Laundry soap is an environmentally friendly way to combat pests and plant diseases

For several years now, ordinary laundry soap has been my indispensable assistant in caring for plants, both in the country and on the balcony. It is natural, affordable and can effectively rid the planting of pests and diseases. They say soap can be used in a variety of ways, but I prefer the following.

1. To reduce soil acidity

Laundry soap contains a large amount of alkali (pH 11-12). Therefore, its solution helps to reduce soil acidification. I use it to work on relatively small plots of land.

For example, for deoxidizing an old strawberry garden, on which sawdust was used for mulching. Or to prepare the soil for a flower bed near two old spruces.

Preparing a soapy solution is easy. It is enough to dissolve a bar of laundry soap grated on a coarse grater in warm water and pour the resulting mixture into a 10-liter bucket of water. This amount of solution should be enough to spill 1 sq. m of land.

2. For fixing insecticides

Laundry soap is a good compound for various natural preparations that destroy and repel pests. With its help, insecticides adhere better to plants and stay on them for a longer time.

When spraying plants from pests, I add 4-5 tablespoons of a highly concentrated soap solution to the already prepared insecticide.

3. For the prevention of fungal diseases

A solution of laundry soap allows you to protect plants from the appearance of gray rot on them. I process my plantings with soapy water (1/2 bar of soap per 10 liters of water) three times at intervals of two weeks.

4. To combat aphids and spider mites

To destroy these pests, I spray my summer cottage plants with a solution of laundry soap made from 300 g of soap shavings and 10 liters of water and carefully filtered.

Moreover, I process not only affected crops, but neighboring ones. I leave a soapy solution on them for about three hours, and then water the plants abundantly with clean water.

When I find a spider mite on my balcony flowers, then I urgently carry out their soap treatment. I wipe plants with large leaves with a soapy sponge, and sprinkle plants with small ones. And just like the summer cottages, after three hours I rinse with water (sometimes under the shower).

As a result of such simple measures with the use of laundry soap, I manage to maintain the health and appearance of my country landings and balcony flowers. And without using any chemicals and industrial poisons.