Make Your Albuquerque Garden Thrive with these Great Ingredients

Growing healthy plants in your Albuquerque garden requires effort and patience. In addition to sunlight and water, plants need soil full of nutrients. To fulfill this demand, commercial fertilizers can be used. Although commercial fertilizers provide the soil with much-needed nutrients, they are very expensive. Therefore, you can try some home remedies we call great ingredients as an alternative to the costly fertilizers. This beneficial addition to the soil can provide the necessary nutrients for the growth of vegetables and ornamental plants

Great Ingredient #1 – Wood ash

Wood ash is very alkaline in nature. To neutralize acidic soil, wood ash is very helpful. You should buy a pH test kit and test a sample of your garden soil to know whether wood ash will be beneficial for your garden or not. The ash should be cool while you are adding it to the soil. Plants need potassium and carbon to grow strong and ashes are rich in these nutrients. Gather the ashes and sprinkle them on the soil. As a result, the soil will absorb the nutrients and then send them to the plants. Only a little ash is used so you should keep only some in a bag to be used when needed. 

Great Ingredient #2 –Banana peels

Burying the banana peels in the soil after chopping them especially while planting green pepper, tomatoes and rosebushes. The banana peels are rich in phosphorous and potassium which will make the soil fertile and increase the strength of plants.

Great Ingredient #3 –Compost tea

There are wonderful effects of a large dose of compost tea on the plants. Furthermore, it can improve the liveliness of plants. It is very useful to ferment it in a liquid solution which will have enormous useful microorganisms.

Great Ingredient #4 –Club Soda

It is richer in nutrients than ordinary water. There are many nutrients like sodium, carbon, sulfur, oxygen, potassium, hydrogen and phosphorous in carbonated drinks. The nutrients mentioned above are great for plants. You should wait until the fizzy drink goes flat then pour it into the soil.

Great Ingredient #5 –Hair

You can use your hair trimmings or your hair lying on the floor to increase the growth of your plants. Since there is a lot of magnesium in hair, it is a wonderful fertilizer for plants

Great Ingredient #6 –Fish emulsion

The fish emulsion contains a lot of nitrogen and other nutrients which are very beneficial for plant growth. However, it has a bad smell which will surely go in a day or two. Truly the results will amaze you.

Great Ingredient #7 –White vinegar

Vinegar is a fabulous plant food because it is very acidic in nature. It can be used for many plants for example, rose and hydrangeas. You need to mix almost a teaspoon of vinegar in a gallon of water and add it to the soil. It is advised to check the pH of this water while using it to ensure that it is the same as required. 

Great Ingredient #8 –Potato water

Potato water is very useful for plants as it contains a lot of nutrients. Therefore, you should not throw out the water after boiling potatoes. Do not add salt to the water if you want to use this water on the soil. In this way, you can enhance the growth of your plant by using potato water that is not needed.

Great Ingredient #9 –Matches 

You can use the matches on your plants as there is a lot of magnesium in matches which is necessary for plant growth. Put the matches in water and dissolve them then use this water on the plants. The nutrients released by matches will then be taken up by the plants. 

Great Ingredient #10 –Aquarium water

You can use your old fish tank water to improve the growth of plants. Just pour the old water into the soil when you are going to change the tank water. There are a lot of bacteria and waste products in fish tank water. No doubt, this water will prove useful for plants but at the same time it is harmful for fish. Ensure that it is not saltwater, saltwater can be used for ornamental plants but for edible plants use fresh water.

Great Ingredient #11 –Coffee grounds

There are many uses of coffee grounds. They are well-known plant boosters due to the phosphorous, calcium, nitrogen and potassium that they contain. They also contribute to the acidity of the soil. Therefore, they provide best treatment to the plants that like acidic environment for their growth such as azaleas, rose bushes and evergreens. You can sprinkle coffee grounds on the plant soil or can mix it with the compost pile to provide nutrients to the soil. 

Great Ingredient #12 –Eggshells

Eggshells contain a lot of calcium so they should not be thrown in the bin. You can sprinkle them on the soil. First of all, wash them, then crush them and spread them on the soil of plants that are mostly calcium deficient for example tomatoes. You can also put the seedlings to grow in the eggshell. When the seedlings grow, they can be planted in the ground. 

Great Ingredient #13 –Tea leaves

Tea leaves are rich in calcium, nitrogen and phosphorous. All three of them are very important nutrients for plants. You can sprinkle tea leaves in the soil to provide nutrients to the plants.

Great Ingredient #14 –Grass clippings

To ensure moisture retention and prevention of weed growth, the addition of grass clippings is very beneficial. Only a small amount of grass mulch or grass cuttings should be added to the soil otherwise it will prevent the passage of water if too much is used. It is important to the grass type and ensures that the grass is of good quality. If you do not pay attention, they may increase the weed growth in your garden.

You can make your plants strong and increase their growth by using home ingredients. These ingredients provide the soil with well-needed nutrients. Although it is a slower process than adding fertilizers but still it is the preferred method as it is chemical-free. Only a few fertilizers are organically made so these remedies are best in terms of organic farming.