Yes you read right. Your plants can benefit from the power of essential oils! Many essential oils an keep pests away, prevent or stop fungal infections from taking place or even help your plants to grow better. Essential oils are perfect for your indoor plants. For many of us, winter means more time indoors and hardly anything to do in our outdoor gardens. While the rest is nice and many times greatly needed, the gardener in us all becomes itchy. We need to grow! Hence the abundance of indoor plants being sold in places such as your local supermarket or home center.
The problem with some of these plants is they may harbor pests that can be transmitted to other plants you have in your collection. Not a pretty sight! You don't want all of your hard work to end up in the trash and with some plants being suitable for use as family heirlooms (i.e. jade plants, hoya's, bonsai trees, etc.) it is important to prevent such problems. Such pests can also compromise your health. Lucky Bamboo being imported from China was found to be hosting a type of misquote which itself can harbor infectious diseases. In addition to slightly isolating and quarantining a plant for a while, water the plant with garlic water. Pests hate the smell of garlic and the pungent botanical can also stave away funguses and bacteria as well. Another very popular botanical, which is made into an essential oil, is neem. From India, neem has shown dramatic results when greenhouses started using it to repel damaging pests. For home use, a little can go a long way. Even better, it kills and drives away pests in the soil of the plant, without harming roots. Neem soaps are also made which can be used, with water, to wash leaves of shinny plants and keep pests away.
Yet another essential oil to try, when fungal problems occur, is cinnamon. People frequently use cinnamon powder to drive away certain pests such as gnats and to stop the spread of fungus. The essential oil form is much more concentrated and can adhere better to the leaves of the plant. Always dilute the essential oil before use. Also be careful exposing the plant to full sun after such a treatment. The oil can easily burn leaves.
To clean leaves and make them a bit shinier, try using a very small amount of orange or lemon essential oil. This will act as a natural solvent to remove house grime from plants which can clog pours in the leaf and cause the plant to decline in health. It can also bring
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