Cinnamon for plants
6 Ways to use Cinnamon in the Garden to Prevent Disease...
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There are many uses for cinnamon in the garden. It is an effective and safe anti-fungal treatment that is inexpensive and easy to use. You may have used cinnamon to prevent damping off disease in seedlings, but it has many more uses in the garden that you may not have tried. Check out these botanical uses for cinnamon and get its superpowers working on your side, in the garden.
I recently got an email from a reader in Australia with a unique problem with her calendula plants. Claudia wrote,
Here in Melbourne, Australia it is late winter and my self seeding calendulas are usually starting to take off but at the end of last season I noticed an orange – rusty spotting on their leaves. I am not sure what it is or how to get rid of it and I also would like to ask your advice as to whether I can still use the flowers from plants that have this problem.
I would not want to make medicine from a plant if the medicine would be affected.
Rust is a fungal infection that seems problematic on Australian calendula. It’s caused by dampness and overcrowding of the plants. It is a soil-borne disease, caused by fungus spores of Puccinia distincta. It affects calendula (leaves, petioles, and peduncles), cineraria, and daisy (Bellis perennis). It’s best not to use flowers from rust diseased plants for medicine. The fungus will end up in your medicine. (You can use calendula for medicine? Yes, you can. Always choose healthy plants when making DIY herbal medicine for your family. For details on making calendula herbal medicine see this post.
But how do you get rid of rust?
To get rid of the rust you’ll want to remove all rust-infected plants. Don’t compose them. You’ll want to dispose of them away from your garden. The rust can infect other daisy family plants as well. Practice crop rotation by planting your calendula seed on fresh ground.
Allow good spacing between plants to allow for better air circulation. Water at the base of the plant rather than overhead.
Use cinnamon!
Cinnamon sprinkled on the soil at the time of planting might discourage rust from taking hold of new seedlings. Cinnamon is anti-fungal. It can be used as a preventative in the garden. Cinnamon is most effective if plants are given the best chance with good plant spacing, and by reducing the conditions that favour fungus-like dampness and wet leaves.
Make an anti-fungal foliar spray
Once you remove the infected plants you can treat the remaining plants with a cinnamon spray to prevent the rust from spreading on healthy plants. To make a foliar spray using powdered cinnamon, make a strong cinnamon tea — strain the cinnamon tea through a cloth or fine sieve. Put the cinnamon tea in a spray bottle and spray any remaining plants. Be sure to get the underside of leaves, too.
Cinnamon Anti-fungal Foliar Spray
★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
- Author: Joybilee Farm
Description
Use this anti-fungal cinnamon spray on plants to prevent rust, powdery mildew and other fungal diseases from spreading.
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon powder
- 2 cups of hot water
Add the cinnamon to a heat proof glass container.
Pour hot water over the cinnamon. Cover to prevent the volatile oils from dissipating. Allow to steep for 30 minutes.
Pour through a fine cloth or sieve. Pour the liquid into a spray bottle. Use at room temperature on leaves and stems of plants to prevent the spread of fungal diseases like rust and powdery mildew.
Notes
It’s important to remove infected plants. Dispose of them in the garbage or incinerate them. Don’t add diseased plant material to your compost bin.
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More uses for cinnamon in the garden
Now that you’ve got the rust under control here are 5 more ways to put cinnamon to work in your garden!
Cinnamon prevents damping-off disease
The damping-off disease is the bane of gardeners, trying to get a head start on the season. Damping off is caused by a host of soil fungi, including Pythium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia spp.
, Fusarium spp., Sclerotinia, and Botrytis. It occurs under cool, damp conditions. Dust cinnamon on the soil surface when the seeds are planted to prevent damping-off disease from killing your plants. Cinnamon is a good anti-fungal. It kills fungal spores in the soil and prevents them from infecting your plants. You may need to reapply the cinnamon periodically until plants are strong enough to outgrow the environmental challenges.
Start with sterile potting soil to prevent damping off. Allowing the soil surface to dry out between watering and watering only from the bottom of the plant can also inhibit molds and mildew. Cinnamon is even safe to sprinkle on house plants.
