Vinegar for plants: benefits and how to use it

Vinegar has a long list of beneficial and useful properties, both for the human body and for many other uses, such as caring for plants and cleaning the home. These are some of the main properties of vinegar:

• Antiseptic
• antibacterial
• pH regulator
• antioxidant
• anticalcific
• degreaser
• detoxifying
• anti-inflammatory
• Calming and analgesic

Here we explain some of the most relevant:

• Antiseptic and antibacterial: Vinegar is a great disinfectant, as well as being very cheap and proven effective. It is capable of killing a large number of bacteria and other microorganisms that can be harmful, such as fungi. In fact, throughout history it has been commonly used in the treatment of fungi, infections, lice or warts. In addition, this effect of vinegar occurs both in the body and on surfaces, such as the soil of plants or the floors of a house or its furniture.
• Digestive: vinegar, especially apple vinegar, is a great digestive thanks to its acetic, tartaric and malic acids, as well as an intestinal regulator. It also has the ability to make fats metabolize more easily, aiding in digestion.
• slimming: Vinegar in meals helps to increase the feeling of satiety and, due to what was mentioned before about fat metabolism, it is a powerful degreaser, which is why it is a very good way to help in diets to lose weight.
• Improves skin: Another property of vinegar is its ability to keep the skin healthy and beautiful, in addition to promoting circulation, calming pain and treating inflammation.
• pH regulator: Due to the acidity that vinegar has, it can be used to regulate the pH of various substances, organs or surfaces. Thus, it can work for us to regulate the pH of our skin or our digestive system, but it can also regulate the soil.
• Anti-limescale: Due to its acidity and slight capacity for corrosion of certain materials, it is widely used as a product to remove limescale, rust and clean surfaces in depth and disinfect them.
• Repellent: The acidic and strong smell that it gives off repels a variety of animals, as we will explain better later.

Learn more about this topic with this other EcologíaVerde article on the Properties of organic apple cider vinegar.

After knowing well the properties of this product, we tell you about the great benefits of vinegar for plants:

Neutralize lime in irrigation water

There are a large number of plants, such as the Japanese maple, that cannot be irrigated with water rich in lime. If this is not respected, the leaves of the plant can suffer from chlorosis. Vinegar can be used to neutralize the lime in the water and increase its acidity, so that we can use running water to water our most delicate plants in this regard and avoid using bottled water.

Garden Container Sanitizer

After using pots or seedbeds, it is very important to clean and disinfect them properly before planting in them again. This is especially important in seedbeds, since it is soil subject to more humidity and, in addition, the seeds are weaker to attack by fungi.

Vinegar: insect trap

It is possible to make homemade insect traps with vinegar. Insect traps made with this product are especially effective at killing fruit flies. So it is an ally in fruit plantations or gardens with a fruit tree, as well as avoiding these small insects in the kitchen or pantry.

Enrich the iron soil

You can also give a contribution of iron to the soil or substrate with controlled contributions of vinegar. It is important to use it in small quantities and only with plants that appreciate acid soils, such as lemon trees, strawberries, roses or blueberries.

herbicide with vinegar

If you want to keep some areas of your orchard or garden free of weeds, to control steps or lanes clear of organic matter, you can use undiluted vinegar directly on the areas to be treated. The acidity will prevent plants or fungi of any kind from growing.

ant repellent

Ants can be a serious problem in many crops, especially due to a type of fungus that usually accompanies them. The use of undiluted white vinegar around a localized anthill, or around certain areas that we do not want them to approach, will cause the ants to leave the area, although sometimes it must be repeated for several days, and never do it on land to cultivate or directly on the anthill. Here you can learn more about How to eliminate ants from plants.

Repellent of other animals

Sometimes dogs, cats or others get into the habit of urinating or defecating and digging in the ground in some parts of our garden or orchard, which can become a problem for plants to prosper. Spraying these points with vinegar will cause the animals to avoid the area due to its pungent acid smell, thus getting rid of the problem and without harming the animals.

To finish, we leave you some tips so you can learn to use vinegar for plants depending on the use you are going to give it.

• When using it to enrich the soil or make it more acidic, it is recommended dilute vinegar in water and spray it on the area to be treated.
• If we use it for disinfect containers and tools for gardening or horticulture, it will not be necessary to dilute it, you can apply it directly to a cloth that you are going to use to clean the objects or, you can leave the object submerged in vinegar for several minutes and then wash it with water and neutral soap. You will have to make sure to clean well, without leaving residues.
• By using it as repellent or herbicide, always make sure to apply it in an area where you do not want to plant anything new, since the soil will no longer be suitable for it. In this other article you can learn everything about White Vinegar as a herbicide: how it works and how to use it.

If you want to read more articles similar to Vinegar for plants: benefits and how to use itwe recommend that you enter our category .