Natural Plant Care

Once I decided to go all natural here at home, I realized that I have not been extending the same courtesy to my plants.  Of course, as soon as I decided that all chemical care was not an option, I got bugs in my plants!  Argh!

Fortunately for you, my trials and errors led to the following plant fixes:

Fungicide
Hydrogen peroxide.  My friend Becky put me onto this trick, and once I started doing my homework I found a LOT of uses for this stuff!  It's fabulous, and has worked much better than any store bought chemicals I tried.  Granted, I used a lot more hydrogen peroxide than was recommended... but still.  It works, okay?

Insecticide
Peppermint Castile Soap.  I put some in a spray bottle with lots of water, and coated the little suckers with soap.  Bugs suffocate when you do that.  They don't have a cardiovascular system and get their oxygen distributed by having a hollow middle where their blood swishes around to coat their cells in whatever O2 was in their blood.  That's also why bugs will never get any bigger than they are now.  I know, it's a relief, right!?  There won't be a Mosquito apocalypse after all!  Um... yes, I might've seen that movie.  Once.

Flying Bugs
These are the hardest to get rid of once they get into your plants.  I hate them.  There is one flying around me right now.  Here's how you get rid of them:

Spray the plant with the soap I talked about above.  It will kill any larvae or bugs on the plant.  Then move the plant, and any other plants in the vicinity, out of that room for a week to starve any little flying bugs that weren't on your plant when you spritzed it.  Annoying, but unavoidable.


Soil Bugs
Change your soil.  Wash the pot AND the uprooted plant extensively with soapy water before repotting.


Soil Enhancer
Plants that haven't been repotted in a while need their soil oxygenated.  This usually occurs in nature when it rains, but your potted plants don't have that luxury.  Oxygenating your soil will give you stronger, disease resistant plants.  Add a smidge of hydrogen peroxide to your water when you are watering your plants.  For more info, click here.

I haven't found a good fertilizer yet because I haven't needed one!  I'll update this post once I learn more.  Any suggestions?  What works for you?