Despite its alcohol content, beer is considered healthy. It is isotonic and has a large number of health-promoting nutrients. After sports or even after intense competitions, its alcohol-free variant is therefore popular and widely used today. But did you know that not only people can benefit from it? Plants also benefit from the countless positive contents of barley juice.

Beer and its ingredients

According to the German Purity Law from 1516, beer in Germany may only be brewed from three ingredients:

  • water
  • hop
  • malt

In spite of or precisely because of these few but very valuable components, their product, i.e. the beers brewed from them, also contains many things that are definitely beneficial for an organism. These are for example:

  • Carbohydrates, i.e. starch or sugar
  • protein
  • vitamins
  • folic acid
  • potassium
  • phosphorus
  • sulfur
  • magnesium
  • calcium
  • silicon

While protein and vitamins are particularly valuable for humans, they also contain some of the typical ingredients of plant fertilizers in the form of potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. Countless other minerals, contained in far smaller amounts, round off the nutrient spectrum.

what about alcohol

As an attentive reader, you will surely ask yourself the question, what is the alcohol content in beers? Can plants be drunk?

No, since the plants lack a brain comparable to the human organism, the symptoms referred to as intoxication cannot occur. So you don't have to worry that your flower will be crooked in the vase the next morning and give off a bad smell. However, alcohol is a cytotoxin for every type of cell, including plant cells. If these plants are therefore watered excessively with alcohol, in the long run it is to be expected that only a few, but later all of the plant's cells will be destroyed. Ultimately, you could say your plant has a hangover from which, unfortunately, it will never recover.

Therefore, in order to enjoy the benefits of watering with leftover beer without transferring the disadvantages of alcohol to your plants, it is advisable to always give the drink diluted with at least two parts water to one part beer.

ATTENTION: Of course, today there are also low-alcohol and even non-alcoholic beers. But you should not use these drinks undiluted either, as otherwise there is a risk of over-fertilization from the intensively nutrient-rich brew!

The problem with the carbonic acid

In addition to the alcohol content of the beer, the carbon dioxide is also a problem that should not be neglected when using the beer as a liquid fertilizer. It is true that very few people will pour freshly tapped beers on the plants. However, even beers that have been stale overnight still have enough carbonic acid to damage roots and cells in general if overdosed. Therefore, leave your beer leftovers for at least two to three days and dilute them as directed before allowing them to benefit the plants.

Beer for more leaf shine

In addition to using your beer residues as liquid fertilizer, you can also use your beer residues in other ways for the benefit of your plants: applied with a soft cloth or cotton ball, beer makes the leaves shine again. In addition, the defense against parasites and pathogens can also be increased in this way.

TIP: But also pay attention to the mentioned dilution here, since the alcohol content will otherwise damage the cell walls with intensive use and thus cause more damage to the leaves than you actually want to cause any benefit.

Category:

Garden maintenance