Throwing away old, rusted nails? You are making a mistake. They can still be of great service. You may have plants at home that suffer from chlorosis. How can you tell and why rusty nails can be useful for you?
Plants need iron
Just as humans need iron, so do plants. Young plants can suffer from its deficiency, and you can easily tell. Plants that are deficient in this element will have yellowish leaves and shoots – this is called chlorosis. Alkaline soil, cold, excess water and sometimes, paradoxically, overfertilization are to blame.
Why nails?
Although opinions differ, and some gardeners reject this technique – nails can provide plants with enough iron. In the past, nails were even dug into plants in order to take what they needed from them. Nails are also used, for example, in aquaristics, if it is necessary to provide enough iron for aquatic plants, and it really works.
How about that?
Prepare a pot of water and some rusting nails. Use 8 nails for two liters of water. All you have to do is stir them occasionally, boil them lightly and then let the water cool down. After a few hours, the water should turn brown, at which point it is ready to use. Pour water into a kettle and water the plants with it once a month – they will get enough iron from it.
How to supply iron to plants in other ways?
You don’t have to water your garden with nails if you don’t want to. There are other ways. Alkaline soil needs to be acidified, this will greatly reduce the risk of chlorosis. For this, use either ammonium sulfate or a more acidic substrate with peat. However, fertilizing with conventional fertilizers is not the right way.
How to treat already formed chlorosis?
When the plants are no longer strong and yellow, you can reach for spraying. Preparations that contain chelates will provide the plant with iron in an easily absorbable form. If you start at the first symptoms, the plant will recover very quickly. Fertilizers with iron are easily available in the market.
Foto: Shutterstock
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