Needles as fertilizer in the country. The use of pine needles

Lucky are those summer residents whose plots are located near a pine forest. After all, needles in the garden can be found in the widest possible application: it is an excellent mulch, a highly effective organic fertilizer, and a pest control agent. And with the help of pine needles, you can grow a rich crop of garden strawberries.

How to use pine needles as mulch

Pine mulch protects strawberries from contamination and even enhances their flavor. Use it like this:

• in early spring, as soon as the soil dries, remove old dead leaves from strawberry plants, loosen the aisles and fertilize (you can read about caring for strawberries in spring);
• cover the entire strawberry plot with a layer of needles from 4 to 5 centimeters;
• at the end of fruiting, remove the coniferous litter (this must be done, since when decomposed, the needles have the ability to acidify the soil and draw nitrogen out of it), spill it with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate and dry it in the sun;
• Spread dry needles in garbage or sugar bags.

With careful handling, pine needles will last you up to 4 years without adding a fresh portion. Thanks to such a mulch, weeds will almost stop growing on a strawberry bed, and you will hardly have to water and loosen the soil during the summer. And the needles will close access to the garden for snails and other creeping pests.

Coniferous needles can also mulch the soil in the trunk circles garden trees to prevent freezing of roots in harsh winters, as well as for purely aesthetic purposes. Mulch is spread in a layer of 5 to 7 centimeters in a radius of 1 meter around the trunks of young trees and in a radius of 1.5 to 2 meters for adults.

Particularly good use pine and spruce needles as mulch for horticultural crops if you have on the site carbonate or neutral soil.

It is also good to cover paths between vegetable beds with coniferous litter, and dried or half-decomposed needles can be used for insulation. winter crops and even pour into the aisles.

Much more interesting tips on the use of needles as mulch can be found in this article - ""

Needles as fertilizer

Pine needles are a valuable organic fertilizer if you know how to apply them correctly.

Since the direct addition of fresh needles to the soil has a depressing effect on plants, it must first be prepared by composting.

They do it like this:

1. On a flat, rain-protected area, peat is poured with a layer of 10-15 centimeters or 5-7 centimeters of humus (fallen leaves and other soft plant residues from the garden can also be added there).
2. The substrate is lightly tamped and a pine or spruce bedding is placed on top with a layer of 15 to 30 centimeters.
3. To remove acidity from the compost, the needles are sprinkled with phosphorite flour, ground limestone, powdered chalk or dolomite (the volume of these materials should be from 2 to 3% of the total weight of the compost).
4. Shed the future compost with a strong solution of mullein, or plain water.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until the pile reaches 1.5-2 meters in height (its main width should be 2-3 meters).
6. Most upper layer must consist of peat (earth) and be at least 20 centimeters thick.

It should be remembered that needle-based compost decomposes for a long time, from two to three years. It should be used only after full maturation, that is, when it will be a homogeneous, dark brown mass with a characteristic "mushroom" smell.

Needles in the garden to combat diseases and pests

Dried and powdered pine needles will help cleanse your garden of many diseases and pests. This natural and absolutely safe biostimulant will not only reduce the degree of damage to plants by harmful insects and diseases, but will also give an increase in yield up to 40%!

To prepare the drug, dry thin branches of needles and spruce for 1-2 weeks, pass them through a meat grinder or blender and use in this way:

• for prevention, powdery mildew and gray rot every 1.5-2 weeks, dust vegetable plants needle powder (from 5 to 20 grams / square meter of beds);
• to ward off onion fly from an onion bed, sprinkle the soil around the plants with pine flour twice - in mid-May and early summer;
• so that the cabbage fly does not bother the cabbage, mulch the soil around the planted seedlings of this crop thin layer coniferous powder and repeat the procedure after 2 weeks;
• carrots will not suffer from if every two weeks, starting from the first decade of June, the planting of the root crop is dusted with chopped needles;
• the coniferous smell also cannot stand the cabbage white and melon aphid- cabbage beds from these pests are treated twice, at the beginning of summer and in the third decade of June;
• add one small handful of coniferous repellent to the holes when planting potatoes, and the wireworm will forget the way to the potato field.

Branches of pine and spruce are also often used to protect the trunks of young trees from the teeth of rodents in winter. However, for this purpose, the old ones are still better suited. nylon tights, since the needles from the spruce branches tend to crumble quickly, which negates its protective function.

