Make flowers bloom bigger and better by adding 3 breakfast scraps to your garden (2024)

Flowers will produce bigger and brighter blooms if given a proper feed willed with calcium, potassium and nitrogen (Image: Getty)

Spring has arrived which means flowers will soon be producing colourful blooms, but gardeners need to make sure their plants are being cared for properly.

Plants cannot gain all the nutrients they need from the sun or from being watered and need to be fed a suitable fertiliser in the growing seasons of spring and summer to grow properly.

If plants are not fed in the growing season, they may not receive the essential nutrients needed to grow, which can lead to stunted growth, weaker flowers and becoming more susceptible to pests.

However, Kelly Wilkniss, a gardening expert and founder of My Soulful Home has shared there her cheap “secret garden tip” for getting a blooming garden, and all you need is your leftover breakfast scraps.

She said: “Want a lush and lovely garden without spending a dime on fertilizer, slug protection and compost? Well, have a banana an egg and a cup of coffee for breakfast.”

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Adding a banana peel to gardens deters slugs while helping improve the soil (Image: Getty)

According to Kelly, each of these ingredients acts as a “slow-release fertilizer, pest deterrent and soil amendment” which will help give plants the nutrients they need to produce bigger and healthier flowers.

All you need to do is up the banana peel, crush the egg shells and scoop up any coffee grounds. Then, add these three ingredients to a container and mix them into the soil around your plants.

Kelly said: “I put my cut banana peels, crushed egg shells & coffee grinds in a big zip-lock bag. I then put that inside an opaque bag in the bottom drawer of my fridge.”

Banana peels are beneficial as they add potassium and phosphorus to the soil, which helps plant growth and helps improve soil health as a natural fertiliser.

The potassium in bananas also helps blooms look more vibrant and is an essential nutrient for flowering plants, especially roses.

Kelly said: “Potassium [is] responsible for the formation of new flower buds. Your roses in particular will want a bunch of bananas and you will want a bunch of rose buds.”

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Egg shells contain calcium which helps make flowers more vibrant and healthier (Image: Getty)

Eggs add calcium to the soil which helps keep plants healthy and is especially good for crops such as tomatoes as it can prevent diseases such as bloom rot in the springtime.

Kelly said: “Tis the season for tomatoes and they need a lot of calcium for growth & to prevent blossom end rot.”

Bloom rot is a common disease which affects crops such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants and is primarily caused by a lack of calcium.

Eggs are also a natural way to prevent slugs and snails from eating away at crops as they cannot stand the texture of the shells.

Kelly explained: “They don't like crawling over the shells. Imagine dragging yourself belly down over shards of glass to get to a salad...yes that would be a deterrent!”

Coffee contains nitrogen which helps plant growth and is especially beneficial for acidic-loving flowers (Image: Getty)

Coffee grinds contain nitrogen and tannic acids, which helps plants become stronger while also deterring slugs and snails as they also do not like the texture.

Kelly said: “Acid-loving plants such as azaleas, blueberries, butterfly weed, camellias, ferns, gardenias, lupines & rhododendrons especially love coffee grinds.

Flowers such as hydrangeas and roses also greatly benefit from coffee grinds in their soil as coffee helps lower the pH level of the oil and makes it only slightly acidic, which is more suitable for them.

This “secret mixture” is the key to a healthy and beautiful garden in the spring according to Kelly, who said she always uses this natural fertiliser when planting in her garden.

She said: “I use my three secrets each time I am creating or re-potting container gardens and when I am digging a planting hole in my garden beds.

“The ‘secrets’ release nutrients slowly as they break down. I continue to top my beds with coffee grinds thereafter.”

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