Gardeners have been warned by a gardening expert not to discard their milk once it goes past its use-by date. In Britain, we may be a nation of tea enthusiasts, but there’s always the possibility that a bottle of milk in your fridge might start to sour before you’ve had a chance to use it.
If this happens, gardening guru Ben Hunt suggests you can still utilise it for your plants. This is due to milk’s ability to function as a natural fertiliser, he explains.
On his GrowVeg YouTube channel, Ben advised: “Don’t throw out kitchen ingredients that are past their best, use it in the garden.”
He explained: “Just add it to the soil and then just lightly fork it in to incorporate it. Milk is also excellent used against powdery mildew. You mix one part milk to 10 parts water and then spray it all over the leaves and that will really help with any mildew problems.”
Researchers in Chile discovered that expired dairy products contain a high concentration of minerals and other organic materials beneficial to soil. They found that applying milk to soil improved its porosity and stimulated plant growth.
Following a greenhouse trial involving wheat, they concluded: “The remarkable improvement of soil quality induced an increase in wheat growth.
“Expired dairy products can be converted to an organic amendment and this is the ideal practical solution for an integrated ecosystem.”
Ben suggests another household essential, flour, also proves beneficial for your garden due to its nitrogen and calcium content.
These are vital micronutrients required by leafy plants throughout your garden.
He continued: “Now you can just spread this over the soil surface a couple of weeks before planting or just add your flour in thin layers to the compost heap.”
Another everyday item Ben claims can assist your garden after you’ve finished with it is a plastic bottle.
These can help parched squashes receive water directly to their roots.
He explained: “One of the easiest ways to help recent transplants of thirsty plants such as say squash is to bury a pot next to the plant and then water into that.
“Now that contains the water nicely and it drains through the drainage holes at the bottom exactly to where it’s needed, the roots.
“An even more effective alternative is to gouge holes into a bottle like this.
“Now when you bury it, make sure that the holes are facing the plant and they’re on the same side as the roots, now they will be exactly where they are needed and the roots will be able to grow towards the water source.
“Then you can just filter through the neck of the bottle and it’ll drain right through.”
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