What do you give plants to drink besides water and plant food? This question was asked on Facebook and I was surprised at the number of household kitchen products that are given to plants. What did not surprise me was that not a single person provided any evidence that any of them actually worked.
I hate that phrase. Plants do not show love – they don’t even say thank you. If you give something to a healthy plant you have no way of knowing if it is harming the plant or doing some good, unless you see huge changes in the plant, and even then the changes could be due to any number of other causes.
Gatorade has electrolytes. That’s what plants crave. Plants vary in their tolerance to salinity. The more tolerant varieties may be able to withstand being watered with Gatorade, but you’re better off using plain water.
Banana Water for Plants
This seems to be the new hot DIY plant food this year. People take banana peels, put them in water and let them sit in the sun for a few days to make a yellow colored banana water. The claim is that it contains all kinds of nutrients, especially potassium – which plants need.
I have reviewed this in The Magical Power of Banana Peels in The Garden – Or Not. There are almost no nutrients in banana water, so it is of little value to plants.
It is just this years gimmicky thing to do.
What is in beer? Other than water, alcohol is the main ingredient, and this can feed microbes but has no value to plants. Next highest ingredients are carbohydrates; again no direct value to plants. There are 1-2 g of protein per serving, so beer adds a bit of nitrogen, but we are talking small amounts. It also adds small amounts of calcium and magnesium, which are rarely deficient in soil but may benefit a soilless mix.
As you can see, beer has very little to offer plants. It’s better to drink the beer, collect your urine and use that to fertilize plants.
Would you give these carcinogens to your plants: acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, benzene, benzofuran, benzo(a)pyrene, caffeic acid, catechol, 1,2,5,6-dibenzanthracene, ethanol, ethylbenzene, formaldehyde, furan, furfural, hydrogen peroxide, hydroquinone, isoprene, limonene, 4-methylcatechol, styrene, toluene, xylene? I am sure you are shaking your head, NO! Well, that is exactly what you are doing when you give coffee to your plants. And you ingest these when you drink the coffee.
Don’t worry, their levels are so low that they won’t harm you or the plants.
Black coffee without sugar has nothing in it that is of value to plants. If you add some milk or sugar, then that might help plants a tiny bit. Milk is discussed in its own section below and sugar is discussed in the soda pop section.
There is one other thing to consider; the caffeine in coffee is toxic to plants in larger doses. The amount in a cup of coffee is quite small, but caffeine is not good for plants.
Compost Tea for Plants
I have discussed this extensively. There is no evidence that this is any better than using compost.
I Fed My Plants Gatorade For Science?
FAQ
Can plants survive with Gatorade?
Is electrolyte water good for plants?
What is the best liquid to water plants with?
What is the best thing to water indoor plants with?