Strengthen Plants Naturally Without Chemicals

Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:29 pm

In order for your plants to be strong enough to fight off diseases and so-called pests, they must be healthy. Gardeners can help their plants to stay healthy longer with natural means without chemicals. There are several ways to do this, such as plant infusions, teas and sude, as well as rock or horn meals. All these products strengthen the immune system of your plants and are therefore so-called plant strengtheners. You can get an overview and further information on this topic here.

• At a glance
• Strengthen plants with plant strengtheners
• are designed to improve plant health
• organic plant strengthening agents: plant yeasts, teas, suds, effective microorganisms
• inorganic agents: rock flour and limes
• Depending on the raw material and the method of production, they have their own mode of action.
• Tips for use in the garden
• spray as foliar fertilization every 7 to 14 days
• apply in a dry, rain-free period
• additional crop protection measures

Preventive plant protection with plant strengthening agents

Plant strengtheners are primarily intended to improve plant health. Plant soaks and the like help you to strengthen your plants naturally and thus prevent diseases and other pests. Control after the fact, i.e. when your plants are already sick, is not possible or only possible to a limited extent with these preparations (depending on the severity of the infestation). If you have, for example, a zucchini infected with mildew, you can only remove the diseased leaves and dispose of them in the household waste. If there are enough leaves left, you can treat the plant with nettle manure. Then it remains only to hope that it survived the procedure.

These agents are mainly used in organic gardening. They are another measure to protect your plants from infestation, in addition to other cultural protection measures such as pheromone traps or yellow panels. In the following you will get an overview of different plant straighteners. Some of them you can easily make yourself.

Plant decoctions, teas and suds from wild herbs.

Some wild herbs found in most gardens can be used as plant extracts to strengthen your crops. This is a super way to return garden waste to the germination process. Because you can easily make plant infusions, teas or suds from them. Besides extracts from plants, you can also make extracts from compost or algae. For the home garden, especially the organic-based remedies are super easy to make yourself. Here, each plant extract has its own mode of action, depending on the ingredients of the processed plants and the method of manufacture.

Making and using plant fortifiers yourself

Effective microorganisms: Little helpers for plant strengthening

Among the organic preparations there are some agents with effective microorganisms. These preparations usually contain bacteria and/or fungi. Foliar fertilization increases the resistance of the plants. Promoting and for the plant “good” microorganisms displace pests on the plant surface. In addition, new pests have a hard time settling on the plant. Preparations with effective microorganisms are created, for example, by fermentation of plant parts or compost. An easy way to make your own effective microorganisms at home is the Bokashi bucket.

Rock powders and limes

Plant strengtheners of mineral origin, such as rock meals and limes, usually have a high silicon content. This strengthens the resistance of the leaves in a natural way. This makes the plant more resistant to fungal diseases such as powdery mildew. However, these two agents are not only used to strengthen plants, but also in fertilization and soil improvement.

If you don’t have the means to produce plant fortifiers yourself, you can also buy them. Pay attention to sustainable and ecological production. In our Fryd store you will find a wide range of different preparations. Have a look!

Tips for use in the garden

• Plant fortifiers are often sprayed on the leaves as foliar fertilizer diluted with rainwater. In this way, the active ingredients reach the plant more quickly and strengthen it directly.
• For foliar fertilization, the weather of the next few days should be dry and rain-free. Otherwise, the agent may be washed off by the rain before it can take effect.
• Since these products are mainly preventive, you must apply them regularly to your plants. Repeat the treatment every 7 to 14 days, depending on the crop.
• You should experiment a little with the different extracts. Plant strengtheners do not work equally well everywhere and with every plant. Note that the effect also depends on other factors such as weather, growing conditions and water and nutrient supply.
• The effect is most noticeable on plants that are not yet particularly healthy and are already weakening a bit. Nevertheless, robust plants can be better protected with plant fortifiers. There may be less visible changes, but they have a much stronger effect on the already strong plant immunity.
• If infestation is imminent, these remedies will help keep your plants healthy longer. However, you should take additional measures and apply crop protection nets, yellow panels or pheromone traps. In organic farming, it is an interplay of many regulatory measures that protect your crops. For more tips & tricks on preventive crop protection, check out the article on the topic.
• Depending on the means, plant strengtheners also contain nutrients and, depending on the method of production, effective microorganisms. In addition to foliar fertilization, you can also apply them to the soil to both boost biological activity and fertilize plant-available nutrients.
• To get your compost going and promote composting, you can inoculate it with preparations containing effective microorganisms.