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The use of organic waste as a top dressing for indoor and garden plants has been practiced for a long time and demonstrates good efficiency. Orange peel as a fertilizer is versatile, suitable for any crop. They are also successfully used to repel pests. Such a tool is completely safe for human health and the environment, therefore it can be used at any stage of the growing season.
Pros and cons of orange peel fertilizer
The possibility of using orange peel as a fertilizer in the garden and at home is due to the presence in it of a sufficiently high concentration of basic macronutrients that are vital for any plant – sodium, potassium and phosphorus. They are also rich in rarer substances that horticultural crops and home flowers also need:
- calcium;
- magnesium;
- iron;
- zinc;
- copper;
- selenium;
- manganese;
- boron.
Citrus fruits are available all year round and are relatively inexpensive.
In addition to the complex composition, the “unconventional” use of orange peels has other advantages:
- versatility);
- no restrictions on use during flowering, fruiting;
- environmental cleanliness and safety for health;
- “multifunctionality”;
- ease of preparation of top dressing.
There are no shortcomings in orange peel fertilizer prepared from high-quality raw materials. But if a peel affected by mold, rot, and other pathogenic fungi is used for this, the gardener personally infects the plants with them.
If you overzealous with orange peel fertilizer, especially for indoor plants, you can change the acid-base balance of the soil. Acidified soil is not suitable for all crops.
What Plants Love Orange Peels?
In principle, orange peel fertilizer is suitable for any plant. But the cultures that prefer the substrate of varying degrees of acidity (from moderate to strong) react to it most “favorably”. The list includes:
- potatoes;
- carrot;
- spinach;
- turnip;
- radish;
- radish;
- watermelon;
- melon;
- pumpkin;
- Japanese quince;
- dogwood;
- black currant;
- blackberry;
- blueberry;
- honeysuckle.
Blueberry acidic soil is vital, it does not take root in a substrate with a different pH
From garden ornamental plants, orange peel fertilizer is best for:
- lilies;
- floxam;
- forget-me-nots;
- landisham;
- lupins;
- azaleas;
- hydrangeas;
- rhododendron;
- ferns;
- any coniferous plants;
- scream
depending on the acidity of the soil, some varieties of hydrangeas change the color of the petals
Indoor flowers that prefer acidic soil, which orange peel is suitable as a fertilizer:
- camellia;
- azalea;
- cyclamen;
- fuchsia;
- begonia;
- pelargonium;
- monstera;
- asparagus.
Both domestic and garden azalea prefer an acidic substrate.
Use of orange peels as a fertilizer
Regardless of the chosen method of using orange peel as a fertilizer for the garden and at home, it is important to properly prepare the “raw materials” if you do not plan to use it right away. The peel is dried naturally or in the oven, electric dryer. In winter, it is stored in a cool, dry place to avoid the development of mold, rot, and other fungi.
Orange peels as a fertilizer for indoor plants and seedlings
For houseplants, orange peels can be used in their “pure” form. They are dried, ground in a coffee grinder or blender and added to the finished soil (1,5-2 tablespoons per liter).
If the root system of the flower is superficial, the powder is embedded in the soil to a depth of 3-7 cm in the process of loosening
Foliar top dressing is prepared from both fresh and dried orange peels. The fertilizer recipe for flowers is very simple: fill the container with raw materials by about a third, add boiling water to the brim. The liquid is infused in a dark place under a tightly closed lid for about a day.
Before use, the infusion is always filtered, half diluted with water.
Top dressing from orange peel for indoor plants is used no more than once every 10-12 days. A maximum of a liter of fertilizer is spent on one flower, given its dimensions.
Seedlings of crops that successfully take root in acidic soil can be grown in “glasses” of orange peels. Citruses are cut in half, the pulp is eaten, the remaining halves of the peel are filled with soil. Since the “pots” are small, plant seeds are planted in them, which later need picking.
