If you’re worried that your plants may fall foul to fungal issues and rot, a gardening expert revealed there’s one item in your kitchen which can help keep plants healthy. Adam Kirtland recommended turning your attention away from any chemical or commercial products in favour of a natural alternative.
In a recent TikTok video, Adam, who goes by View From The Potting Bench, detailed some simple methods for better, healthier plants. He explained that cinnamon is perfect when plant rooting. Rooting is the process of encouraging a plant cutting or section to develop roots, enabling it to grow into a new, independent plant.
Adam said: “By dipping your plant cuttings in cinnamon before you put them into compost. It’s a simple case of helping them prevent rot, and it will help promote growth too, and you’ll have wonderful cuttings just like this.”
Before planting your cuttings, dip the ends of the stems in ground cinnamon, covering the stem generously.
Gardening Know How explained that due to cinnamon’s antifungal and antibacterial properties, the spice can help inhibit fungus growth in plants, specifically damping off disease. This happens when pathogens cause new shoots to decay and die not long after germination.
Cinnamon will help prevent this problem by killing the fungus. It also works with other fungal problems exhibited on older plants, such as slime mould.
The experts at Gardening Know How also said that plants would benefit from a homemade cinnamon spray. This can be made by mixing cinnamon with warm water and allowing it to “steep” overnight.
Strain the liquid through a coffee filter, before pouring the solution into a spray bottle. Spray the solution onto the stems and leaves of the plants, as well as soil around plants that have mushroom problems.
Cinnamon can also work as a natural pesticide, helping to deter any unwanted pests from chowing down it. Lucie Bradley, a gardening and greenhouse expert from Easy Garden Irrigation, told The Spruce: “Cinnamon contains cinnamaldehyde, a compound found to disrupt the nervous system of insects, making it difficult for them to move, find food, or locate mates.”
The spice is most effective against the likes of mites, aphids, mosquitoes, fruit flies, flies, and wasps. As cinnamon is potent, it will help deter insects without harming them.
The same idea can be applied to larger pests, like mice and rats. Cinnamon’s scent will irritate their mouths and noses, which they won’t like.
