The enchanting aroma of cinnamon and its fantastic potential has been a well-kept secret among master gardeners for centuries.
The superpowers of this fragrant spice can help you manage pests, enhance rooting, and much more.
So, let’s see how a sprinkle of cinnamon can make your garden thrive!
Pest Management
There are many eco-friendly ways to control pests in your garden, and cinnamon is definitely one of the most powerful.
The fragrance of this spice is responsible for its pest-repellent properties. You can use it to manage many pest species but it’s most effective against ants.
So, instead of buying expensive chemical products to get rid of ants, simply sprinkle some cinnamon over the soil around the plant’s base.
Ants and other pests won’t come near it, which means your plant will be protected from infestation.
The use of cinnamon as a pest-repellent isn’t solely limited to garden plants. If you have some houseplants that are struggling with fungus gnats, cinnamon can help you get rid of them.
Cinnamon isn’t the only spice that can help you manage pests. Anise, cumin, and turmeric are also efficient pest repellents that are safe for use around plants. (1)
Rooting Aid
Propagating plants is one of the best gardening activities. If you have experience with propagation through cuttings, then you already know the cuttings are sensitive and can get infected pretty easily.
After you take the cutting, dust it with cinnamon and it will protect it from diseases with its antifungal and antibacterial properties.
Another beneficial property of this spice when it comes to propagation is that it can enhance root development in cuttings.
Many gardeners decide on rooting hormones, but in my opinion there’s no need to use them because the cutting has a great chance of forming roots on its own. So, if you were planning on using them, try applying cinnamon to the cut end of the cuttings to enhance rooting instead.
Disease Management
Diseases are every gardener’s worst nightmare because they can severely inhibit the plant growing process.
Cinnamon has antifungal properties (2) and it’s an excellent eco-friendly option for managing a wide array of fungal diseases.
This spice is often used for the prevention of damping off disease (3), which is a fungal infection that primarily affects seedlings.
All you need to do is apply a small amount of cinnamon to the soil once the seedlings emerge. This will form a protective barrier that will aid in the prevention of damping off and similar diseases.
Cinnamon can also help you get rid of mushrooms in your outdoor space. For instance, if you’ve been struggling with yellow fungus on mulch, cinnamon is an excellent way to treat it.
Plant Wound Treatment
No matter how careful we are with our prized plants, we can accidentally cut and leave them with open wounds.
This can be very dangerous because the cut area becomes a perfect surface for bacteria and fungus to settle in. As a result, the plant gets infected and suffers from severe consequences.
Cinnamon is here to help! It has antiseptic properties, so you can apply a small amount to the open wound to prevent infection. It will allow the wound to heal and your plant will recover in no time!
As you can see, this humble spice has some remarkable superpowers. It’s incredible how a sprinkle can make such a difference! Cinnamon will be your ally in the battle for a thriving garden, and you’ll most certainly win it!
Until next time.
References
1. Ravi Y, NK Meena and G Lal. (2019). Spices: A novel source for insect-pest
Management. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies.
2. Kowalska, J., Tyburski, J., Krzymińska, J. et al. Cinnamon powder: an in vitro and in vivo evaluation of antifungal and plant growth promoting activity. Eur J Plant Pathol
3. Damping-off Diseases in the Garden Management Guidelines–UC IPM. (n.d.). https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74132.html