Cheaper and affordable hydrogen peroxide for over a century has reliably "prescribed" in home medicine chests. In its pure form and in combination with other chemical elements, it immediately became indispensable in everyday life.
The ability to kill pathogens has turned peroxide into a universal medical tool: with its help, clean the wound of dirt or pus, stop bleeding. To whiten teeth and tissue products, lighten hair, remove stains, clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces - this is not a complete list of the possibilities of using this truly miraculous product in everyday life.
Of great importance is hydrogen peroxide for the garden.
Hydrogen peroxide: the history of appearance, properties
Louis Jacques Tenard is considered to be the discoverer of hydrogen peroxide, obtained as a result of exposure to barium peroxide. It happened in 1818 in France. After 55 years, the production of peroxide began in Germany. In the last decade, the annual industrial production of hydrogen peroxide worldwide is more than 1 million tons.
Hydrogen peroxide (the simplest form of peroxides) is the scientific name for peroxide. The composition of the chemical formula is similar to water:
- Hydrogen Peroxide - 22.
- Water - H2O.
Hydrogen peroxide and water are composed of hydrogen and oxygen, but peroxide has an "extra" oxygen atom, which is easily lost, acting as an oxidizer and aerator.
In its pure form, it is a transparent liquid with the following properties:
- Color, taste, smell are absent.
- 1.5 times heavier than water.
- Great solvent.
- It is soluble in water, alcohol, ether.
- It freezes at -0.50 ° C.
- Boils at + 670.
- It decomposes under the influence of light, heat and alkali.
- Non-toxic, but in high concentration causes burns to the mucous membrane, skin or respiratory tract.
- The concentrated solution is explosive.
The release standard is a solution of various concentrations (from 1% to 98%).
21st Century Panacea for the Garden
In the garden, in the garden, hydrogen peroxide in the 21st century began to be used most widely. This is explained by the fact that, being a powerful oxidizing agent and possessing strong bactericidal properties that kill pathogenic microorganisms, hydrogen peroxide is environmentally friendly, as it decomposes into hydrogen (H2) and atomic oxygen (O2).
The environmental safety of hydrogen peroxide has created an indispensable assistant from it in the garden area. At the same time, its properties are important:
- antibacteriality;
- ability to generate oxygen.
Keep in mind safety measures: all work with hydrogen peroxide should be done with gloves and fresh air in order not to cause skin burns and respiratory tract damage.
Disinfection of greenhouses, containers for plants, tools
The use of hydrogen peroxide in the garden and the vegetable garden begins with the processing of greenhouses, planting containers, tools. In this case, the ability of hydrogen peroxide to act on bacteria, viruses and pathogenic fungi is used. This is especially important if the greenhouse, containers and tools were already in use.
For disinfection, hydrogen peroxide (6-9%) is mixed with water in a ratio of 1: 1.
Tanks and garden tools are thoroughly washed with the resulting solution, and then rinsed with clean water. The internal and external surfaces of the greenhouse (doors, windows, ceiling, walls, floor) are treated with the same solution, especially in hard-to-reach forms, since it is there that the accumulation of harmful microorganisms occurs.
An additional advantage in this treatment is the ability of hydrogen peroxide to form a large amount of foam when interacting with putrefactive elements - this makes it possible to soften and separate from the surface infected pieces of earth and plant debris, which are then more easily washed off with water.
Soil disinfection
To annually receive an abundant healthy crop, gardeners are advised to adhere to crop rotation, and if there is such an opportunity, then completely replace the soil on the beds in open ground and in greenhouses.
Such an opportunity is not always present, and it is associated with financial and labor costs. In this case, hydrogen peroxide comes to the aid of gardeners: in the garden and in the garden, soil should be disinfected immediately after harvesting to protect the soil and minimize the damage to pathogenic organisms remaining in the soil that adversely affect cultivated plants.
For this purpose, the following composition is used: 4-5 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide per 1 liter of water.
