Two of the best ways to grow potatoes without scab and Colorado potato beetle infestation. How to make fertilizer from a Christmas tree

The needles of pine and spruce are known to most readers mainly by their medicinal properties, which are well studied and widely used in medical practice. According to well-known herbalists in the country, with the help of needles today, up to 2/3 of all diseases, including oncological ones, can be cured. However, as experience shows, needles are capable of more, including can serve a person in his fight against pests and diseases, in increasing soil fertility and plant nutrition to enhance their growth and development.

The most effective results of using pine and spruce needles are known in the fight against pests and diseases. fruit and berry crops: apple moth, moth on currants and gooseberries, weevils on raspberries, etc. In all these cases, it is enough to take 1-1.5 kg of needles, insist it in 10 liters hot water, cool, strain and use a sprayer to process trees and bushes, and it is best to first the trunks, then the branches and then the green crown. Such processing of trees and shrubs is advisable at the beginning of their flowering and 2-3 more times with breaks for a week.

The experience of using needles against aphids and suckers is also very effective, and they take 2 kg of needles per 10 liters of water and insist for a week, keeping the infusion for about 7 days in a dark place and stirring daily. Before use, the infusion is diluted to a ratio of 1: 3 or 1: 5 in water. Both pine and spruce needles give good results in the fight against cruciferous flea on salads, cauliflower and a number of root crops (radishes, turnips, radishes, rutabagas, etc.). Moreover, the plants are either sprayed with a solution of infusion in water in a ratio of 1: 5, or a mixture of needles with water in a ratio of 1: 1 is introduced into the aisles of the plants. There is also a positive experience of using pine needles in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes.

It should be noted that spraying with a solution of needles of fruit and berry and vegetable crops can be carried out both in the morning and in the evening, avoiding only periods of dew and rain. In order not to lose the solution, you can add 30 g to it laundry soap... According to my observations, some gardeners add ash extract to the solution of needles, which, in combination with soap, eliminates the likelihood of acidification of the soil that occurs when using needles. The addition of chopped coniferous branches and cones to the infused mixture of needles with water by individual gardeners, according to available information, only weakens the insecticidal properties of the solutions.

Certain experience of using pine and spruce needles in last years I also got it when growing tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes. In the first case, we added ash to a mixture of pine and spruce needles, boiled the mixture in water, filtered, and then treated 10 tomato bushes with a solution having a ratio of 1: 5. In doing so, we managed to induce them to grow more intensively and eliminate the developmental lag. What is important, the treated bushes bloomed earlier and more amicably than everyone else and did not hurt anything, and their yield was greater than that of untreated bushes.

But, perhaps, most of all we were pleased with strawberries and potatoes, when planting which, in the first case, a mixture of needles with sand, ash and compost was used in an equal ratio, and in the second - a mixture of needles, bark, ash and compost in the same ratio, and on In a strawberry bed, the mixture was embedded in the soil of the upper layer, and when planting potatoes, it was applied under the tubers and on them in a volume of about 1 liter per bush. As it turned out, strawberry bushes, being in such soil and having enough nutrition and moisture, did not have pests and diseases, they bloomed faster than others and yielded almost 1.5 times more than before. At the same time, the berries differed not only in their large size, but also had some particularly pleasant taste.

However, the most surprising was the potatoes, the planting tubers of which were affected by scab. When digging up the very first bushes of it, we were surprised to note that not only was there a scab on any of the tubers, but even any of its very tenacious sclerotia. The harvest of the grown tubers was also quite good, although the weather that year was not very pleasing.

Excellent results when using needles are obtained by the experienced gardener L. Rendyakov. In his practice, he covers planting onions with coniferous spruce branches, and after removing spruce branches after 2-3 weeks upper layer the soil is well mulched with needles, due to which the entire period of onion cultivation the soil retains looseness, nutritional value and moisture, does not have weeds and protects plantings from diseases and pests. As a result of all this, from 1 kg of seedlings, the yield of full-fledged onions is up to 40 kg, and for about 4 years and regardless of the weather.

