A Potpourri of Old-Fashioned Gardening Tricks

There are many old-fashioned tricks you can use in your garden (or on your crops) to grow better fruits and vegetables, or to solve common problems. The fourteen tips below may not be very well-known, but I can assure you they will be extremely effective for keeping your plants and trees bountiful and beautiful.

1. Water from boiled potatoes and potato stems can be sprinkled onto garden plants to destroy cut worms, Hessian flies, caterpillars, gnats and other insects, while keeping the normal growth of the plants undisturbed. The smell lasts a long time and the potato water will also kill the eggs of various insects.

2. Speed up the growth of your pumpkins, melons, and squash by inserting water directly into the fruit with a lamp wick. Simply put one end of the wick into a jar of water that is placed on the ground, then feed the other end into a hole in the fruit stalk of the melon or pumpkin and watch its growth skyrocket!

3. You can test seeds for maturity by dropping them into a container of water. The mature seeds will sink to the bottom while the unripe seeds will float to the top.

4. To help keep crows away from your garden (or even larger spaces such as corn fields), mix together equal parts used motor oil and turpentine, then dip a rag into the mixture and tie it to a pole that stands at least six feet high. Four suspended rags will protect an entire acre of corn!

5. A border of crushed eggshells placed around plants will prevent snails and slugs from eating them, since the snails do not like to slither across rough surfaces.

6. A good tip for growing onions is to plant your bulbs early. After cultivating the soil, plant the bulbs two inches apart with the roots facing downward. Set them in a row and cover them with soil, making sure they aren't planted too deeply. Onions are a sure crop that will grow in any type of soil with very little care involved!

7. If you have a cabbage patch that is infested with caterpillars, pluck them off and put them in a blender with some water. After grinding them into liquid form, spray the dead caterpillars over the cabbages to prevent more caterpillars from laying their eggs. Wash the cabbages thoroughly before eating them!

8. To get rid of ants, put several drops of turpentine on the ant hill. If you can't find the actual hill, drop some turpentine onto their trail so the ants will carry it back to their home.

9. You can plant onions and peppers as companions to other plants to help protect them from harmful insects.

10. Apples contain more sugar if they get more sunshine during the growing season. Peaches that get a lot of sunshine (such as those that survive a drought) will also have a sweeter flavor.

11. Increase the growth of your fruit trees by washing them. Moss and dirt attached to the tree bark will absorb nourishing elements brought by rain and dew and also act as a screen, depriving the tree of valuable sun and refreshing air.

12. You can increase your apple harvest by using crushed-up corn cobs as mulch.

13. To help preserve fruit trees and keep them blossoming for a long time, pour hot soapy water on the tree trunk and scrape away any moss or rough bark. Later, remove some of the soil from around the tree and replace it with good mulch.

14. To clean house plants, spray or wipe off the glossy leaved plants with a soft sponge that has been dipped in warm water. If you see any aphids, wash the plants with soap suds and rinse them carefully. Cottony patches indicate the presence of mealy bugs. To get rid of them, brush the patches with alcohol. If any of your plant leaves appear grayish or brown, you can dust them with sulfur to give them a boost.