“Glasses” are suitable for pumpkins, cucumbers and zucchini, which are transferred to the garden almost immediately after germination
Top dressing from orange peels in the garden
To fertilize garden plants, dry or fresh orange peels are crushed and added dropwise in the garden or in the trunk circle 2-3 times per season. They not only saturate the soil with useful substances, but also become a nutrient medium for beneficial soil microflora.
It is useful to add crushed orange peels to the compost heap, subsequently receiving a universal balanced fertilizer. They belong to the category of organic waste rich in nitrogen.
The peel is completely harmless to earthworms and other representatives of the fauna processing organic matter
Suitable for fertilizing garden plants and infusion of orange peels. It is prepared according to the same instructions as for indoor flowers. Top dressing is carried out every 2-2,5 weeks. For 1 m² of beds, 1,5-2 liters of liquid are consumed.
For trees and shrubs, the rate of fertilizer consumption is determined based on their dimensions.
How to apply citrus peel from pests
Orange peel gardeners and lovers of indoor plants will be useful not only as a complex fertilizer, but also as a means to repel pests. The zest contains a high concentration of limonene, “responsible” for the characteristic smell and its persistence. For many insects, this substance is toxic, it “corrodes” the surface shells.
How to protect plants from various pests with orange peel fertilizer:
- Aphids and thrips. A glass of powdered “raw materials” is poured with a liter of boiling water, the container is closed, insisted for 4-5 days. The finished liquid is filtered, with the help of a fine sprayer, the affected plants are treated, paying special attention to the underside of the leaf blades, leaf axils, and other “hard-to-reach” places.
If the aphid did not have time to breed massively, 2-3 treatments are enough with an interval of 3-4 days
- Ants. Having found ant “paths”, dried and powdered orange peels are scattered along them. Fresh and dry peel is laid out on an anthill and around it. To prevent the resettlement of insects in tree trunks and in beds with cultivated plants, it is recommended to scatter crushed crusts over the soil once every 7-10 days, while providing them with fertilizer.
Ants do not like the smell of citrus fruits: it does not kill them, but it drives them away from plantings, forcing them to look for other habitats
- Cabbage, hawthorn, whitefish, scoop, other butterflies. During the period of maximum insect activity, which occurs in the second half of May and early June, the leaves of plants are sprayed every 4-5 days with the same infusion of orange peels as for fighting aphids.
The pungent smell drives away butterflies, preventing them from laying eggs on the leaves.
- Spider mite. Having found a pest, plantings are treated in the same way as against aphids. But the solution is prepared more “strong”: 2 cups of powdered dry orange peels and 2-3 tbsp. l. fresh or dried wormwood.
Folk remedies against spider mites are ineffective, but orange peel infusion is an exception.
- Slugs. Unlike many pests, slugs love the smell of orange peels. This feature is used by constructing homemade traps. A cut plastic bottle is dug into the soil, a fresh peel is placed at the bottom.
About once a week, the contents of the trap are updated, while destroying the slugs caught in it
- Wireworm and larvae of the May beetle. To protect potatoes from these pests, a few fresh or dried orange peels are placed in each hole when planting a tuber, while repelling pests and providing plants with fertilizers.
Contrary to popular belief, the wireworm affects not only potatoes
- Colorado beetle. To protect the potatoes from the pest, fresh orange peel is laid out in the aisles. Or they combine the fight with fertilizer, spraying the bushes with its infusion.
The Colorado potato beetle does not react to dry crusts in any way, the smell is not intense enough for it.
- Carrot fly. Dry crushed orange peels are buried in the soil in autumn and spring, when preparing the beds. From the moment of germination to harvest, carrots are watered with infusion of fresh or dry peel every 7-10 days, driving away pests and applying fertilizer.
During the season, several generations of carrot flies appear, so orange peel fertilizer that repels it is applied regularly.
Conclusion
As a fertilizer and pest repellent, orange peels are successfully used on both indoor and garden plants. Their effectiveness in this capacity is due to the rich chemical composition and high concentration of essential oils. The substrate is saturated with macro- and microelements necessary for the normal development of plants, the pungent smell is unpleasant for many insects. It is not difficult to prepare fertilizer, it can be used almost without restrictions.
