Hold On to Your Used Sponges — the Plants in Your Garden Might Desperately Need Them This Summer

Gardens can benefit from all sorts of household items and kitchen waste that many people do not realize. An expert recently showed the internet a useful gardening hack that repurposes worn-out sponges from homes. Sponges are a popular household item used for cleaning and general purposes, like personal hygiene. As soon as they are old, most people toss them in the trash, ready to be shipped off to the garbage dump. Gardening expert and YouTube creator, Simple & Fast (@simlefast1), shared how plant owners and gardeners can reuse the discarded sponges to aid in their garden’s hydration during summer heat waves. 

Garden expert repurposes sponges

The gardener revealed how the used sponges are worth pure gold for plants because of their water retention capacity. She explained that people are “wasting a powerful ally for plants” by throwing away the old, worn-out sponges in their homes. The YouTube creator noted that sponges are made of plastic and may not be the best for the environment because of their long decomposition process. But we can put that characteristic to good use and enrich our gardens by utilizing the sponge in plant pots. As the weather warms up, gardeners and plant enthusiasts will struggle to protect their gardens from dehydration and overwatering at the same time. 

Finding that right balance is a task, but with this sponge hack, gardeners can get used to bright flowers and lush greenery without fretting over the right amount of watering. Using a simple technique, sponges can be added to the potting soil or even the ground and help the plants retain moisture even during summer months. The longer and hotter days would no longer be a cause for concern with sponges layered beneath the plant that absorb and retain water for longer durations than the soil. This gardening hack is especially useful when done before July rolls in to prepare the garden for the heat waves and limitless sunlight. Sponges can also be used to keep plants hydrated when traveling. 

Sponge hack to hydrate plants

The first step is to ensure the sponge is clean without any chemical residues that may cause harm to the plant. To prevent that, the sponge must be left in soapy water for about an hour and then rinsed thoroughly. Before adding the sponge to the soil, cut it up into small pieces. This must be done precisely to ensure a layer of sponges can be created under the soil. “Once we have all our sponges cut, we are going to start using them to benefit the soil of our pots and plants,” the expert revealed. Next step, mix the sponge bits into the soil and layer it in the pot. After adding some soil, the sponge layer can be covered with another layer of soil for the plant to be added.

Eventually, the sponge will mix with the soil and absorb the water in the soil. When the soil gets too dry or the plant is dehydrated, the sponge layer will act as a self-watering agent and help keep the plant green and fresh. The gardening expert shared that all her plants are potted with sponger layers in the soil. “I have been doing this for years. I just put a piece of sponge over the base of the pot. I am an addicted gardener and this has never caused any problems,” wrote @cherylmonopoli2896. Others were worried about the plastic nature of the sponges that could degrade soil quality, and also mentioned the risk of mold growth. “Since the sponges hold water and it is dark in the pots, this could be a prime setup for mold to grow,” stated @gardenspluswithwilsey1237.

You can follow @simplefast1 on YouTube for more videos. 

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