Through trial and error, I’ve found that I have a tendency to overwater my plants, which causes their roots to rot and invites pests to lay their eggs.
Overwatering always leaves me with dying plants and a gnat infestation in my home.
I have already found an easy solution for my low maintenance snakes plants (you can read more about that here) but my Pothos plants and Prayer plants needed a little bit more TLC.
In the same way we introduce nutrients to our gardens by mixing compost or adding fertilizer to our soil- or following the pattern that some farmers might introduce pesticides to ward off pests-[whether that be through directing spraying, or irrigation], wouldn’t it also stand to reason that we might use those similar tactics to introduce nutrients to our house plant?
I have found a way to add naturally add nutrients to my house plants and simultaneously control the fungus gnats. Read on to the end for the misting spray recipe.
Plants absorb the elements that you put into their environment.
This is why NASA did a study to find out which house plants would do the best job at filtering out toxins such as formaldehyde, benzene, and ammonia from our homes.
Much like when crops absorb the pesticides from non-organic farming soil and we inadvertently eat those pesticides — this is why so many people are loving the organic lifestyle movement, to avoid eating those contaminants.
Nobody wants to knowingly snack on or hand their children a bowl full of Round Up. No, thank you!
One of the many reasons why I consistently use and love the products that I do is because the farms that I buy from go above and beyond the organic standards set by the United States.
And because I’ve worked really hard over the past 5 years to detox my home, I’ve also opted to use my essential oils for my plant care -- instead of reintroducing toxins back into our space.
Each oil and oil blend tends to have multiple purposes, which has been super helpful along this holistic lifestyle journey.
I found this method by accident when I noticed my fresh cut flowers would last for weeks longer whenever I added oil blends to the water.
That gave me the confidence to try adding oils to my propagation cuttings to see how they responded. I noted the roots seemed to sprout stronger and at a quicker pace as opposed to when I only used plain tap water.
This misting spray works for me in two different ways.
Number 1 - Because my Prayer plants and Pothos plants seem to thrive in a slightly humid environment, but not wet soil, I use the spray to keep them moist, instead of over saturating their space.
Number 2 - If you spray the gnats directly, the solution kills them on the spot.
If you saw my FaceBook clip, I simply mist my plants all over in addition to misting the top layer of soil. I only do this once every 10 days or so, depending on how the plants are responding.
A bonus way to use this spray is to remove the dust build up from your Pothos leaves.
I use a microfiber cloth along with the spray to gently wipe dust build up from the leaves.
This allows the leaves to absorb more sunlight but it also allows the plants leaves to do a better job at filtering out those toxins we don’t want in our homes—but also, who wants a dusty plant?
As promised, here is the recipe!
RECIPE: PESTICIDE FREE PLANT SPRAY
2 capfuls of Thieves household cleaner
10 drops of Thieves
10 drops of Purification
Add all of the ingredients to a 16oz fine mist bottle and add bottled or some sort of purified water.
(You might have a good tap water source, but we don’t, which is why we opt for bottled water.)
As I said above, I’ve worked really hard at detoxing my home and utilizing my essential oils has made the transition that much easier. My essential oils are farm to table.
There are zero pesticides, zero fillers, & zero yucks - I can confidently use these oils in my home recipes to cook, to clean with, to support my hormones, to support healthy sleep patterns, to help my family stay above the wellness line, and most recently, to keep my space pest free, without a worry of what’s inside the bottles.
So if you have oils in your home, and you’re not quite sure what farm they came from, chances are they didn’t come from a farm at all.
If you’re not sure, contact me. I’d be happy to hear from you.
I’ll do my best to recommend the best resources that have helped me but also happy to answer any questions you may have.
I talk more about this and other holistic lifestyle habits inside a private group that you can find here. You're more than welcome to join and utilize the search bar and unit section for you research.
Happy planting!
See you in the group! :)
Xoxo,
Marissa
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