Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), often associated with personal care and home cleaning, can also be used in undamaged form in diluted plant mixtures. Hydrogen peroxide has several applications in horticulture, including seed germination, for strengthening seedlings and preventing disease. Regularly mix 3% hydrogen peroxide with water in a 2.5 teaspoon solution per gallon and use it to treat plants inside and outside. Read on to learn how hydrogen peroxide can be used in plants.
What is Hydrogen Peroxide?
Hydrogen peroxide is a colorless, transparent liquid that dissolves quickly in water. Although it is sold in packages in stores and pharmacies, it is also present in the natural ecosystem and even in the human body. Among other things, hydrogen peroxide can heal wounds, clean clothes, and treatment plants. Exposing plants to hydrogen peroxide can be extremely beneficial when used in the right concentrations and under the right conditions.
Does Hydrogen Peroxide Harm a Plant?
Almost anything used in large quantities can be harmful, and using large doses of hydrogen peroxide in the garden is no exception. However, when using hydrogen peroxide on plants, the solution is usually diluted, making it especially safe. It’s also approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which gives it an extra stamp of approval.
Hydrogen peroxide is also made up of the same atoms in water, but with an extra atom of oxygen. This extra oxygen (H2O2) gives the hydrogen peroxide its beneficial properties.
Therefore, the answer to the question “hydrogen peroxide damages plants” is definitely “no” if the starch is sufficiently diluted. Different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide can be purchased. The most common solution is 3%, but it can be as high as 35%. 3% can be bought in supermarkets or pharmacies.
The Benefits of Hydrogen Peroxide in the Garden
Hydrogen peroxide has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an organic plant care product and offers many benefits to gardeners.
Pesticides and fungicides
Soil pests, such as rootworms, are difficult to detect and even more difficult to control when planting. Fortunately, these pests can be removed from the soil by feeding contaminated plants with a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution.
Even small amounts quickly destroy external tissues and kill fungi, mosquito larvae, worms, and contact nematode pests. The dilution can also be used as a foliar spray to control soft-bodied parasites such as aphids and spiders.
Soil aeration and root treatment
An overdeveloped garden can be prone to root rot. In wet, oxygen-deficient soils, such rapid root damage can occur within just 24 hours.
Once again, hydrogen peroxide comes into play. Thorough irrigation with a dilute solution will allow the soil to decompose faster, increase the oxygen content, and eliminate anaerobic conditions.
Water treatment
Many urban gardeners who chemically treat their municipal water supply prefer to treat their water with hydrogen peroxide.
Due to its high oxidizing power, it removes chlorine, chemical pesticides, and any organic matter that may be present in the water.
How Does Hydrogen Peroxide Works?
Hydrogen peroxide’s ability to clean, kill and aerate is made possible by the chemical reactions that occur after its destruction.
Since it is not part of the chemistry, it is important to know that under normal conditions it breaks down into water and oxygen. The equation can be made by the following method: 2H2O2 becomes 2H2O + O2.
In the early stages of the reaction, an oxygen atom is formed. Because of its instability, this oxygen molecule quickly binds together.
In most cases, the oxygen binds with other oxygen to form a stable O2 molecule (aeration), but it may also act as an oxidizing agent that reacts with the organic tissue of the parasite to destroy the tissue (anti-parasitic).
Application
Soil Pest and Root Rot Treatment
One part of 35% hydrogen peroxide without additives is mixed with ten parts of water.
The water is completely contaminated with contaminated plants. If oxygen is released, the soil will boil.
For pests, water twice a week with the mixture so that the first five centimeters of soil is dry between watering. Root pests should disappear within a week.
To eliminate root rot, water well and then allow the soil to dry. The first two to three centimeters of soil should be completely dry before normal irrigation is resumed. Root rot is easily treated with hydrogen peroxide if treated properly.
Warning
While 3% of grade hydrogen peroxide is safe for use in wound treatment or as a dilute plant pesticide, higher grades of hydrogen peroxide can be very corrosive. For example, hydrogen peroxide in concentrations equal to or greater than 30% can cause skin burns. Also, ingesting or inhaling undiluted hydrogen peroxide vapors is dangerous, and in some cases, fatal. However, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that hydrogen peroxide is a safe pesticide for plants and food at low concentrations and with the use of protective equipment.