Known from the press and the experience of a skilled gardener V. Shchelkov, using needles with an admixture of sawdust for fumigating the potatoes stored in the cellar with smoke. Such processing of the cellar is carried out for about 0.5 hours, and monthly, until the end of the storage period. At the same time, potatoes not only do not rot, but also retain their properties well.

From all of the above, it can be seen that the needles effectively serve not only as a healer of the garden and vegetable garden, but also as a fertilizer for soil and plants. This is explained by the fact that the needles contain, first of all, a very rich complex physiologically active substances; it also has many chemical elements: calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc, etc.

Of course, there are also obvious opponents of the use of needles in the plots, indicating the harmfulness of removing green needles from trees and the possibility of terpenes, ethers, etc. getting into the water and soil from it. garden and vegetable garden are very small, and between the properties of green and fallen needles, scientists have not found a noticeable difference. So, it is quite possible to do with fallen needles.

Anatoly Veselov, gardener

Although it is summer now, the New Year is still far away, but advice on the use of needles must be taken into account. Every year, a huge number of trees are simply taken to the trash heap, and this is almost a ready-made fertilizer and pest repellent! Do not pass by discarded trees.

Sometime after new year holidays an old magazine caught my eye. I wanted to throw it away, but a photo of a Christmas tree and an article on the benefits of pine needles on the site attracted attention. I went to the tree and put away the toys. I thought, what if we continue the "coniferous" holiday? Now, dear tree, you will serve me more. I'll arrange a holiday for the plants, they are alive, they want something unusual, tasty!

And I decided to try it. But one article is not enough. I rummaged through a bunch of literature, sat on the Internet and realized how much goodness in the form of discarded Christmas trees lying in landfills right after the holidays! I persuaded my husband to go and pick up a dozen trees. We did it quickly, and there were four days ahead of it, but necessary work... Fortunately, time allowed, it is far from spring. The result is 12 large buckets of needles, which, having safely migrated into bags, will wait for their time - spring. And scratched hands are not a problem, it's just production costs. So, what do I use pine needles for?

From mole and wireworm

First of all, I use it as a frightening agent against wireworm and bear - for example, when planting potatoes. Naturally, I add ash, humus and onion husks to the hole, which we collect all year. Crushed eggshell also goes to the holes. I used to add some of the chemistry, but last year I decided to do without it. But without fail, I put a handful of needles in each hole. And I became convinced that the wireworm does not like the needles. Since she started to throw her, the wireworm has disappeared. As a result, the potatoes are flat, not eaten by this "beast".

By the way, marigolds were planted along the edges of the potato beds, and the owner of the garden, Mr. Mole, was offended and left. But before nothing helped from him! Now he comes to the potatoes, and there are marigolds, turns around - and back.

From insects

Aphids appeared on pepper, a flea on cabbage, some small insects on other plants - well, hold on, we will cope with you! We have needles. True, she stood for six months, but that's even better. No material costs (and for me, a pensioner, this is important) and no chemistry to boot - beauty! I put 1.5-2 kg of pine needles in a bucket and put them in a shed for seven to eight days. It's dark there, and mice don't like this infusion. I'll come up once a day and mix it up. This must be done, otherwise all the substances will simply remain in the needles.

The infusion turns out to be quite concentrated, so you cannot fight pests, otherwise the plants that you want to save may die. Therefore, I dilute it in a ratio of 1: 4, filter it and add water to its original volume. Do not forget to rub 25-30 g into this solution of laundry soap (so that the solution sticks better), and go ahead and say goodbye to pests!

It is better to do this, of course, not in rainy, cloudy weather. Yes, and it is not necessary in the heat: it is hard for the plants, and there is no point. The right time- dry morning, evening is possible, but always dry. After such spraying, the plants will quickly get rid of uninvited guests... Even the Colorado potato beetle will feel uncomfortable and can leave the potatoes that he likes. You just need to remember that in such a solution there should be one needles - there is no place for cones.

