Garlic is a perennial and bulbous plant. The head of this root vegetable is made up of pods that are used raw or cooked in cooking to enhance the taste of dishes and add more flavor to dishes. This edible plant is renowned for its medicinal virtues and its antiseptic and disinfectant properties. But that’s not all, it is also very beneficial for our plants. Discover the benefit of burying garlic in the pot of houseplants.
To take care of your indoor plants and promote their growth and flowering, it is important to protect them from parasites and pests that attack them. For this, there is no need to resort to chemical pesticides which are harmful to health and the environment. You can use natural repellents, such as garlic cloves to keep insect pests away.
Garlic: a natural repellent
Thanks to its pungent odor and antibacterial properties, garlic is effective in repelling parasites and pests that ravage your plants. Garlic can be used for your garden plants, vegetable gardens, or even your indoor plants.
Concerning the plants that you grow at home, indoors, it is recommended to plant a clove of garlic in the pot of your plants, in order to drive away parasites that love the foliage of the plants. Note, however, that the garlic clove should not remain in the ground for long. As soon as it starts to sprout, remove it from the pot and replace it with another fresher pod. You can repeat this tip 2 or 3 times a month.
Another tip is to use garlic cloves to prepare a natural insecticide that you will spray on the foliage of your plants, but only at sunset, to avoid burning the foliage of your plants. To prepare your insecticide, finely chop around 100 g of garlic cloves and add them to a liter of non-calcareous water, such as rain or spring water. Cover your mixture and leave to macerate for 24 hours. Next, bring your mixture to a boil in a covered saucepan for about 30 minutes. Let your preparation cool without removing the lid, then filter and transfer the solution into a spray bottle. This preparation can only be kept for 24 hours, refrigerated. Use your pure insecticide to treat aphid attacks. On the other hand, your solution must be diluted to 20% if you use it against cryptogamic diseases.
Also note that garlic is beneficial even for your vegetable garden and orchard plants. Indeed, it contains sulfur which is an active ingredient, effective in combating cryptogamic diseases affecting vegetable plants or fruit trees. Examples include downy mildew, powdery mildew, peach or vine leaf curl, or even gooseberry rust. In addition to this, garlic can also treat plants infested with aphids and caterpillars and prevent attacks from mites and spider mites.
What other natural insecticides should you use to protect houseplants?
In addition to garlic cloves, you can use other natural insecticides to protect your indoor plants, but also your plants grown outdoors from insect pests. This is particularly the case for ash, which is effective against gastropods such as slugs and snails, nettle manure which, in addition to being a natural insecticide is ideal for fertilizing your plants, or even black soap and coffee grounds.
By adding these natural ingredients, you will protect your plants from parasites that ravage them and harm their good growth.
