Is Honey Water Good For Plants? – The Garden Wonder Cure!

I LOVE honey, but I only recently discovered how amazing it can be in my garden as well as my tummy, with the use of honey water!

Is honey water really good for plants?

Honey is a sweet and thick liquid made by honeybees – it’s organic and incredibly nutritious. Because it’s packed with nutrients, one of the main ways gardeners use honey water is to revive dying plants. The densely-packed nutrients work fast to revitalize the plant. Honey water attracts pollinating insects which helps your plants to flower faster, helps your plants to develop stronger roots, and is anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. 

Additionally, honey is known to be full of essential elements such as iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, magnesium, and calcium. It is anti-oxidant, and as such, promotes wound healing in plants and humans alike.

Plants that are currently fruiting and flowering especially benefit from honey water. Plants that are regularly fed with honey water as a fertilizer frequently go on to produce tastier and sweeter fruit.

However, not all honey water is the same – you’ll want to ensure you make honey water in the correct way if you want to gain all of the benefits.

Can Honey Water Be Bad For Plants?

You should know that honey isn’t a 100%, foolproof cure-all for plants. If you have an ant infestation, or regular ant issues in your garden, you might want to skip using honey water as a fertilizer. Ants are incredibly attracted to the smell and taste of honey, and might just be swarming the place before you know it!

What Type Of Honey Should I Use For Honey Water For My Plants?

When using honey for gardening purposes, always make sure it is organically sourced and not just your run-of-the-mill jarred honey from the supermarket.

The reason for this is simple – some brands will often mix in corn syrup and various chemicals to keep honey fresh-looking with as long as possible of a shelf-life. However, corn syrup and unknown chemicals can definitely do more harm than good for your plants.

Consider visiting your local beekeeper and getting that locally-sourced honey. It’s a win-win, supporting the local organic producers during these uncertain times, and walking away with honey that is 100% natural.

How To Apply Honey To Plants To Make Them Grow

A golden tip is to apply honey sparingly during application.

Never apply pure honey directly onto the ground, foliage, or anywhere around the plant. Or you will get an infestation of ants and bugs!

Honey absolutely MUST be diluted as honey water, otherwise it will attract insects in droves.

The only instance in which you can directly apply honey to a plant is during propagation, when you are using it as a rooting agent. In such a case, it is possible to directly apply a small blob of honey onto the wounded end of the stem, either pure or combined with cinnamon into a paste.

However, if you have tried your hand at everything and nothing seems to be helping, I advise you to try out honey as a natural remedy. You may be pleasantly surprised!

How To Make Honey Water For Your Garden

Things you will need

• 1 litre of fresh water
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• watering can
• spray bottle

Procedure

1. If you are applying your honey water to a potted plant, place your potted plant into a basin, sink, or a bucket. This is simply to make sure that the drainage does not go anywhere else, but precisely where you want it to go. In case the plants you want to water are in the ground, instead of in a pot, this does not apply, and drainage is not needed.
2. In a bigger cup, combine 1 litre of tap water together with 1 tablespoon of organic honey of your choice. Stir well and thoroughly until honey and water blend.
3. If you are watering your plant with honey water, the procedure is the same as with ordinary watering. Load your mixture into a watering can and water until the soil becomes well-saturated. As you begin watering, bubbles will slowly start appearing. Stop pouring the honey water in when you notice that the bubbles have stopped forming. Don’t be alarmed – the formation of bubbles happens because there are air pockets in the dry soil. This is entirely normal and a sign of a healthy soil.
4. If you are using honey water as a remedy for an ailing or dying plant, the mixture needs to be applied directly. Load your mix into a spray bottle and copiously spray directly onto the plant’s affected foliage. Make sure to spray the plants once or twice a day with the honey water mixture, ideally between regular waterings. Keep watering the plant with the mixture every other day, until you notice visible signs of health improvement in the foliage and overall plant appearance.

 

Honey Water Keeps Pests Away

Do you want to use honey water to feed and nourish your plants, but you have a slug or ant problem? It’s ironic that honey can also help you in staving off unwanted creatures from your garden.

Fruit flies, ants and slugs are all common pests gardeners find in many gardens across the world. They devastate organic farmers’ efforts in keeping pesticide-free gardens.

However, luckily for all green thumbs, small critters are entirely enchanted with the smell and sweet taste of honey. This can work in our favor, allowing us to create simple honey traps to either deter or redirect pests away from destroying growing, flowering, fruiting plants.

At the same time, honey allows us not to use inorganic pesticides, making the traps safe to leave around the garden without worrying about what is going to end up on your plate.

Once you have dealt with whatever pest infestation is plaguing your garden, you are safe to make a fresh batch of honey water as per the recipe above. Use it to enrich the soil with nutrients and keep the plant healthy, happy, and well-fed.

Get Rid Of Fruit Flies

Things you will need

• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 0.5 liters of apple cider vinegar
• rotting fruit (apple, banana, strawberries)
• plastic wrap
• mason jar
• toothpick

Combine 1 tablespoon of honey with 0.5 liters of apple cider vinegar. Stir until well combined and transfer to a mason jar. Add a piece of rotting fruit (an apple, a banana or some strawberries work the best). Cover the opening of the mason jar tightly with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it with a toothpick. Keep the mason jar in a place where you see fruit flies flying around.

This trap will get rid of any infestations fast.

Honey Water For Slug Prevention

Things you will need

• mason jar
• 4 grams of yeast
• 1 tablespoon pure honey
• 1 liter of fresh water

Place water into a pot and bring to a boil. Combine 1 tablespoon honey with 4 grams of yeast in boiling water and cook stirring for 3 minutes. Allow the mixture to naturally cool down and transfer to a mason jar. Make sure the pot you have chosen is the kind that you can bury into the ground. Make sure you can position it in such a way that its opening aligns with the surface of the land. At the same time, be careful that your chosen jar is tall enough. Once it traps the slugs in, you don’t want them leaving! Be vigilant in emptying the honey trap and replacing it with more mixture as necessary.

How To Use Honey To Rid Your Garden Of Ants

Things you will need

• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon of borax

Combine all ingredients together and place them at a position in your garden where you noticed an ant infestation.

Ready to use honey in your garden this weekend? Save some from your breakfast 😉

You can also click here to find out more on how to combat pests on your plants!