If you’re concerned about your plants succumbing to fungal diseases and decay, a gardening guru has a tip straight from your pantry that could safeguard your greenery.
Adam Kirtland suggests skipping the chemical treatments in favor of a natural remedy.
In his latest TikTok, Adam, known as View From The Potting Bench, shares some easy tips for nurturing robust, healthy plants.
He touts cinnamon as an excellent aid during plant rooting—the process where a cutting or segment of a plant is encouraged to grow roots, becoming a new, self-sufficient plant.
Adam advises: “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.”
The specialists at Gardening Know How have also recommended that plants would thrive with a DIY cinnamon spray.
This mixture can be created by combining cinnamon with warm water and letting it “steep” overnight.
Filter the liquid using a coffee filter, then transfer the solution into a spray bottle.
Apply the solution to the stems and leaves of the plants, as well as the soil surrounding plants experiencing mushroom issues.
Cinnamon can also serve as an organic pesticide, helping to repel unwanted pests from feasting on plants.
Lucie Bradley, a gardening and greenhouse specialist from Easy Garden Irrigation, explained to 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 proves most effective against pests such as mites, aphids, mosquitoes, fruit flies, flies, and wasps.
Since cinnamon is powerful, it will help repel insects without causing them harm.
The same principle can be used for bigger pests, including mice and rats.
Cinnamon’s aroma will aggravate their mouths and noses, creating an unpleasant experience for them.