Saves pine needles and apple trees from apple moth, and currants with gooseberries from moths, and raspberries from weevils, and strawberries from gray rot.

Only in this case, the solution should be slightly weaker: one bucket of water is enough, maximum one and a half kilograms of needles. Pour boiling water over the needles and let cool - that's all the work. You can "treat" moths, moths, weevils and fight with gray rot. I assure you that any evil spirits will leave the trees and bushes.

From late blight

I did this: I added a little ash to 1 kg of needles, filled it with water, brought it to a boil, let it settle. And then, according to the old scenario: strain, top up to the original volume (10 liters) and spray once every two weeks. If late blight does not make itself felt, it can be less often. Of course, this is not a panacea, no one can guarantee 100% success, but prevention has not bothered anyone yet.

In mulch

That fir branches is a wonderful mulch, everyone knows. The needles do not just save trees from the winds, they help them breathe. The soil becomes loose, retains moisture, retains heat, prevents weeds from growing, and most importantly, releases phytoncides that prevent many diseases. And if you bless the needles of the beds with moisture-loving crops (onions, garlic, lettuce, radishes, etc.), then make your life much easier: you will not have to stand with a hose every day, the weeds will stop mocking you - they simply will not be there.

In compost

Needles rotted in a compost heap are the ultimate dreams of any gardener. So can't we sacrifice four days of working with Christmas trees in winter and slightly scratched hands for the sake of facilitating our own work in the summer ?!

STRAWBERRY LOVES NEEDLES. With the onset of spring, when the return cold has passed, remove the old leaf from the garden, loosen the soil with fertilizers and, after the new leaves begin to "sprout", cover the entire garden with needles (dry fallen needles) with a layer of 5 cm. Grass will not sprout through the needles, when watering from a watering can through the needles, the earth will not be compacted, there will be no need frequent watering and loosening the ground during the summer. In any rainy weather, the berries that lie on the needles are always clean. Until the end of the harvest, all worries will be reduced to watering (sometimes with fertilization) and rationing of the bushes left. Leave 1 - 2 early whiskers per bush with the first rosette. Root, pushing the needles apart for subsequent planting in the "school". After harvesting, remove the needles from the garden bed (you do not need to bury it - the earth turns sour), spill it with a solution of potassium permanganate, dry it and store it in paper bags until next spring. The needles will last 3-4 years without adding fresh ones. You should not be afraid of the acidifying effect. Strawberries tolerate slightly acidic soils and even give more high yields... As for protection from slugs, then for this better fit spruce needles - they are shorter and prickly than pine needles. But strawberries are often mulched with pine needles. This is due to the fact that we simply have more pine forests. Over time, the needles overheat and become softer. Therefore, it is periodically updated. It is better to do this before the berries ripen, when, under their weight, they fall to the ground. In the forest, needles are collected in dry weather or dried in bags. Slugs don't like dry, thorny needles.

If pine or spruce trees grow near your site, you can use needles for mulching. It is believed that, like sawdust, it acidifies the soil. However, some summer residents, having conducted an experiment with such mulch on their site, were convinced that this was not the case. But in order to be on the safe side, in the fall, a layer of rotted foliage or humus should be poured under the needles.

Mulching strawberry needles is not a complicated procedure. Collected in the nearest fishing line raw material can be laid between plants both in pure form and after mixing with other plant residues.

Old fallen pine needles are very suitable as insulation for strawberries. Needle consumption is approximately 1 bag per my standard bed of 22-24 strawberry bushes... A little less needles are spent on young strawberries, and a little more for an adult two or three years old.

The needles of pine and spruce are known to most readers mainly for their medicinal properties, which are well studied and widely used in medical practice. According to well-known herbalists in the country, with the help of needles, up to 2/3 of all diseases, including oncological ones, can be cured today. However, as experience shows, needles are capable of more, including can serve a person in his fight against pests and diseases, in increasing soil fertility and plant nutrition to enhance their growth and development.

