How Yogurt Helps The Gardener Produce Lush Foliage

Yogurt has long been used as a fertilizing agent to grow lush green moss. Just mix 1 cup yogurt (even if it has curdled to the point of becoming chunky yogurt) and 1 cup water in the blender for 30 seconds and you have a liquid fertilizer that will quickly green up the foliage of your existing moss.

Making Magic Moss Paint

Use the same mixture with the addition of 1 cup or handful of desired moss in the blender and you have magic moss paint to apply to rocks, bricks, clay pots, and statuaries. Keep them in the shade and mist every couple of days to keep the moss growing.

Acid Loving Plants

Acid loving plants benefit from an application of the yogurt tea mixture directly in the garden. The right pH and the additional calcium and iron help these plants produce gorgeous flowers and lush green foliage.

• Azalea
• Rhododendron
• Rose
• Hydrangea
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Calcium Enrichment

The calcium content of the yogurt tea mixture is a good easily absorbed liquid addition to the soil around acid loving plants and vegetables. Yogurt tea applied to the soil in the vegetable garden can help prevent blossom end rot.

Plants suffering from calcium deficiency often display curling of new leaves and stunted new growth. Terminal buds may die.  Fruits and vegetables are most susceptible to calcium deficiency due to heavy fertilization.

Iron Enrichment

Yogurt tea puts soluble iron directly into the soil to be easily absorbed by the roots of iron deficient plants. Symptoms of iron deficiency show brown or yellow leaves while the veins remain green. New leaves look bleached. All plants can be affected but most are acid lovers. Fruit plants and trees show poor fruit quality and quantity. Pears and raspberries are most susceptible to iron deficiency as well as clematis.

So, before you throw out that chunky yogurt, do your plants a favor and turn it into yogurt tea. Your foliage will reward you.