It is especially important to disinfect the soil, which will be used for seedlings. The prepared soil is carefully shed with 3-6% peroxide solution, covered with a film. Such treatment destroys even worm eggs.
Seed disinfection, acceleration of their germination
The use of hydrogen peroxide in the garden and garden is of great importance in the pre-sowing and sowing period. Seeds must be disinfected before germination to destroy pathogens, as well as inhibitors that inhibit germination.
Processing allows you to soften the shell of seeds, accelerate their germination, to achieve the full development of seedlings. This can be done in ways:
- For 5 minutes, put in a peroxide solution (30 drops of a 3% peroxide solution in 1 cup of water), then rinse thoroughly.
- For a period of 12 to 24 hours, soak the seeds of long non-germinating crops in a 0.4% peroxide solution, then dry the seeds thoroughly.
- Moisten the freshly sown seeds with a spray using a 1% peroxide solution.
In the latter case, not only the oxidation of the inhibitor occurs, but also the decontamination of the container.
Seedlings: watering and spraying
Hydrogen peroxide for seedlings is used for the active growth of the root system of seedlings, obtaining viable and productive seedlings. Seedlings remain strong and healthy until the dive.
The use of hydrogen peroxide for seedlings can accelerate the development of roots and leaves, because a water solution with the addition of hydrogen peroxide in chemical composition is similar to rainwater, the most useful for plants. Atomic oxygen in such a solution destroys microbes, enriches plants and soil with oxygen.
Top dressing
Not only watering the seedlings with hydrogen peroxide, but also the use of its solution for adult plants is an important factor for obtaining a good crop and lush flowering of plants. This is especially important for soil with a high clay content - in dense soil, the roots of the plant lack oxygen. In this case, a solution of hydrogen peroxide (500 3% H2O2 + 4 L H2O) will help.
Protection, Prevention
Hydrogen peroxide in the garden and vegetable garden can also be used as a protection for vegetable and horticultural crops from pests and fungal diseases that can destroy both the crop and the plants themselves. Using a sprayer, plants infected, for example, powdery mildew, are irrigated with the following composition: 3% peroxide (4 tbsp) + water (1⁄2 liter).
One of the terrible enemies of garden and horticultural crops is bacterial rot, which infects the bulbs and tubers of plants and turns them into rotting gruel. It is possible to resist rot by spraying diseased leaves and stems of a plant with a solution with the addition of peroxide. In addition, tubers and bulbs are recommended to be soaked in a solution of hydrogen peroxide before storing them.
The oxidizing ability of peroxide affects root rot and the black leg, saving the plant from death.
For the preventive treatment of aphids and scale insects, you can prepare the following composition: 3% peroxide (50 ml) + water (900 ml) + alcohol (2 tbsp) + detergent (2-3 drops).
The effect of hydrogen peroxide on horticultural crops
Hydrogen peroxide is gaining more and more distribution in the garden. In the 21st century, it turns into a kind of panacea for plants. At garden forums heated discussions between supporters and opponents of the use of hydrogen peroxide flare up. Gardeners and gardeners emit a positive effect of peroxide:
- The use of peroxide saturates the soil with oxygen.
- Adding H2O2 to tap water removes chlorine, making water more beneficial for plants.
- Disinfection of soil, greenhouses and garden tools significantly reduces the risk of fungal diseases.
- Watering and spraying plants helps to protect flowers and vegetables from death and wilting caused by fungal diseases.
Not only personal observations of many gardeners, but also studies by American scientists show that pre-sowing seed treatment and watering seedlings with hydrogen peroxide have a beneficial effect on the development of crops, stimulating their growth.
Thus, hydrogen peroxide is a kind of natural soil aerator, fungicide, pesticide.
Of course, the widespread use of this folk remedy should be treated critically and carefully, because hydrogen peroxide in the garden and its garden, when it is used excessively and in high concentration, can even play the role of a herbicide that destroys cultivated plants.