Don’t let your citrus peels go to waste! Gather them, and they will help with your gardening. Here are 8 amazing uses of citrus fruits for your garden we would like to share you guys. If you prefer natural gardening tools and tips, you should never miss these. These peels can scare off flies and mosquitoes, acidify garden soil, start your seeds,… They are all friendly to the environment, and more importantly, works well.
Summer is here. It means that citrus fruits are at their harvest season. And you can collect a lot of citrus peels when eating the fruits. I just love these citrus fruits so bad. They’re an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. I often keep some of the peels in the fridge to remove the smell in here. It actually works. For the gardening, I use them as mini plant containers to sow my seeds. There is so much fun with this. Let’s discover how they work in your garden!
#1 Make a compost
It’s great to add citrus peels in the compost pin in your garden. They are a good source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Make sure to chop them into tiny bits before composting as it will degrade faster.
#2 A seed starter
Citrus peel makes a pretty organic seed starter. Simply poke a small hole at the bottom of the peel for drainage, fill it with a good potting mix, sow your seeds and sprinkle with some water. When replant your plants into soil, just put all into the soil. The peel will compost and add further nourishment to the plant as it grows.
#3 Keep away dogs and cats
Dogs and cats do not like the smell of citrus peel. So, you can use it as a natural method to keep them away from your garden. Blend some pieces of citrus peel with coffee grounds and sprinkle them in your garden. That’s all. This also fertilizes your soil and enriches it with nutrients.
#4 Acidify the soil
Some vegetables like radishes and peppers thrive in an acidic soil. Just dry the citrus peels, powder them and sprinkle them in the soil. This helps increase the acidity of the soil and supply it with other nutrients as well.
#5 Repel Pests
Citrus peels can help get rid of pests in your garden. Simple cut a citrus peel into small pieces and place them on the infected plant. Although they are not as effective as pesticides in repelling pests, but at least it is organic and it does not contain any chemicals.
#6 To get a fresh scent
The most common uses of citrus peel in gardens is here. Throw some citrus peel into the firepit in your garden whenever you light it up, it will release an extremely fresh scent.
#7 Keep flies away your kitchen
Citrus peel is effective in scaring off flies and mosquitoes. Simple rub the peels on your skin or place them around your garden or patio.
#8 To get rid of ants
Lemon peels are the natural enemies of ants and adding these to your plants is a great, non toxic way to get rid of the buggers.