I am sure that this list of options for using needles in the garden is far from complete. And how do you use this free organic on your site?

I also advise you to look short video about the benefits of pine needles for the garden.

For several years now, I have been using a wonderful fertilizer from pine needles on my site. And I start harvesting coniferous branches after new year holidays when people begin to throw out armfuls of Christmas trees that have served their purpose (although for some, a half-bald "beauty" is prescribed on the balcony until spring). If there is a forest belt with coniferous trees near your garden, then you can cut off young shoots (candles) of spruce or pine in the summer. Just keep in mind that freshly cut branches should not be immediately put into action, but it is recommended to keep them in the cellar for a week. This will improve the bioavailability of your pine needle fertilizer.

Next, the branches with needles must be finely chopped (in pieces about 1 centimeter long) and poured into any handy dish (for example, into a large saucepan), leaving 6-7 centimeters to the edge. The contents of the pan are poured with cool water and put on medium heat. After the water boils, the broth is allowed to boil for 5-10 minutes at a minimum, and then left for 5-6 hours on the stove with the lid open, so that the needles are steamed properly. The needles are rich in silicon, but it is extremely reluctant to go into the decoction. Therefore, it is advisable to let it brew in a closed form for another 2-3 days. Then the broth is filtered, and the concentrated fertilizer from the needles is ready! Store it in sealed bottles in a dark, cool place (you can in the same cellar).

In season, plants are fed with fertilizer from needles as follows. A liter of coniferous broth is diluted in a bucket of water (that is, 9-10 liters) and garden crops are watered under the root, after which the soil is loosened superficially. The same composition can be used for. However, it should be borne in mind that the needles acidify the soil, and most plants do not like this. To neutralize the acidifying effect, it is enough to add a tablespoon of creamy lime to 10 liters of solution. Instead of lime, you can take eggshells. It is done like this. 10 tablespoons of crushed shells in a mortar are poured with 3 liters of water. A container with crushed shells is placed in a dark place and insisted for 10 days (if the room is hot, then 7 days is enough). After filtering, the solution is also stored in a dark place, since light contributes to the destruction of calcium. In 10 liters coniferous fertilizer pour a glass of infusion on crushed eggshell. The effect of feeding will increase many times if you add to the mixture.

I have noticed that turnips, cabbage plants, peppers, eggplants, daikon, cucumbers and carrots respond best to needle fertilizer. Zucchini, tomatoes and radishes also respond well to coniferous treats. Other cultures are generally indifferent to such top dressing (again, according to my observations). At the same time, there is no doubt about the healing effect of needles on the soil, so I urge all avid vegetable growers not to be lazy and properly stock up on pine and spruce twigs after the end of the New Year holidays.

The New Year holidays are behind us, Christmas tree decorations go on a “deserved” vacation, and most people carry the crumbling forest beauty to the trash. In vain, they say experienced gardeners, because it has long been known that the needles contain a lot useful substances: vitamin C, carotene, vitamin E, tannins and valuable essential oils. Therefore, it can be used not only to improve the body (what adherents do traditional medicine), but also effectively used in garden plots. Moreover, it is not recommended to use fresh needles - it acidifies the soil, and dry is just right. So do not be lazy - collect needles from your old Christmas tree.

EXCELLENT FERTILIZER

The Christmas tree makes an excellent fertilizer for garden plants.
Thin branches, I cut the needles into pieces about 1 cm long and fall asleep in a saucepan, pour cold water and put on medium heat. I boil for 7-10 minutes and leave it on the stove so that the needles are steamed. I insist the broth under the lid for 2-3 days - the concentrate is ready! I filter it, pour it into bottles with caps and put it away for storage.
In spring and summer, before feeding the plants, I dilute 1 liter of decoction in 9-10 liters of water, pour it under the root, and then loosen the ground. You can spray plants with this decoction. As you know, the needles give sourness, and this is not to the taste of all plants. Therefore, to neutralize the solution, I add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of creamy lime per 10 liters.
Peppers, eggplants, carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, turnips respond well to coniferous top dressing. A little less - radishes, zucchini, tomatoes.