Cinnamon inhibits slime mold and mushrooms
Its a good sign to see mushrooms and slime molds growing in the garden. It means that your soil is rich in symbiotic fungal life. But slime molds and mushrooms can be unsightly. If you’ve got too much of a good thing, sprinkling cinnamon on the soil surface can inhibit the fruiting bodies of mushrooms and slime molds, cutting down their spread in your garden.
Use cinnamon to deter ants in the garden
Ants don’t like cinnamon. They won’t cross a line of cinnamon sprinkled around plants. It confuses their sense of smell and their communication with their colony. Sprinkle cinnamon around plants, at the foot of trees, at the base of stakes holding your hummingbird feeders, and around the foundation of buildings to prevent ants from getting in.
For more ways to deter ants from your garden and house see this post.
Use cinnamon to discourage rabbits, mice, and other rodents
Cinnamon’s strong scent discourages rabbits and mice in the garden. The volatile oils in cinnamon confuse the scent instinct of animals that are low to the ground, causing them to avoid an area, without causing harm. Use cinnamon in the garden to discourage rodents, rabbits, squirrels, moles, and other furry pests. Hang cinnamon bark from the tree branches to discourage larger mammals from hanging around.
Use cinnamon in the greenhouse to get rid of spider mites, whiteflies, midges, fungus gnats, and other bugs
Indoor plants and greenhouses can have problems with spider mites.
But cinnamon kills spider mites and stops them from spreading on your house plants and in your greenhouse. Sprinkle cinnamon on the soil surface around plants and on the leaves of plants using a light touch. Use cinnamon oil, diluted to 1% with olive oil, and wipe the underside of leaves, if you have a serious infestation. Cinnamon repels these pests of houseplants and interrupts their breeding cycle.
Use cinnamon to discourage mosquitoes
Cinnamon sprinkle around garden plants and liberally over the surface of garden mulch can inhibit mosquitoes by confusing their pheromones. Use cinnamon powder by the spoonful. Reapply after heavy rains.
Use cinnamon rooting hormone to encourage root development
Have you ever used one of those powdered rooting hormones and had the sulphur smell catch in your throat? Like sulphur, cinnamon is a natural fungicide that helps most plants root, while inhibiting the spores that cause rot in stem cuttings. Dip prepared plant stems in cinnamon and push them into the soil.
It’s an effective rooting hormone that’s easy to use and inexpensive.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of cinnamon on plant wounds
Cinnamon is antibacterial and antifungal. Its a safe and antiseptic dressing for pruning wounds in the bark of fruit trees. Did your tree lose a large branch? Sprinkle cinnamon liberally in the wound to protect the tree and ward off plant diseases.
Find other benefits of cinnamon here.
Where to find cinnamon?
You can find large bottles of cinnamon at restaurant supply stores online, or in places that sell bulk Asian spices. Costco sells it in 500-gram containers, here in Canada. It doesn’t matter if you use Cassia cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon. Both are effective for garden use. Generally, cassia cinnamon is cheaper than Ceylon cinnamon because it is more plentiful.
Use what you already have
When I replace my cooking and baking spices in the Fall, I don’t throw the older spices out. I use them in the garden to deter pests, prevent plant diseases, and help me be a better gardener.
But if you are dealing with a pervasive fungal issue, I’d suggest starting with fresh cinnamon to be sure that all of cinnamon’s anti-fungal powers are at your service. The essential oils in powdered cinnamon will be strongest when it is first ground and then dissipate slowly over time. So the fresher your cinnamon the stronger its antibacterial, anti-fungal strength will be.
Cinnamon holds the solution to many garden problems but it isn’t the only helpful spice in your spice cupboard. You have a full complement of garden aids in your kitchen spice cupboard.
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8 Reasons why plants love cinnamon (These really work!)
Did you know that plain old kitchen cinnamon is an amazing fungicide? Not only that, but cinnamon can be used in the garden so many different ways. I've discovered 8 different ways to use cinnamon for plants. From fungus killer to rooting hormone, cinnamon has got ya covered!
There are 2 things that I'm sure you know about me by now.
1) I'm frugal
2) I prefer to do things as natural as possible.
