Cinnamon is a lovely little spice; we use it to flavor baking and cooking. But did you know it can also benefit your houseplants? No, neither did I! It’s super easy to use, cheap, and highly effective.
Let’s learn all about how to use cinnamon on houseplants, to help them grow and thrive and reward you with healthy growth.
What You'll Learn Today
How To Use Cinnamon On Houseplants?
Cinnamon has a good few uses for your house plants, believe it or not! From pest control to helping regraft cuttings, this humble spice has a lot going for it.
- Use it to get rid of pests. If your plants are troubled by creepy crawlies, place 4tbsp cinnamon, 1tsp black pepper, 1tbsp dish soap and 3 cups of water in a spray bottle, shake to mix, then spray liberally on your plant.
- Fix a broken stem. If one of your beloved houseplants gets broken, you can sprinkle the broken stem with cinnamon powder to prevent the plant from getting infected and dying.
- Discourage fungus. Sprinkling cinnamon over your potting soil will deter the gnats that munch on the fungus in your plant pots.
- Make a rooting hormone. When transplanting seedlings or cuttings, dipping the ends of their stems in cinnamon powder will help them grow up as healthy and strong as possible.
- Get rid of mold and mildew. Sprinkling cinnamon on the soil of your houseplants will help to remove any moldy patches on the soil that can damage the plants.
This little video will show you the benefits of using cinnamon on your houseplants, and the different uses it has:
Can I Sprinkle Cinnamon On My Indoor Plants?
Cinnamon is far more than just a spice that can be used in your cooking! It is also incredibly good for your houseplants.
Cinnamon is great at deterring pests like spider mites and whitefly; these creatures do not like this common spice in the slightest.
As well as these banes of gardeners’ lives, cinnamon can also help put off other critters, such as ants, earwigs and spiders.
You can merrily sprinkle cinnamon on the soil of your houseplants, safe in the knowledge that it will not only help deter pests but it will also cause no damage at all to your plants.
Sprinkling cinnamon on the soil of your houseplants will not only help keep pests away but it can also help your plants defend themselves.
Cinnamon is a natural antibacterial and antifungal, meaning that it will be good for the health of your plants overall, as well as helping them get rid of pests.
Using this spice on your plants can actually help to encourage healthy growth too, as it will get rid of bacteria and fungal infections.
It’s also really good for encouraging good, strong root growth, especially when applied to young seedlings and plants that need repotting.
Is Cinnamon Good For Your Plants?
The short answer to this question is a loud resounding YES. Cinnamon is a great thing for your plants, for many reasons:
It keeps bugs away
Most insects and creepy crawlies really hate cinnamon, so spreading it all around your plants will help deal with an infestation.
It is a natural fungicide
Cinnamon is great at keeping plants healthy, as it will deal with any potential mold and bacteria.
It stimulates growth
Applying cinnamon to the stems of cuttings will help them immensely, and you will find that they root faster and grow better.
It’s versatile
You can either simply sprinkle it directly onto the soil or make it into a tincture and spray the liquid on your plants.
It is all natural
For those of us who don’t like using chemicals on our plants, cinnamon is perfect – there is nothing that will harm your plants at all!
You can happily use cinnamon on every single one of your plants, in whatever way you want, and be safe in the knowledge that it will do them nothing but good!
Sprinkling it on the soil or spraying it onto the plants – either way will give your green babies a bit of a boost.
This article will talk you through some of the benefits of using cinnamon on your plants.
Does Cinnamon Keep Bugs Away?
Cinnamon is an excellent bug deterrent for plants, but it is also great at putting off other pests.
It will get rid of fruit flies, those irritating little buzzers that drone around your house, attracted by food.
Fungus gnats will also be put off by a sprinkling of cinnamon on your plant’s soil – they like to eat the mold that can grow in soil, but they won’t get past a cinnamon barrier!
If you have a problem with earwigs, you can just spread some cinnamon around and your plants will be safe.
Some people find that ants like to make homes in their houseplants; simply add some cinnamon to the soil and watch this problem disappear.
If you hate the sight of spiders making webs in your precious houseplants, a bit of cinnamon around the place will put them right off.
You can even use cinnamon to deter those slimy critters that gardeners loathe – slugs and snails dislike the smell, and the powder will cling to their bodies and put them off.
Because cinnamon is a natural product, you can safely use it on all of your plants and know that it will help them.
There is also the added bonus that it is totally safe for other insects, including pollinators, so you don’t have to worry about killing the wrong bugs!
Final Thoughts
Now that you know all about how to use cinnamon on houseplants, you know that you don’t only have to use it in your cooking. From bug repellent to helping encourage growth, it has many uses.
Spread it around your houseplants to benefit their health and help them grow and thrive. Enjoy the spicy smell – but remember not to eat the plants! And if you’re looking for more tips, here’s my guide on neem oil and houseplants.
I recently found a lot of out of date cinnamon powder. Will it still work on my plants?
Definitely! It might not have quite as strong a flavor as a younger batch of cinnamon, but it will still work on keeping your plants healthy and keeping the bugs away.
cant hurt i would guess