Milk as Fertilizer – Milk Benefits in Blossom End Rot Treatment

Did you know that milk can be good for your garden? The use of milk as fertilizer in gardening can work as a fertilizer and help get rid of plant diseases like powdery mildew and viruses. Let’s delve into the benefits of milk in gardening and then discuss the recipe and how to use it on your plants.

Use as a Fertilizer

Milk contains calcium, beneficial proteins, vitamin B, and sugars that are good for plants, improving their overall health and crop yields.

• Quick Remedy for Blossom End Rot (BER): Commonly seen in tomato and pepper plants, spraying milk on the leaves helps a lot. This issue is often due to a lack of calcium in the soil or a defect in the plant system that prevents it from uptaking calcium.

Antifungal Agent

Milk has been used as an effective antifungal agent, especially in the prevention of powdery mildew.

Pesticide Applications

Milk has been effective in reducing the transmission of mosaic leaf viruses such as tobacco mosaic. It also works against aphids.

Drawbacks of Using Milk in Gardening

While milk has many benefits, there are certain drawbacks:

• Bacterial Growth: Excessive use of milk can help harmful bacteria multiply, producing a foul odor and resulting in poor plant growth.
• Plant Rot and Leaf Spots: Rarely, milk can induce plant rot and some leaf spots if used inadvertently.

How to Correctly Use Milk in Gardening

The benefits of milk are numerous, but it’s important to use it correctly. Here’s how:

• Foliar Feeding: If it’s skim milk, you can pour or spray it directly onto your plant’s leaves. The leaves will absorb the milk solution.
• Dilution: To be on the safer side, use a mixture of 50% milk and 50% water and spray it on the plant foliage.

Frequency of Use

Using milk monthly once is recommended. For plants already suffering from blossom end rot, along with this quick remedy, you can also use calcium nitrate spray, egg shell powder in soil, bone meal powder, and garden lime in the soil.

Gardening Hacks Using Milk Solution

You can pour the milk solution around the base of the plants where the roots will gradually absorb the milk, especially in smaller gardens.

• Bottle Hack: Place the top portion of a 1 or 2-liter bottle containing the milk solution (upside down) in the soil next to the plant. This makes an excellent hack to offer both water and milk feed to your plants.

Additional Tips

1. When you are finished with your milk container, before you wash it out, fill it with water, shake it, and water your plants.
2. Do not spray any form of chemical pesticide or chemical fertilizer after applying milk fertilizer. This can affect the beneficial ingredients in milk that help the plants, particularly the commensal bacteria.

By following these guidelines, you can harness the power of milk to enhance your gardening efforts.

Watch Video tutorial on how to use milk for plants.