The most effective results of using pine and spruce needles are known in the fight against pests and diseases of fruit and berry crops: apple moth, moth on currants and gooseberries, weevils on raspberries, etc. In all these cases, it is enough to take 1-1.5 kg of needles, insist it in 10 liters of hot water, cool, strain and use a sprayer to process trees and bushes, and it is best to first the trunks, then the branches and then the green crown. Such processing of trees and shrubs is advisable at the beginning of their flowering and 2-3 more times with breaks for a week.

It should be noted that spraying with a solution of needles of fruit and berry and vegetable crops can be carried out both in the morning and in the evening, avoiding only periods of dew and rain. In order not to waste the solution, you can add 30 g of laundry soap to it. According to my observations, some gardeners add ash extract to the solution of needles, which, in combination with soap, eliminates the likelihood of acidification of the soil that occurs when using needles. The addition of chopped coniferous branches and cones to the infused mixture of needles with water by individual gardeners, according to available information, only weakens the insecticidal properties of solutions.

In recent years, I also gained some experience in using pine and spruce needles when growing tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes. In the first case, we added ash to a mixture of pine and spruce needles, boiled the mixture in water, filtered, and then treated 10 tomato bushes with a solution having a ratio of 1: 5. In doing so, we managed to induce them to grow more intensively and eliminate the developmental lag. What is important, the treated bushes bloomed earlier and more amicably than everyone else and did not hurt at all, and the yield on them was greater than on untreated bushes.

But, perhaps, most of all we were pleased with strawberries and potatoes, when planting which, in the first case, a mixture of needles with sand, ash and compost was used in an equal ratio, and in the second - a mixture of needles, bark, ash and compost in the same ratio, and on In a strawberry bed, the mixture was embedded in the soil of the upper layer, and when planting potatoes, it was applied under the tubers and on them in a volume of about 1 liter per bush. As it turned out, the strawberry bushes, being in such soil and having enough nutrition and moisture, did not have pests and diseases, they bloomed faster than others and yielded almost 1.5 times more than before. At the same time, the berries differed not only in their large size, but also had some particularly pleasant taste.

The well-known experienced gardener L. Rendyakov obtains excellent results when using pine needles. In his practice, he covers the planting of onions with coniferous spruce branches, and after removal of spruce branches after 2-3 weeks, the top layer of soil is well mulched with needles, due to which the entire period of onion growing the soil retains looseness, nutritional value and moisture, has no weeds and protects plantings from diseases and pests ... As a result of all this, from 1 kg of seedlings, the yield of full-fledged onions is up to 40 kg, and for about 4 years and regardless of the weather.

From all of the above, it can be seen that the needles effectively serve not only as a healer of the garden and vegetable garden, but also as a fertilizer for soil and plants. This is explained by the fact that the needles contain, first of all, a very rich complex of physiologically active substances; it also contains many chemical elements: calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc, etc.

The topic of using plant needles in everyday life. The second part will focus on the use of needles for garden plot... True, one Christmas tree or pine tree is hardly enough for such purposes, but you can always go to the nearest forest and collect needles there. And yet, many have conifers growing right on the site and additional benefits can be derived from this.

As a mulching material

It is best to use pine needles as mulch, spruce has too high acidity, so it is better not to take it for these purposes. Pine needles, although they slightly increase the acidity of the soil, are suitable for mulching many plants.

Such a shelter will especially be liked by an onion, pine needles will not only help to retain moisture in the soil, but will also protect plants from fungal diseases and some pests, and it will be difficult for weeds to break through such a coniferous pillow.

It is very good to cover the needles of the beds with garden strawberries, the berries will not come into contact with the ground, which will save them from rotting and slugs. Needles can be covered trunk circles fruit trees and berry bushes.

But the flowers, for the most part, do not like acidic soil, so you should not mulch them with pine needles. Exceptions are, perhaps, hydrangea, rhododendrons and heather. Here's to them coniferous shelter like it.

