Alcohol in Garden – The Effects of Drinking and Rubbing Alcohol For Plants

This topic explains you the top benefits of alcohol for plants – usage in garden and on plants – Alcohol in Garden – The Effects of Drinking and Rubbing Alcohol on Plants.

Alcohol in Gardening: Benefits and Effects on Plants

Today we will look into a weird but interesting topic – alcohol in gardening. We will discuss the benefits of alcohol and the effects of alcohol on plants. This includes both ethanol (drinking alcohol like beer, wine, vodka) and isopropyl alcohol – also called rubbing alcohol, which is usually used as a bathroom disinfectant.

This topic is also for those who have a habit of dumping or throwing their leftover drinks on garden plants. So, first we will list out the top 5 uses of alcohol in gardening and plants.

As a Pesticide

Rubbing alcohol can be an effective pesticide for use against aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, and whiteflies. Please note that rubbing alcohol, if applied without dilution, can burn the plants. For this, you need to make a spray solution with a 1:10 dilution in water. First, do a patch test on a leaf and then spray on the plant. Leave it for 4 to 5 hours and then rinse the plant with water. Repeat after a week if necessary.

Weed Killer

Whether it is drinking alcohol or rubbing alcohol, both work as weed killers, and the action is faster with higher concentrations like vodka in the case of drinking alcohol and rubbing alcohol when undiluted.

Disinfect Your Cutting Tools

Rubbing alcohol can be used to disinfect your cutting tools or pruners when growing plants from cuttings. Hydrogen peroxide is an alternative. You can also disinfect other garden tools, germination trays, and pots with rubbing alcohol.

Trap or Kill Slugs and Snails

You can use beer to make a trap under the soil. Slugs and snails are attracted to it and fall into the trap of beer.

Trap Other Insects

Other insects like fruit flies, cockroaches, etc., are also attracted to fermented beverages like beer and wine. These insects can also be trapped by keeping a beer can partially open. The insects are attracted, fly in, and drown in it.

So there we have it folks, that was our article on the possible uses and effect of alcohol in gardening.  This is actually a weird topic and I thought will share this info with you, just for the sake of some general knowledge.

Please watch this video on the effects of alcohol on plants.