Garlic and Rice Water

[estación seca]

The rice water will contain only water and carbohydrate. It doesn't contain nitrogen, nor numerous other nutrients plants need. You still need to use a nitrogen fertilizer.

[NatalieS]

My about the possible benefits of garlic water:

1. Garlic is, quote: "...an excellent natural source of bioactive sulfur-containing compounds..." (source Bioactive Compounds and Biological Functions of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) - PMC)
2. Sulfur is, quote: "...one of the essential nutrients that is required for the adequate growth and development of plants..." (source Sulfur nutrition and its role in plant growth and development - PMC)

I thought the following sentence in the abstract of the latter article was quite interesting: "In addition, plants also use the sulfur transporter of a symbiotically associated organism like bacteria and fungi to uptake sulfur from the soil especially under sulfur depleted conditions."

Perhaps in the case of orchids grown in the home or greenhouse, the garlic water makes up a bit for the lack of their natural symbiotic relationships in nature. But yes, to emphasise what other posts have mentioned, it may help improve the overal functioning of the plant, but it's not a substitute for other minerals the plant needs.

[Ray]

A plant may, or may not alter its growth upon the addition of a nutritional mineral supplement, because of the “minimal supply” concept.

Basically, a plant needs “certain amounts” of all the nutrient ions to grow well, with the rate being controlled by whatever one is in the shortest supply. That’s one reason diagnosing a deficiency is so difficult, especially in slow-growing plants like orchids. A deficiency leads to even slower growth, rather than there being a noticeable “symptom”.

So if all others are adequate, but sulfur is not, adding it may help. If it’s not in short supply, nothing at all may happen.

I spoke to Jerry extensively about his alcohol fertilizer, and he even gave me permission to utilize his patent, if I wanted to produce it or a variant. His assessment of the efficacy was in line with that minimal supply concept, but this time it was carbon, not a nutrient ion, as the controlling factor.

Light “pushes” the reactions involved with photosynthesis and the plant cranks out carbohydrates as fas as it can. In brighter and brighter conditions, the plant will ultimately “hit a wall” where it isn’t able to incorporate enough carbon from the air to accelerate those reactions. That carbon can be supplemented to some degree, by simple alcohols, thereby removing that limitation.

That’s why adding it to the feeding regimen of lower-light plants has no effect - photosynthesis proceeds at its designed rate with no carbon limitation.

[SADE2020]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I add 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of the cheapest vodka I can find to my fertilizer water, seems to lead to better growth though I have not done a controlled study, does no harm. I figure the orchids like their little aperitif

Ummmh I like that too!!!! 👌
Let's get it on.....

[isurus79]

I really don't understand why so many food items are being used on plants. It seems like 99% of them are totally debunked in a month or two and then next item in someone's pantry becomes the fertilizer du jour. Seriously folks, just stick with the fertilizer that we know works. This food as fertilizer craze is strange and I look forward to it passing, like so many other crazes.

---------- Post added at 11:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 AM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Plants are able to take up mono and disaccharides like table sugar and glucose through their roots to use as food.

I'm not entirely sure this is true. Or if it is true, roots are very bad at absorbing sugars. Sugar molecules are large and likely need to be broken down by microorganisms before the constituents are easily absorbed by roots.

[estación seca]

Plants do take up sugars through their roots.

Uptake of glucose from the rhizosphere, mediated by apple MdHT1.2, regulates carbohydrate allocation - PubMed

[Ray]

From the web: Plants uptake sugar through a tightly regulated process that involves the breakdown of sucrose and the transport of monosaccharides into sink cells.

[NatalieS]

Originally Posted by isurus79

I really don't understand why so many food items are being used on plants. It seems like 99% of them are totally debunked in a month or two and then next item in someone's pantry becomes the fertilizer du jour. Seriously folks, just stick with the fertilizer that we know works. This food as fertilizer craze is strange and I look forward to it passing, like so many other crazes.

I imagine it's the same thing that draws people to herbal remedies for their own ailments. "Natural" is appealing. A herbal remedy may not be the cure-all it may claim to be, but herbal medicines as a whole are not 'bunk'. Some herbal medicines, like St John's Wort for example, are not even legal in some countries to buy over the counter (e.g. Ireland) due to the very strong affects they have on the body, and the interactions they have with other medications. I mean, some important drugs are derived from plants, or have been until they could be synthesised synthetically.


I imagine the desire for sustainability and reducing waste might also appeal here. I don't know very much about the commercial production of fertilisers, but I imagine some of them result in undesirable waste products among other things? Wanting to look for ways to use something you would ordinarily throw down a sink or in a bin isn't a bad mindset to have, so long as you understand what you are doing.

I mean, it was 30 years ago when I was still living in SA where we would modify our outlet pipes to drain water from our baths, showers, and sinks into our flowerbeds instead of using the hosepipe or sprinklers all the time - the plants never suffered for it, and it probably kept some of the bug populations down. So long as it's not harmful to the plant, and the person understands what it's providing, I personally don't think it's so strange, or any particular issue.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by NatalieS

Wanting to look for ways to use something you would ordinarily throw down a sink or in a bin isn't a bad mindset to have, so long as you understand what you are doing.

See, that's the key. Most people don't know what they are doing with regards to these things (and natural "remedies" as well) and blindly follow what they see on social media. It's why using "banana water" as fertilizer was a craze for minute, though luckily that seems to be fading away. Honestly, this falls into the same category IMO.

[SADE2020]

In all of this, no one has considered how bad it smells. I did an experiment because I like to try everything out of curiosity or restlessness, whatever the reason. I took a clove of garlic and let it sit in 250 milliliters of water for 11 hours. Then, using that same water, I watered a plant that was a bit weak and another one that was in good condition. The smell it gives off is unbearable. I had to wash the plants entirely, and even then, it was impossible to tolerate. Honestly, I’d rather use a chemical products.

With Halloween coming up, that smell might actually be useful to scare away vampires, but honestly, I’d rather be bitten.