5 POWERFUL ONION PEEL USES & ONION FERTILIZER

In today’s episode, we will discover 5 unbelievable onion peel uses, Onion fertilizer and onion pesticide making from Onion Skins and Onion Juice in gardening. Specially the onion peel fertilizer, Onion Pesticide and a new secret rooting hormone recipe to root your plant cuttings quickly and successfully.

Introduction

Onion skin and peels are usually thrown into the bin. But starting today and after watching this episode till the end, you will never throw them away again! Onion skin and peels have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties and contain many useful substances like sulphur, quercetin, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, iodine, vitamins, pectins, saponins, flavonoids, and so on.

Why Do Onions Make You Cry?

Have you ever wondered why tears start flowing out of your eyes as soon as you start chopping onions? This is Onion-Chemistry. Before we start with the 5 uses of onions in gardening, let’s quickly understand the scientific reason behind this interesting phenomenon: While chopping onions, cells inside the onion are broken down and the gas that comes out forms sulfenic acid. This acid gets mixed with enzymes and forms a gas called propanethiol S-oxide. When this gas reaches our eyes, it gets mixed with our tears and forms sulphuric acid, which causes irritation of the tear glands.

Onion Peel Uses for Plants and Gardening

1. Composting

If you are not using earthworms for making your compost, you can drop onion skins and peels a little deeper into the compost bin and get nutrient-rich compost in the final result. But you should avoid adding them to your worm composting bin, as earthworms hate onions and similar odorous substances.

2. Mulching

For beginners, a mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil for benefits like preserving soil moisture, reducing weed growth, and so on. You can use onion skins for mulching, and the dry onion peels will decompose soon and enrich your soil with potassium and calcium, which is beneficial for your plant growth.

3. Onion Pesticide Recipe

If you do organic vegetable gardening without using any chemical pesticides and fertilizers, you will certainly realize the importance of these organic recipes, especially if you do not have the universal organic pesticide like the great neem oil. Do not worry! You can make a potent organic pesticide using onion and other ingredients.

• Take a large onion and drop it into a kitchen blender.
• Add 4 fresh cloves of garlic.
• Add 2 teaspoons of red chili powder.
• Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder.
• Blend this into a fine paste by adding some water.
• Add about 2 cups of water to this and mix well, then allow it to steep overnight.
• In the morning, strain out the liquid using a nylon cloth or a fine sieve to get your pesticide concentrate. You can store this concentrate in the refrigerator.
• To apply as a pesticide, use it in a 1:5 dilution in water. That is, to one cup of this pesticide, add 5 cups of water. Most importantly, do not forget to add about 10 drops of liquid detergent soap for the surfactant effect to coat the leaves and retain the pesticide effect for a longer time. Use this twice weekly until all pests are eradicated. This will successfully kill common pests like aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, and many others.

4. Onion Peel Fertilizer

There are two methods to make onion peel fertilizer: one is to boil the onion peels for a few hours in water, and the other method is to soak the onion peels in water for 24 hours. Some do not recommend boiling.

• Take 2 to 3 handfuls of onion peels and drop them in 1 liter of water, then allow them to soak for 24 hours.
• After 24 hours, strain out the liquid and use it as a liquid fertilizer. You can use it without dilution or with further dilution of 1:1 in water if you regularly fertilize your plants. Use it once in 15 days to see the effect in about 3 months.

5. Rooting Hormone Recipe

Not really a rooting hormone, but you can call it a rooting agent. Onion, due to its antimicrobial properties and when mixed along with other substances, will certainly improve the results of rooting your plant cuttings. To prepare this:

• Take ¼ onion.
• Add ½ a cup of fresh aloe vera juice extracted from a leaf.
• Add some cinnamon or willow bark into this – it’s better to have it presoaked in a cup of water for 24 hours.
• Now add this cup to the blender and make a paste or solution. Then strain out this liquid to use as a rooting agent. Just dip the cuttings into this solution or apply it with your finger and plant the cuttings. You can watch a detailed post on the 10 natural rooting agents you can use to add to this recipe or experiment with this recipe with more substances.

Video Tutorial on Making Use of Onions and Onion Peels

Please watch a detailed video on the Uses of Onions and Onion Peels For Plants below: