Unusual tips to promote plant growth

Sometimes we find help from unlikely sources. The same is true for soil! Plastic wrap, Epsom salt and bananas probably don't scream out as obvious supplies for growing flowers — but they don't have to be obvious to work. Use these unlikely supplies to help boost the nutrients in the soil you're planting in and promote growth.

You've just sown flower seeds in a planting bed and are pleased with the spacing and soil coverage. But one extra step will warm the soil and speed germination, keep the earth moist and thwart birds foraging for seeds. All it takes is spreading a layer of clear plastic wrap over the seeded area. Anchor the plastic with rocks and remove it as soon as the seeds sprout.

Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate — which, as a supplement to your plants' regular feedings, will deepen the colour of blooms and help fight disease. Every three or four weeks, scratch five millilitres (one teaspoon) of Epsom salt into the soil around an annual or perennial's stem and water well. Alternatively, dissolve 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) of Epsom salt in one gallon of water. Every two weeks or so, pour some of the solution into a spray bottle and spritz the leaves of your flowers.

To encourage a potted bromeliad's rosette of leaves to sprout its pretty flower, place the plant in a plastic dry cleaning bag with a ripening banana or three or four ripe apples. The ethylene wafting from the fruit will stimulate flower production.  Quick tip: If your gardening gloves have gone missing but you need to work in the soil of your flower beds, just scrape your fingernails over a bar of soap beforehand. The dirt will come out from under your nails more easily when you scrub your hands.

These helpful tips will get your garden growing right — and your neighbours wondering how you did it!