I bet this is something that has never crossed your mind. If it has, you’re probably one of those “outside the box” thinkers. We like people like you. But for those of you who have never heard of this before, you’re not alone. That’s why we’re here now, to keep you informed on these crazy, but innovative, ideas people have nowadays.
Yes, it’s true, you can use cinnamon in the garden. Believe it or not, cinnamon is an amazing fungicide. That pretty much unlocks its potential to benefit your garden in a variety of different ways. Using cinnamon in the garden has actually been around for quite some time. Your grandparents, and maybe even their grandparents, have probably used cinnamon in their garden if they’ve ever taken up gardening in the past. Yup, that’s how old this is!
But what exactly happens when you use cinnamon in the garden, and how do you use it?
1. Save Those Seeds!
If you’ve ever started anything from seed, you probably first learned about seeds and germination. Then, you most likely have heard of the term ‘damping off,’ or ‘dampening off.’ This is one of many diseases seeds can develop when there isn’t proper soil drainage or temperature upkeep. Yes, it can even happen if your little seeds are too cold for their liking too. However, cinnamon is here to save the day!
Using cinnamon in the garden is amazing at warding off fungi. Additionally, it actually will cause damping off to occur! Just dust a light layer across the soil that’s housing your seeds, and it should prevent fungus-related diseases from popping up on your seeds.
2. Bye Bye Shrooms
This one should be obvious, but we’re going to state it anyway since we didn’t have a nice, fancy site to hop onto when we were doing our research on getting rid of mushrooms. Using cinnamon in the garden is amazing at warding off unwanted fungi, including mushrooms. We’re sure you don’t want to get rid of all kinds of mushrooms, just the wild and harmful ones, right?
Simply dust some cinnamon all across your garden mulch or compost to prevent having to pull out those mushrooms by hand. No more taking the risk of throwing out your back while you’re fishing for mushrooms in the garden.
3. We’re Rooting for You
Pun most certainly intended. You can use cinnamon as a rooting hormone for your plant clones or stems. We definitely know how ridiculously expensive those big store chemical rooting hormones can be, so why not stick with the cheap and organic instead? Using cinnamon in the garden is just as effective as those big brand chemical hormones. All you have to do is dip the ends of your plant stems into cinnamon powder before you plant them.
4. Have a Boo-Boo?
Plants suffer from injury just as much as us humans do. If your plant has an open wound or tear or is infected with a fungal disease, you can use cinnamon to aid the problem. When your plant has visible wounds, take some powdered cinnamon and dust is over the wound. It should heal much quicker to help your plant get back to its roots again.
If your plant is appearing to have a fungal disease, a common sign of this includes the whitening of edges on the leaves, you can create a cinnamon solution. Simply dilute some cinnamon in a spray bottle with room temperature water, and let it sit for a few hours so that the cinnamon can become completely diluted. Then simply spray the solution across your infected plant, and be sure to include the surrounding soil area as well.
5. Ward Off Those Pests
Most insects and small creatures can’t stand the smell of cinnamon, let alone the taste. If you take some cinnamon powder and dust it on ant trails or anywhere you don’t want insects to get to, your plants will thank you. Not only will you save them from unwanted wildlife, but they’ll pretty much be fungal disease-free.
Cinnamon is an amazing, versatile and protective agent to have in your garden. Some products can be unnecessarily expensive, but cinnamon is a common household product that just costs a few bucks compared to name brand chemicals. Save money and increase your garden’s health by using cinnamon in the garden.