Important! Do not use fresh needles! But rotted or already crumbling dry needles are fine. And, of course, the needles from the already defended New Year's pine are also quite suitable.

As a covering material

Spruce branches have long been used as a covering material. The needles will also help protect plants from the winter cold. It can cover the roots of trees and shrubs. Moreover, such a shelter will protect plants not only from cold weather, but also from small rodents. Few of them like to make their way to the coveted bark along sharp thorns.

Beds with and garden strawberries can also be covered with coniferous needles. Such a shelter will protect plants no worse than expensive covering materials. On the one hand, it will protect plants from frost and wind, and on the other hand, it will allow oxygen to freely adhere to the soil, preventing it from suffocating.

As a fertilizer

Needles, together with other organic residues, can be laid in compost heap... Overcooking, they will give very valuable natural fertilizer which is suitable for all plants and helps to improve the soil structure.

If all your green economy limited to only a few pots with, pine and Christmas tree needles can come in handy in this case. From the needles, you can prepare an infusion for watering indoor flowers. Such an infusion will become not only a vitamin supplement for green pets, but also, due to the disinfecting and bactericidal properties of needles, will be suitable for the prevention of fungal diseases.

To prepare coniferous infusion, you need to take twigs with needles, chop them finely and fold them into a three-liter bottle, filling it about 1/3. Pour boiling water into a jar and let it brew for 3-4 days. Before use, this infusion must be diluted with water. With such coniferous water, you can water not only indoor flowers, but also plants in the garden and vegetable garden.

For pest control

Needles are also effective for pest control. It will help protect the potatoes from the wireworm and the bear. To do this, when planting potatoes, it is enough to put a handful of needles and half a glass of wood ash in each hole.

They do not like the needles of snails and slugs. To protect the plant from them, simply surround it with a "fur coat" of needles.

Not so long ago, we considered conifers and, which can be planted on the site to make it more harmonious. After this publication, our readers began to ask about the use of coniferous needles on summer cottage... We will devote our new material to this topic.

Needle acidity - myth or reality?

Many gardeners and gardeners suffer from conifers on the site, because every year you need to collect and remove (or burn) several kilograms of needles. Why? Because the needles, supposedly, are capable of spoiling the soil and nothing else will grow there - the soil will become so acidic. Sometimes articles about sour needles are found even in reputable magazines. This delusion turns out to be all the more harmful.

Take a look here:

The acidity (or pH) of rainwater is 5.6. Scots pine needles acidity - 6. Acidity of some sandy loam soils - 7. Do you feel an awkward moment? The needles are more neutral than the soil in some areas and, as a result, cannot spoil it.

Further more: with the interaction of rain and needles, the joint effect is not cumulative (acidity does not increase), but neutralizing (on the contrary, it decreases!). That is, the acidity will be maintained at an optimal level of 5.7-5.9 for most plants.

The use of needles at their summer cottage

What pine and spruce needles can be used for:

1. For the fight against snails and slugs. Terpenes scare them away, and therefore the best way to protect the plant from slugs is to surround it with a “fur coat” of needles.

2. For fertilizing plants that like acidic soil.

3. Use for mulching. The mulch can take all the needles, even if your area is surrounded by pine trees.

4. As a "support" for strawberries and strawberries - when the berries are raised above the ground, the bushes bear fruit better, and the crop does not suffer from attacks by the bear and others.

5. For compost. The needles rot well under the influence of rain and snow. For the best effect, collect the leaves and cover them with a layer of needles: this way the leaves will not scatter and will stimulate the rotting process from the inside.

Plants that love acidic soil

So, the plants that can and should be fertilized with pine and spruce needles:

Zinnia, aster, petunia, poppy, purslane, sage, sunflower, peas, tulip, rose, primrose, nasturtium, bindweed, lavender, iris, hyacinth, gladiolus, forget-me-not, delphinium, bindweed, cosmos, crocus, chrysanthemum, calendula and many others ... Thus, if you have an extensive flower garden, then coniferous fertilizers are just what you need.