Pretty simple right? I try to do things the way my great-grandma did. She lived on a farm in the 1920's, and raised 6 kids on 1 income! Everything did double duty and it was done the cheapest way possible. I'm just like her!
So I'm often looking for simple solutions instead of the expensive commercial crap the media tries to convince us we need now.
That type of search is exactly what led me to cinnamon as a remedy for what ails my plants. I mostly use cinnamon for seedlings since cinnamon prevents dampening off disease, but it can be used several other ways.
Here are my most common uses for cinnamon in the home & garden.
1) Cinnamon saves seedlings.
The term dampening off covers a range of diseases that attack a seed/seedling either before or after germination and cause the seedling to die. They can be caused by several different fungus and soil conditions.
A few years back I read that if you dust the soil of seedlings with cinnamon, it will prevent dampening off. I've been doing it since with great results! This makes a lot of sense too, since cinnamon has antifungal properties.
This also gets rid of those little fungus gnats that somehow appear around seedling trays. Cinnamon kills the fungus they feed off of.
2) Prevent wild mushrooms.
Nothing worse then having to waste a beautiful day pulling mushrooms from the mulch in my flower beds. Mushrooms are fungus and luckily cinnamon has antifungal properties.
By dusting cinnamon all over the garden mulch, it helps to control mushroom growth. Don't worry, it won't hurt your plants.
3) Cinnamon as rooting hormone.
Cinnamon is much cheaper than the chemical rooting hormone they sell in the big box store and just as effective! Just allow the cutting to dry slightly then apply cinnamon powder to the stem before you plant the cutting.
4) Cinnamon as ant deterrent.
Ants do not like cinnamon! Sprinkle cinnamon in your greenhouse or around your garden beds to deter garden pests. It will not kill the ants, but they will stay away from it.
Sprinkle a line of it in front of your doors if ants are coming into your house. They really hate to cross a line of cinnamon!
5) Cinnamon heals plant wounds.
Overzealous pruning or a slip of the weed whacker and you'll have a plant with a wound that needs fixed up.
Simply dust cinnamon on the wound to encourage healing and prevent fungal infection at the same time.
6) Deters furry pests.
Dust cinnamon along the outside of the garden to deter rabbits, squirrels and even moles. Small critters are close enough to the ground that as they walk through the cinnamon they will get it on their face and breathe it in.
Cinnamon will irritate the mucous membranes of their nose and mouth without causing permanent harm, but will deter them from visiting again.
7) Flying bug deterrent.
Cinnamon oil is known to be a deterrent for flying bugs like mosquitoes. When dusted around the garden, cinnamon powder can have the same effect. Also see #8 for more flying bug info...
8) Cinnamon for house plants.
Cinnamon gets rid of molds and mildew in house plants too. Simply sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on the soil. Fungus shows up as discolored spots on the soil.
It will also get rid of gnats if you happen to have them buzzing around your house plants.
These are the same gnats seedlings get. The cinnamon destroys the fungus they feed on and the gnats will die.
Cinnamon for plant rust?
I've also read that cinnamon may help to control rust in plants, but since I've never experienced it I'm not positive. It certainly won't hurt to try.
Can you use cinnamon sticks in the garden?
As much as I want to be able to use cinnamon sticks in my garden it has a very low effectiveness. Powdered cinnamon is best. The only things cinnamon sticks help with is to prevent mushrooms and in that case they need to be broken up into smaller pieces and scattered among the mulch.
I used a rubber mallet to break them up, as they are pretty hard.
Other uses for cinnamon
Cinnamon also has some amazing health benefits for us so it's great to have on hand and best of all, I always find it at the dollar store! Check out these 13 Proven health benefits of cinnamon! from Dr Axe and these 9 Things you didn't know cinnamon could do from Readers Digest.
If your dollar store doesn't carry it or you just use a whole lot, you can get the 'restaurant sized' jar of it here for about $5. (cheapest I've found it online) At that price and with these uses, what's not to love about cinnamon?
Oh, and don't worry about buying 'true' cinnamon, it makes no difference at all for these uses. Either one will work just fine.
Want more frugal gardening tips? Check out my other posts on saving money in the garden.
~L
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Benefits of cinnamon for plants in the garden and at home - AgroXXI
Anna Medvedeva
Cinnamon is widely known as a baking spice, however, it can bring real benefits to the organic garden.
