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Help Your Garden Thrive By Burying These Items In Your Soil
By ALICIA BODINE
Tin Cans
Cut out the top and bottom of old tin cans, then slide them over young plants and saplings to create a natural barrier against cutworms that feed on plants during night.
Push the cans deep into the soil, as cutworms bury themselves in the ground after feeding, especially during the day. Leave just 1 inch of tin can above the surface of the soil.
Underwear
Your 100% cotton underwear contains carbon, so it can be used as food for the microbes present in the soil. If they eat it, it is a sign of a healthy soil.
Burying underwear in the soil helps you test the soil's health. Simply bury it at a depth of 6 inches, check in two months if it's been eaten or not, and take action accordingly.
Pennies
Copper is a nutrient that plants need for everything from producing seeds to making chlorophyll. Pennies can be a good source of this nutrient as they're forged from copper.
Copper also has antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Simply bury three pennies about an inch deep around the garden plants, or bury three to four pennies in potting soil.
Matches
Another important nutrient for healthy plant growth is magnesium, which is released by matches as they decompose into the garden. Burying them can help plants thrive.
Bury some striker matches with the striking end going down into the soil. You can leave the tail end above the ground but don't place the matches up against the plant.
Bird Feathers
Bird feathers are a great source of phosphorus, which is vital to plant cells. It's required for cell division, storing energy, and completing photosynthesis.
Gather fallen bird feathers from your chicken coop or pluck the feathers from a deceased bird, then bury them throughout the garden with hand or till them into the ground.