K. IVANOV, Cheboksary region.

IDEAL MATERIAL FOR MULCHING

Christmas tree needles are like a dessert for plants. Collect the needles, dry and put in a rag bag or paper bag. And in the spring take it to the country. Dry needles are a great mulch. Scattering them, for example, on beds for tomatoes or strawberries, you will also disinfect the soil. And this, you see, is a double benefit.
Beds with onion sets are generally recommended to be covered with a layer of needles. Coniferous cover will not only retain moisture in the soil, prevent weeds from growing, but also, by releasing phytoncides, will prevent fungal diseases onions and protect against insect pests. From about mid-May, cover beds with onions, garlic, radishes, lettuce and other moisture-loving crops with needles, this will significantly reduce your weeding and watering costs, and also increase crop yields.
They love pine needles and sour berries. It is well suited for mulching the soil around cherry bushes, honeysuckle, plum trees. Helps the growth of sunflowers, onions, garlic and even eggplant.

Pavel Zh., Cheboksary.

IN BUSINESS - ALL PARTS

I am a supporter organic fertilizer, for several years now, as I refused mineral fertilizers. Instead, I successfully use chopped weeds, sunflower and corn tops, leaves, needles. I bought a special chopper, with the help of which I even crush branches and also scatter them around the garden as fertilizer.
After the New Year holidays, I never pass by thrown out Christmas trees. I cut the trunks into thin boards - they make an excellent "lining". I put small branches in a bag - in the spring I lay them out under strawberry bushes. So moisture is retained longer, and plants breathe, and pests do not spoil the fruits - because they are afraid of thorns. And I collect the crumbled needles and grind them into flour, in the summer I put it under the vine.

Vladimir V., Cheboksary.

AND SAVE FROM PESTS

Pine and spruce needles repel potato pests - wireworm and bear, and also protect it from scab and fungal diseases.
How to use needles correctly?
In the spring, when planting in a hole, you need to throw a full handful of fresh or last year's pine needles, then half a glass wood ash(by the way, now, while everything is covered in snow and there is no threat of a fire, it's time to garden plot burn the ashes out wood waste) and only then seed potatoes. Cover everything with soil. Loose needles will also create a kind of air drainage for the potato root system, which requires a lot of oxygen for the formation of tubers. The results of such processing will not keep you waiting. Potato tubers will be well aligned, without visible damage from a bear and a wireworm. And even heavy rainfall will not cause the manifestation of fungal diseases on them.
Apart from Christmas trees, fallen needles can be picked up in the spring in the forest. At 100 square meters a plot planted with potatoes will need about 2-3 bags of needles.

Konstantin S., Novocheboksarsk.

GOOD FOR SEEDLINGS

I am preparing a nutrient mixture from needles for growing tomato seedlings. I take half a bucket of finely chopped spruce needles, add the same amount of fertile land and mix. It is desirable that this mixture stand for a month, then by the time the seeds are sown, loose black soil is formed in the bucket. On such soil, tomato seedlings do not get sick with a black leg, grow strong, with dark green leaves and a well-developed root system.

E. Sergeeva,
Morgaushsky district.

HOW DO THEY DO WITH FIRS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES?
Abroad, the disposal of Christmas trees is organized, one might say, at the state level. There, they found a lot of ways to use them so as not to pollute the environment.

• In Sweden, Christmas trees are burned in boiler houses, thanks to which more than 10% of the country's population is heated at home. In the Scandinavian countries, spruces are also transported to furniture factories and make furniture out of them.
• in Austria from Christmas trees produce fuel briquettes, and in Germany - wooden butter knives. In addition, in some countries, spruces are composted for city parks and are even used in the production of anti-flu drugs.
• In England, compost is made from "spent" Christmas trees. To collect them, special collection points for festive trees are opened there, which are open until January 19.
• In many US cities, after the holidays, spruce can be handed over to a recycling center. From coniferous trees in America they make paper and cat litter.

The needles of pine and spruce are known to most readers mainly by their healing properties which are well studied and widely used in medical practice. According to well-known herbalists in the country, with the help of needles today it is possible to cure up to 2/3 of all diseases, including cancer. However, needles, as experience shows, are capable of more, including serving a person in his fight against pests and diseases, in increasing soil fertility and plant nutrition to enhance their growth and development.

