 75 grams of onion and leaves and letting the whole thing steep for ten minutes. Sprayed undiluted on the plants every two weeks, this tea is said to be effective against fungal infestation.
For a broth, the plant parts are first soaked in cold water for 24 hours. The mixture is then boiled for 15 to 30 minutes. Then given in a ratio of 1:10 as a preventive measure or sprayed in a ratio of 1:20 for foliar fertilization.
A popular home remedy is the broth made from rhubarb leaves, for example 500 grams of leaves and three liters of water. It is used undiluted against leek moths and black bean aphids.
When extracting with cold water, heating is not used. The plants only soak in cold water for one to three days. These are then strained and the extract is used pure or diluted with water in a ratio of 1:1.
A tip that is often given is the cold water extract of chamomile blossoms, with which the seeds are dressed before sowing to prevent the seedlings from being attacked by fungi.
