Boric acid is a crystalline white powder of natural origin, but can be synthesized in chemical plants from borax, a natural mineral. This substance is a source of boron, a trace element that plays an important role in the metabolic processes of a living organism.
Everyone knows this chemical as an antiseptic and insecticide. But not everyone knows that this substance serves as a fungicide and fertilizer, and is widely used in the garden.Why, when and how to use it, let's look at the example of pepper, a popular vegetable on every table.
Benefits of boric acid
Experienced gardeners use boric acid for peppers, spraying which gives good results.
Boron is one of the basic microelements. The plant needs it throughout the growing season.
The use of boric acid provides the following benefits for peppers:
- Seeds treated with a solution of boric acid produce quick, friendly shoots.
- Plant growth is stimulated and accelerated.
- The synthesis of oxygen, nitrogen and other minerals improves.
- Productivity increases.
- Peppers are not affected by fungal diseases due to the antiseptic properties of the chemical.
- Flowering and ovary formation are activated.
- Weak seedlings of peppers that do not grow in a natural environment (in an apartment, for example) receive good feeding.
- The quality of the harvest improves: the fruits become juicier and tastier.
- The harvest is stored longer.
- The use of the drug for seed treatment subsequently protects the plant from fungal diseases.
The product is useful for the ovary: it is better preserved, and the amount of barren flowers is reduced. If late blight infects a plant when the fruits have formed, after spraying with a chemical solution they can be eaten without harm to human health. We can safely say that the use of boric acid for peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and zucchini is an “ambulance” in saving the crop.
Lack and excess of boron in plants
The fact that peppers lack boron is recognized by the following signs:
- the leaves have become small and deformed;
- new shoots have stopped growing, and the top ones are dying;
- flowers or ovaries fall off, new ones are not formed;
- Fruits do not develop properly.
An excess of boron is judged by the condition of the leaves: they turn yellow and fall off, they bend into a dome, their tips curl inward.
How to prepare the solution correctly
Boric acid is used as a powder and in diluted form. When preparing the solution, make sure that the crystals dissolve completely. To do this, the required amount of powder must first be diluted in a small amount of hot water (not boiling water!), and then, while stirring, add cold water to the required level. Plants can only be treated with a cold solution.
Novice gardeners are interested in whether it is possible to combine acid with other drugs and substances. Yes. It will be effective to use a solution based on boric acid and potassium permanganate: add a pinch of powder to a bucket of a weak solution of potassium permanganate (the color of the water is pinkish). The addition of glucose (10 ml per 10 liters of solution) is beneficial for plants. Tar or 72% laundry soap is added for better adhesion of the solution to the leaves and for processing equipment. To prevent powdery mildew, soda is added.
Boric acid as a fertilizer
Boron does not exist in nature in its pure form - only as boric acid and its soluble salts. Natural boron compounds are present to a greater extent on chernozems and chestnut soils. But they are almost absent on those lands where the main part is sand or clay, or liming was carried out. Therefore, additional fertilizer is necessary. There are even special boron-containing preparations: Organo-Boron, Microel, Microvit, Rexolin ABC.
Fertilize with boric acid in two ways.
Root fertilizer
It is carried out if there are clear signs of boron deficiency. To do this, take 2 g of the drug per 10 liters of water.With this solution you need to water the plants from a watering can at the root (the fertilizer is enough for 10 m2 beds), then the soil is loosened. The value of feeding will increase if the solution is mixed with mullein or urea, especially if the plant’s leaves and ovaries fall off.
To prevent root feeding from causing burns to the lower leaves, first water the plant and soil with clean water.
Foliar feeding
It is carried out throughout the growing season. The first treatment is before flowering, by buds. The second spraying is carried out during budding (by flowers), the third - when the plant bears fruit. For spraying, a 0.05% solution is used (5 g of powder per 10 liters of water, the concentration is higher than for root feeding). In this case, you need to ensure that the solution is distributed evenly over the leaves. It is better to use a sprayer that dissipates in the form of a mist so that water droplets do not roll off the leaf.
Irrigation is best done in calm, dry weather, early in the morning or in the evening. It is important that the solution is freshly prepared. Fertilizer consumption – 1 l per 10 m2.
Soaking the seeds
To soak the seed, a solution is used, which is prepared at the rate of 0.2 g of powder per 1 liter of water.
You can get an effective remedy if you dilute boric acid not in water, but in an onion-manganese-ash solution. The mixture is prepared as follows:
- Pour 2 handfuls of onion peels into 1 liter of boiling water. Let it brew.
- Stir a liter jar of ash into 1 liter of water.
- Mix both solutions (you will get 2 liters).
- Add potassium permanganate (2 g).
- Dissolve 0.2-0.4 g of boric acid in the resulting mixture, add a full (heaped) teaspoon of soda.
This seed treatment will clear them of pests.
Applying fertilizers to the soil
Before planting seedlings or sowing seeds, you can fertilize the soil directly. The soil is sprayed with a 0.02% solution (2 g of the drug per 10 liters of water), then loosened. You can sprinkle the powder on the manure before adding it to the soil.
Disease Control
Being an antiseptic, the chemical destroys pathogenic microorganisms. Spraying peppers with boric acid prevents dangerous fungal diseases: verticillium, phytoplasmosis (pepper columnar), late blight, black leg. These diseases are difficult to cure.
To spray diseased plants, prepare a solution in which the second component is potassium permanganate. There is an effective way to combat late blight, a disease that affects not only plants, but also fruits, causing brown spots to appear on them. The secret of the method is as follows:
- First, the peppers need to be sprayed with a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- then treat with a 0.05% solution of boric acid (1 teaspoon per bucket of water);
- repeat the treatment after a week;
- fix the result with iodine solution.
Phytoplasmosis is difficult to prevent because its causative agents are insects. Therefore, after working in the garden, treat the equipment in the same solution as for spraying peppers.
Pest Control
In addition to the lack of minerals, as well as the presence of fungal diseases, insect pests have a detrimental effect on the yield: ants, aphids, spider mites, slugs. The use of boric acid powder is very effective against them.
The following bait is prepared for ants: 5 g of boric acid powder is dissolved in half a glass of hot water, 2 tbsp is added there. l. sugar and 1 tsp. honey (jam). The mixture is thoroughly kneaded and placed in containers with low sides between the plants where pests are found.
It is useful to add 1 tbsp to a bucket of water in a solution for spraying leaves against insect pests. l. liquid soap and 1 cup wood ash.
Treating peppers with boric acid, like other crops, is harmless to humans and warm-blooded animals. But you still need to take precautions: during prolonged pollination, use personal protective equipment for the skin and respiratory system. The use of boric acid is accessible and simple; you just need to carefully monitor the peppers and treat the plants in a timely manner. Then a rich harvest of healthy vegetables will be ensured.