The most effective results of the use of pine and spruce needles are known in the fight against pests and diseases. fruit crops: codling moth, moth on currants and gooseberries, weevil on raspberries, etc. In all these cases, it is enough to take 1-1.5 kg of needles, insist it in 10 liters hot water, cool, strain and use a sprayer to process trees and bushes, and it is best to first trunks, then branches and then a green crown. Such treatment of trees and shrubs is advisable at the beginning of their flowering and 2-3 more times with breaks for a week.

The experience of using needles against aphids and suckers is also very effective, and they take 2 kg of needles per 10 liters of water and insist for a week, keeping the infusion for about 7 days in a dark place and stirring daily. Before use, the infusion is diluted to a ratio of 1:3 or 1:5 in water. Both pine and spruce needles give good results in the fight against cruciferous flea on salads, cauliflower and a number of root crops (radish, turnip, radish, rutabaga, etc.). Moreover, the plants are either sprayed with a solution of infusion in water at a ratio of 1:5, or a mixture of needles and water at a ratio of 1:1 is introduced into the aisles of plants. There was also a positive experience of using needles in the fight against colorado potato beetle on potatoes.

It should be noted that spraying with a solution of needles of fruit and berry and vegetable crops can be carried out both in the morning and in the evening, avoiding only periods of dew and rain. In order for the solution not to be lost, you can add 30 g to it laundry soap. According to my observations, some gardeners add an ash extract to the needle solution, which, in combination with soap, eliminates the likelihood of soil acidification that occurs when using needles. The addition of chopped coniferous branches and cones to the infused mixture of needles and water by individual gardeners, according to available information, only weakens the insecticidal properties of the solutions.

A certain experience in the use of pine and spruce needles in last years I also acquired when growing tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes. In the first case, we added ash to a mixture of pine and spruce needles, boiled the mixture in water, filtered it, and then treated 10 tomato bushes twice with a solution having a ratio of 1:5. By this we managed to induce them to more intensive growth and eliminate the backlog in development. What is important, the treated bushes bloomed earlier and more amicably than all the others and did not hurt anything, and the harvest on them was greater than on the untreated bushes.

But, perhaps, strawberries and potatoes were the most pleasing, when planting which, in the first case, a mixture of needles with sand, ash and compost was used in equal proportions, and in the second - a mixture of needles, bark, ash and compost in the same ratio, and on In a strawberry bed, the mixture was embedded in the soil of the upper layer, and when planting potatoes, it was applied under the tubers and on them in a volume of about 1 liter per bush. As it turned out, strawberry bushes, being in such soil and having enough nutrition and moisture, did not have pests and diseases, bloomed faster than others and yielded a crop of almost 1.5 times more than before. At the same time, the berries differed not only in their big size, but also had a particularly pleasant taste.

However, the potato was the most surprising, the planting tubers of which were affected by scab. When digging up its first bushes, we were surprised to note that none of the tubers had not only scab, but even any of its very tenacious sclerotia. The harvest of grown tubers turned out to be quite good, although the weather that year was not very pleasing.

Excellent results when using needles are obtained by an experienced gardener L. Rendyakov. In his practice, he covers the onion plantings with coniferous spruce branches, and after removing the spruce branches after 2-3 weeks, the top layer of soil is well mulched with needles, due to which the soil retains friability, nutritional value and moisture for the entire period of onion cultivation, does not have weeds and protects plantings from diseases and pests . As a result of all this, from 1 kg of sevka, the harvest of a full-fledged onion is up to 40 kg, and for about 4 years and regardless of the weather.

Known from the press is the experience of the craftsman gardener V. Shchelkov, who uses needles mixed with sawdust to fumigate potatoes stored in the cellar with smoke. Such processing of the cellar is carried out for about 0.5 hours, and monthly, until the end of the storage period. At the same time, potatoes not only do not rot, but also retain their properties well.

From all of the above, it can be seen that the needles effectively serve not only as a doctor of the garden and vegetable garden, but also as a fertilizer for the soil and plants. This is explained by the fact that the needles contain, first of all, a very rich complex of physiologically active substances; it also has many chemical elements: calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc, etc.

Of course, there are also obvious opponents of the use of needles in areas, pointing to the harmfulness of removing green needles from trees and the possibility of terpenes, ethers, etc. garden and garden are very small, and scientists have not found a noticeable difference between the properties of green and fallen needles. So, it is quite possible to get by with fallen needles.

Anatoly Veselov, gardener