The Many Uses for Cinnamon in Gardening
Cinnamon is a spice native to Sri Lanka and its health, beauty, and gardening properties are backed by science.
Its uses in food and desserts are well known because many love its flavor and aroma. Cinnamon also has a great impact when it comes to diseases like cholesterol and diabetes.
However, today we’re going talk about cinnamon in gardening. The versatility of this spice, extracted from the tree of the same name, can be an excellent ally when it comes to making plants more beautiful.
Uses of Cinnamon in Gardening
Ground cinnamon can be used to treat various gardening problems. You can achieve surprising results when pouring it on your plants.
As cinnamon is a natural fungicide, you can eliminate fungi, insects, protect seedlings and help heal small wounds by applying it to your plants. These properties are evident in a study published in the journal Microbial Pathogenesis, it established it can help eliminate all kinds of microorganisms. In addition, it’s natural, healthy and economical, which makes it perfect to use in the garden.
We recommend you read How to Grow Cinnamon at Home
1. Cinnamon protects plants from insects
Cinnamon is excellent for humans, but not for insects. So, don’t despair if ants or mosquitoes are pestering the seedlings you have just planted. You can get rid of them by using just a little bit of this spice.
To keep these pests under control you only have to spread some of this spice around the plant or wherever you want to eliminate these unwanted insects.
2. This spice eliminates fungi
Fungi are other enemies of good plant health. A study in the journal Molecules demonstrated the antifungal effects of various cinnamon products against the most serious plant fungi.
When you see traces of mold and fungus in your plants, just add a little ground cinnamon to them in order to prevent the fungi or mold from growing and reproducing. If the problem is very aggressive, you must remove the fungi from the plant. However, if the fungi are in the soil, you can just change the soil and the pot the plant is in.
However, if the fungi are in the plant, put a little bit of ground cinnamon on it to stop the appearance of this problem. Similarly, if the fungi appear in the soil, just add a little cinnamon on it and you’ll see that this is enough to restore the health of your plants.
3. Getting rid of diseases
When we grow fruits or vegetables, the last thing we want to see are diseases in the seedlings, which can prevent healthy and beautiful vegetables and fruits from sprouting.
Seeds or seedlings can also be attacked by fungal wilting diseases, which may be caused by different types of fungi or by poor soil conditions.
To prevent the dire consequences of this disease, add ground cinnamon to the manure or soil where your plants are.
4. Cinnamon for plant cuttings
If you’re planting cuttings, don’t use chemicals to stimulate the rooting hormones. You can simply put ground cinnamon on the stem of the cuttings you want to root when you plant them and that’s it.
This spice is the perfect solution, and you’ll also save money by not having to buy expensive products to help you plant your cuttings.
If you’re reproducing your plants for cuttings and have different types of gardening problems that are stopping you from getting good results, there’s a way to stop this. Below, we’re also going to give you a powerful fungicide recipe that has cinnamon as its main ingredient.
Ingredients
- Half a quart of water
- 2 ground aspirin
- A tbsp. of cinnamon powder (10 g)
Preparation
- Place all ingredients in a bowl
- Leave them to stand for 12 hours
- After 12 hours have passed, strain the mixture and place the water in another container
- Soak the cuttings in the resulting liquid for two hours
- Plant the cuttings as usual
Aspirin will act as a rooting accelerator and cinnamon as a fungicide. If you have any leftover liquid then discard it, you can’t save it for later after you use it.
We recommend you read How to Grow Rosemary, Parsley, and Mint at Home
5. Cinnamon in gardening for healing plant wounds
If you’ve done excessive pruning, or if when removing weeds you have neglected and injured your plants, you can help them heal by placing ground cinnamon on the wound. This will prevent illness or further damage to the plant and will accelerate the plant’s healing process.
All these tricks are fantastic to use in the garden. Also, cinnamon is a natural choice and smells great.
Don’t hesitate to use it on your plants, because you’ll notice how they grow much healthier and stronger. Be sure to keep some ground cinnamon in your pantry, it’ll solve many of your gardening problems.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Kowalska J, Tyburski J, Matysiak K, Jakubowska M, Łukaszyk J, Krzymińska J. Cinnamon as a Useful Preventive Substance for the Care of Human and Plant Health. Molecules. 2021 Aug 31;26(17):5299.
- Park IK, Lee HS, Lee SG, Park JD, Ahn YJ. Insecticidal and fumigant activities of Cinnamomum cassia bark-derived materials against Mechoris ursulus (Coleoptera: attelabidae). J Agric Food Chem. 2000 Jun;48(6):2528-31.
- Park, B., Lee, M. J., Lee, S. K., Lee, S. B., Jeong, I. H., Park, S. K., … & Lee, H. S. (2017). Insecticidal activity of coriander and cinnamon oils prepared by various methods against three species of agricultural pests (Myzus persicae, Teyranychus urticae and Plutella xylostella). Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry. 2017; 60(2), 137-140.
- Vasconcelos NG, Croda J, Simionatto S. Antibacterial mechanisms of cinnamon and its constituents: A review. Microb Pathog. 2018 Jul;120:198-203.