Garden Hack of the Month: 5 Uses for Honey in the Garden
While honey certainly tastes delicious and it has its own medicinal benefits as well, honey has quite a few uses in the garden, too. If you have a jar of honey lying around, consider trying out some of these gardening tricks.
Propagation
If you’ve had trouble with growing plants from cuttings of your plants, you can try using honey as a rooting agent. Honey has enzymes that supports root growth and because of its antibacterial and antifungal qualities, it can help fight rot, infection, and fungal problems keeping them safe until they get bigger and stronger. You can do this by dipping cuttings in a boiled and cooled solution of 2 tbsp honey and 2 cups of water and then plant them as normal.
Fruit Flies
If you have pesky fruit flies in your kitchen, you can use a combination of honey, apple cider vinegar, and a piece of rotting fruit. Put those in a bowl together, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and poke enough holes with a toothpick for the flies to get in and put in a spot where you tend to see them flying around.
Fertilizer
While this honey/water fertilizer can benefit all plants, flowering and fruiting plants really appreciate it and can help your fruit taste more flavorful. This mixture helps raise the Brix level in a plant which is the measurement of the sugar content in its sap. Mix 1-2 tbsp honey with 2 liters or water until dissolved and water your plants as you normally would. If you have ants in your pots or garden, this honey/water mix might attract more. You can also use this mixture to spray on foliage to nurse unhealthy plants back to health.
Slugs
Slugs can wreak havoc on a garden, but honey can help get rid of them. Mix together honey and yeast in water in a pot and bring to a boil. Transfer to a container that can be buried in the ground, so the top is level with the ground. You’ll want to make sure this container is tall enough so that the slugs can’t get back out. Empty and refill your honey slug trap every 2-3 days depending on how many get trapped in it.
Ants
While honey can attract ants, by adding borax you can turn it into an ant killer. Combine 2 tbsp of honey and 2 tbsp peanut butter with 1 tbsp of borax and place in a location that you normal see ants.
Have you found any good uses for honey in your garden? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!
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