Here's how to use this spice for your crops
Cinnamon is easy to find in almost any grocery store or supermarket.
Although this is not the cheapest spice, it is not the most expensive product for gardeners when compared with preparations such as seedling rooting agents. And since cinnamon (we'll need both powder and sticks) keeps well, it means you can always get the amount you need from your own kitchen.
Cinnamon is a natural substitute for synthetic rooting stimulants. And, as mentioned above, it is cheaper.
When applied to the stem of a plant when you plant a cutting, cinnamon powder will stimulate root development in virtually all types of plants you grow this way and you only need to apply it once.
How to do it? Sprinkle a teaspoon of cinnamon on a paper towel. Fold up the towel and shake lightly to distribute the powder evenly. Moisten the end of the cutting, and then wrap it with paper towel. Plant the cuttings in a pot of potting mix and care for them as usual.
However, rooting will happen faster.
Cinnamon as a fungicide
When applied to the cuttings of a plant, cinnamon will also act as a prophylactic against fungal diseases that often attack seedlings when transferred to the ground.
If from season to season you encounter soil fungal diseases, then it makes sense to arrange a “cinnamon shower” in the garden before planting, including seedlings. Dilute two tablespoons of the powder in a jar with two glasses of hot water, stir well and let it steep overnight. Then strain the solution through a piece of cheesecloth or coffee filter, pour into a spray bottle and spray the soil just before planting.
After annual pruning, cinnamon powder can also be applied to valuable fruit trees and shrubs to prevent the penetration of pathogenic fungi through a fresh wound.
A similar application is recommended when grafting orchard trees or roses: dip the graft in the powder.
Against ants and fungi
Most garden pests, including ants, do not like cinnamon.
So why not take advantage?
In a suburban area, ants can significantly spoil the life of a gardener. They make their residences in the beds, climb into the greenhouses and pay visits to the house.
Cinnamon helps repel ants and other small pests by creating a protective barrier that they prefer to bypass. Just apply cinnamon as a border where ants can be a problem.
You can use this hack both inside and outside the house. The most effective method indoors is to find an entry point for the ants and then sprinkle a thin layer of cinnamon powder. Such a barrier will not kill the ants, but will prevent them from entering the house.
In the greenhouse against spider mites, whiteflies and other common pests, apply powder to the soil around vulnerable plants.
And now a few words about cinnamon sticks.
At home - for houseplants and seedlings - make a super mulch to get rid of the mushroom midge or, as these insects are also called, mushroom gnats.
Take a hammer and break the sticks into small pieces, then cover the potting mix. As a bonus, this mulch smells good and is a wonderful and natural flavor for the air in the apartment.
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5 tips to bring any houseplant to life
Read Ukrainian
This spice will bring your houseplants to life before your eyes
Anna Musijenko
Plant / screenshot from video
Fans of home gardening were told how useful cinnamon is for indoor plants and what problems it relieves.
Subscribe to our Viber: news, humor and entertainment!
Subscribe Cinnamon is a very fragrant and popular spice, but it can be used not only in cooking. Seasoning is perfect for caring for indoor plants and will be the best analogue of chemicals and various pesticides.
Cinnamon / photo: Pixabay
5 tips on how to use cinnamon for indoor plants
- For top dressing. When planting a new or transplanting an old flower, it is important to supply it with nutrients. Cinnamon will cope with this task. In order for the plant to take root faster, it is necessary to powder its roots with cinnamon and then plant it.
- For decontamination. When pruning old or diseased branches of the plant, sprinkle the cuts with cinnamon. This way you will not let the infection spread, and new shoots will grow faster.
- Protection against midges. If you have a problem with midges in indoor plants, then pour a teaspoon of cinnamon into the pot. In such soil, neither ants nor midges will disturb you.
- Mold protection. If mold begins to form on the leaves of the plant, then sprinkle the affected areas with cinnamon. The fungus will die and stop spreading.
- As a fertilizer. In order for seedlings or a houseplant to grow strong and healthy, it is necessary to add cinnamon to the water for irrigation - 0.
5 tsp. for 2 l. water.
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