If you’re a gardener, then you probably enjoy spending time outdoors, especially if you’re looking for a stress reliever after a long day. Even better, gardening may help you lower your blood pressure and improve your bone health. You can then use your harvest to create an abundance of homemade meals using the freshest ingredients, benefitting from the satisfaction of having grown everything yourself. However, cultivating a thriving garden isn’t always simple, as your plants require plenty of nurturing for them to grow to their full potential. As you look for ways to tend to your garden, you might be surprised to learn that clean aluminum foil is the one crucial step you’ve been missing.
It doesn’t matter what kind of aluminum foil you use — anything that’s clean will help keep your garden healthy. What matters is that you include this simple trick when planting your vegetable garden, giving it a much-needed boost. So before you throw away the leftover aluminum foil from last night’s pizza, consider putting it aside for your next gardening hack.
Wash your aluminum foil
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The key to garden hacks like this is to use clean aluminum foil. All you need to do is give it a thorough washing with some dish soap and water. If you use dirty aluminum foil, you run the risk of attracting various pests to your garden. They’ll smell whatever food is left on your aluminum foil and come searching for scraps. It’s also important to wash aluminum foil because leftover food can lead to mold. Just because aluminum isn’t porous doesn’t mean mold can’t develop and grow, so be sure not to skip this important step of washing your aluminum foil before using it in your garden.
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Once you have clean aluminum foil, you can use it in countless ways to grow a beautiful, healthy garden. For starters, you can mix a clean piece of aluminum foil with mulch. Not only does it work to keep away certain pests such as earthworms and cockroaches, both of which hate light, but it can give your vegetable garden some much-needed sunlight.
Wrap seedlings with clean aluminum foil
Your clean aluminum foil serves multiple purposes in your garden, even in the winter. If you’re looking to get a jump on your vegetable garden, then you might be the type of gardener who benefits from seedling starter kits. This way you can begin growing your garden indoors during the winter months. Even better, you can use your clean aluminum foil to start seeds indoors.
Use an old toilet paper tube and wrap it with a piece of clean aluminum foil. This means that, as you water your seedlings, the cardboard won’t disintegrate thanks to its protective aluminum exterior. You’ll have perfect pots for tiny new plants without having to purchase new ones. As the weather warms up and you move your seedlings outdoors, you can reuse the aluminum foil the following winter, or move the scraps to your mulch. Just remember to wash it first!
