In early September, I remove the tops of tomatoes from the greenhouse. I tell you where I use it in the Garden and what Benefits it brings

In the first days of September, plant remains multiply on the personal plot. The greenhouse also supplies them, but tomato tops, unlike most green waste, are not sent in my compost heap - because you can find another, even more interesting and useful application for it!

And perhaps the experience that I decided to share will be useful to other zealous owners.

The chemical nature of tomato tops is such that it is possible to prepare insecticidal agents from it, which, unlike store-bought preparations:

· cheap;

· Do not harm the future harvest;

· Not dangerous for the environment.

And it's all about solanine - an alkaloid compound.

To prepare an effective broth, universally suitable for most garden and horticultural crops, you need to pour 3-4 kg of greens with 10 liters of water, boil for 30 minutes, then cool.

Plus, it will not hurt to add a little more laundry soap - liquid or shavings, and this is done in order to ensure greater stickiness of the product to the surfaces of the treated plants.

The resulting broth can help against many pests, including:

· Flea beetles;

Aphids;

· Colorado potato beetle;

· Ants;

· Moth;

· Caterpillars.

Tomato tops can also act as a powerful fertilizer suitable for irrigation of any crops. To prepare it, you need to fill the barrel with all sorts of chopped weeds, and the tomato tops should take at least half of the total amount of greens.

When the container is one-third full, you need to fill it to the top with water, cover with a lid and leave everything to infuse for 10-12 days. Then the liquid diluted with water in proportions of 1: 5 can be used for regular watering.

As for using tomato tops as mulch, this is a great option, but in my opinion - more suitable for summer than for cool September.

You can also bury the tops in the beds from which the harvest has been taken, if you plan to plant some winter crops in September. Then it, gradually rotting, will also serve as a good source of nutrients.

In conclusion of the topic, I want to clarify that for fertilizer and pest control, you can only use healthy tomato tops and we are not talking about a bunch of crop diseases, but just one vegetable ailment - phytophthora. Therefore, when collecting the tops, it is very important to look to see if there is any brown spot on it.