TikToker Kia Jade (@kia_urbangardener) shared a video with a gardening hack that could change the game for anybody battling aphids or powdery mildew in their garden.
The hack is affordable, simple, and uses products you may very well already have at home.
How it works
In the video, Jade shows how she uses full-fat milk, water, and a spray bottle to rid her plants of aphids and powdery mildew.
The TikToker mixes equal parts milk and water, spraying it all over the plants, noting, "If you do it consecutively on aphids for a number of days, the aphids will actually suffocate from the fat in the milk."
@kia_urbangardener This cheap and easy gardening hack will chnage the game for you! Especially if you have aphids or powdery mildew! #gardeninghacks #gardenhack #gardeninghack #cheapgardening #gardeningtips #gardentip #pestcontroltiktok #aphids #aphid #gardening101 ♬ Stolen Dance (Instrumental) - Milky Chance
Aphids are small, sap-sucking insects that have long mouthparts used to pierce stems, leaves, and other tender plant parts.
They are very common amongst plants, and while smaller aphid populations can leave plants unscathed, large populations can cause an array of serious problems for our plant friends. They can turn leaves yellow and stunt shoots. Some aphid species even inject a toxin into plants, causing their leaves to curl and distorting their growth.
This video's quick and easy way to reduce gardeners' struggles with this species could reap tremendous rewards for them and their plants.
How it's helping
This hack is great for many reasons. One is the economic ease and convenience of it. You can buy spray bottles for under $2 or even repurpose them from old cleaning products you may have under your cabinet.
The environmental rewards of this milk and water solution to unwelcomed garden dwellers are plentiful. Perhaps most obvious is the ability to rid plants of the things –– namely aphids and powdery mildew –– that prevent them from thriving and living a long, healthy life. Additionally, this solution is completely natural and could serve as an alternative to using pesticides.
While pesticides have the ability to kill insects and weeds, they can also contaminate soil, water, and vegetation and can be toxic to many other organisms.
What everyone's saying
TikTokers responded in the comments, with some finding the hack to be a new solution to a long-time struggle of their own, while others identified it as something they have already been implementing in their own gardens.
"Am gonna try this bcoz am desperate. Even my mint and chives have aphids. I don't know what's going on," one user wrote.
"I use this on the dahlias, it really does work. Adding a little bicarb will increase fighting power," another said.
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