Many flower growers, wanting to help their indoor plants enrich themselves with useful substances, buy expensive fertilizer formulations. However, there is a simple and inexpensive remedy for feeding home flowers, the effect of which will be no worse than the advertised formulations. It's about castor oil. It turns out that it can be used to improve the condition of indoor plants. How to water flowers with castor oil, consider in the article.
What is this product?
Castor oil comes from a plant called the castor bean. The culture itself is extremely poisonous, the use of its fruits, even in small quantities, can be fatal. But in the production of a castor bean product, all toxins are inactivated, so that the final composition becomes harmless, and sometimes beneficial.
Castorthe oil is a mixture of triglycerides, linoleic, oleic and ricinoleic acids. The name comes, apparently, from the word "castoreum", meaning in English a beaver stream, which was replaced by the oil in question. The product is also sometimes referred to as ricin oil.
The consistency of the substance is a viscous transparent or yellow liquid. The smell is weak, and the taste is unpleasant. The substance freezes at -16 °C, and boils at +313 °C. The product does not oxidize in the light, does not dry out, but when burned, disappears without a trace, oil products do not dissolve it.
When castor oil enters the soil:
- Speeds up bud ripening.
- Activates plant regeneration.
- Acts as an antibacterial agent.
- Speeds up the delivery of nutrients from the soil.
- Helps plant growth.
- Restores lifeless flowers.
- Speeds up the process of cell division.
- Improves soil composition.
How to use castor oil for flowers?
It is impossible to introduce the substance in its pure form into the soil, this can lead to a chemical burn of the trunk and roots. Therefore, fertilizing with castor oil for flowers should be properly prepared beforehand. The product can be combined with other oils and substances, this will increase the efficiency of the fertilizer.
Recipes for use
Feeding flowers with castor oil can be done in several ways. Next, different recipes will be offered.
First option:
- Add a teaspoon of oil to a liter of settled water. It's best to mix withspray bottle.
- During the fertilization process, the plants are first watered to moisten the soil and thus protect the roots from burning.
- The container is shaken until the greasy circles disappear.
- Two hours after watering, the shoots and soil are treated with a solution of castor oil from a spray bottle.
Processing is carried out during the formation of buds and during the active growing season.
Be sure to take into account the characteristics of the plant itself and the slowdown in winter.
Second fertilizer recipe
You can make a top dressing with more nutrients. For this purpose, castor oil should not be mixed with water, but with useful solutions. The necessary components are in every home. For example:
- Castor oil for flowers is mixed with the liquid left after defrosting the meat.
- Can be combined with manure and other organic fertilizers.
- Add milk to castor oil.
- A mixture of oil with wood ash is useful.
Before fertilizing, it is important to make sure that the plants really need it. Do not fertilize during hibernation, it can harm the flower.
Mandatory conditions for the use of castor oil
For fertilizer to benefit, you should follow some rules:
- In water or other liquid, the oil is stirred thoroughly. Otherwise, if the planta drop of undissolved oil will fall in, causing a chemical burn.
- It is very important to observe the dosages and terms of feeding. If the plant blooms, it is fertilized before and after this period. Top dressing is performed no more than once a month.
- Ready-made castor oil solution for flowers is used immediately, while shaking.
- Water for fertilizer preparation is taken after a week.
- Do not feed during suspended animation.
What to consider when choosing a product?
To purchase high-quality castor oil, you should contact the pharmacy chain. It is not worth buying a product in unverified outlets, because there it can be diluted with aromatic components. Only high quality oil is suitable for top dressing.
To check the authenticity of castor oil, a small amount is added to a glass of water. Natural product does not form an oil film on the surface.
The shelf life of castor oil is 2 years. All useful properties of the oil are preserved during this period. It must be stored in the refrigerator or other cool place.
When it comes into contact with the skin, castor oil does not cause irritation, unless there is an individual intolerance to the substance. However, it is best to wear protective gloves when using it.
When should I water the flowers with castor oil?
Houseplants, unlike their garden counterparts, are limited in pot size. And sometimes they lack vital nutrients. In this case, the florist onhelp will come castor oil. It can revive a sick or weak plant.
The use of castor oil for flowers is relevant in the following cases:
- if the stems of the plant break;
- leaves wither for no apparent reason;
- the green part of the flower has drooped;
- planting does not add to growth;
- after frequent indoor flower transplants;
- when the root system is damaged.
If these signs are observed, the plant will need at least three months to recover. Watering flowers with castor oil can successfully replace the use of the well-known composition "Epin".
Flower advice
Home plant lovers share their experience with ricin oil. According to reviews, the use of castor oil for flowers makes plantings more magnificent and more beautiful. Watering with a solution is recommended to be done during the budding period. Castor oil makes the flower heads bigger and more vibrant.
After the product is prepared, it is advised to shake the bottle with the solution and use it immediately so that the oil does not rise to the surface and burn the roots of the plant.
If the plant blooms annually, then such top dressing is enough only once a year.
Experienced flower growers consider castor oil one of the most powerful growth stimulants, so they actively use it to water their plantations.
There are also negative opinions about castor oil for home flowers. Some experts believe that the use of the described agent will be dangerous for plants and can lead to death. There is also an opinion that castor oil clogs the pores of green spaces, as a result of which photosynthesis reactions inside the stems and leaves stop, and bacteria appear in the blockage, leading to decay of the living parts.
However, no one argues with the use of castor oil as an ant repeller. If these uninvited guests have visited the pots of your favorite plantings, it is worth spraying the prepared composition on their trails, and the ants will leave.
Which category of flower growers is right and which is not, it is worth deciding in each case individually. Any tool can be tested in practice. At least, the fertilizer described in the article has much more supporters than opponents.
