Came across this article and wondered whether anyone has tried this? http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/using-cinnamon-on-plants.htm

Yes, cinnamon is great in the garden. Steep several tablespoons of cinnamon in a pint jar of rubbing alcohol, Strain and use as a spray on seedlings and cuttings. It kills bugs and stops fungi. I've also applied ground cinnamon to cuttings to stave off mold and rot. No idea if it helped with the rooting or not. But it certainly did not hurt.

heard about the use of cinnamon before, but never tried it. 

Very cool!

Very cool, wonder if you can use it to keep ants off trees, didn't have a problem this year but have had fire ants invade in the past..

I will try this on some cuttings in the next couple weeks.

Interesting. Thanks for posting and I will certainly try it

Ive used cinnamon on a couple rotten spots on a new orchid recently and it stopped it.
Its talked about allot on orchids forums.
Physan is a better idea imho

I had a problem with dampening off fungus last year and cinnamon sprinkled on the soil surface seemed to really help.

Never heard of this.  Will definitely have to give it try.  Thanks.

So far no dampening off or fungus gnats but I am sitting here with a quart bottle of cinnamon so guess its worth giving it a try if I do run into this.  Also cinnamon is the main ingredient in snake deterrents so its not a bad thing to have around.  Love my black snakes and rat snakes but some of the others are less enchanting. I hate being surprised when I am picking berries.

Marianna, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful technique, I will start using Cinnamon for my plants from now on.
Happy New Year :)

Have sprinkled cinnamon on the soil around my veg seedlings for two years now and it does work. Didn't know it could help rooting though, thanks.

As for ants, try sprinkling fresh ground coffee on the ant hills. They love the stuff and take in back into the nest. Not sure how if affects them, but they are soon gone after doing this.

Thank you for the link to the informative article.  Very interesting uses for cinnamon. 

I have used it for a wound dressing and on pruning cuts, and is especially useful on succulents, orchids, and juicy plant tissue to prevent infection.  I sprinkle all pruning cuts with cinnamon to stop the sap flow, and is very useful when pruning figs.  The oozing latex binds the cinnamon to the fresh cut, and the cuts heal quicker.

I wonder if Cinnamon is mixed into potting mediums, if it would kill off Fungus Gnats, Nematodes, etc?


Frank

Thanks for posting. I just tried it on two cuttings that were showing very slight signs of mold. I'll let  you know how well it works.

Also, could cinnamon be used preventatively on cuttings? Maybe lightly powder the ends before they go in rooting bags? What do you think?

I read online that cinnamon, plain old drugstore bought hydrogen peroxide, and peppermint tea are good for combating funus gnats that's what made me try it. I had apparently brought two gnats along with my mango tree in the house from the cold.
The war against gnats insued because my fig cuttings were too important to suffer any risk of that sort of pest pressure not to mention the gnats plagued us last season when we brought in a few housplants for the winter. I put the mango tree in the hoophouse, got some yellow sticky traps to get the new gnats chased the ones that weren't stuck yet and dumped DE and then sprinkled cinnamon on top of my soil then drenched the soil with water and hydrogen peroxide (hp).
I also made a spray with, water, hp, peppermint essential oil, and liquid kelp to spray on the soil. Later I left out the peppermint oil and kept the hp, water and liquid kelp. The cutting are doing very well wIth this mix.

So far I haven't seen more than one gnat flying at a time for weeks. My method of catching the one I find is to try and wave it towards the sticky trap or pray and then chase it to catch it. That also has been working well. God loves figs too.

The gnats that I didn't see have been trapped in the yellow sticky traps and my cutting are leafing out without slumping.

Its been since October that I started with the traps and spraying and I've chased and caught like three (again though, not ever seeing more than one flying at a time) and the traps have about two on one and one on the other. Some traps have nothing.
Our grow area is free of flying gnats. My hope is that the waterings with the kelp is making them less susceptible to insect /larvae pressure and the cinnamon leaching down is killing any stragglers.

Thanks for the information, does this help with soil nematodes as well?

John,
Fire ant hills are always a problem in our pastures.  Going to have to see whether coffee grounds are a good deterrent.  Certainly a better choice for a grazing area than a poison. The nutrients they provide certainly cant hurt either. :) Thanks for the tip.

Isn't rust a fungus? If so then spraying fig trees with the cinnamon mixture might help with stopping or slowing down the spread of rust. It could be worth a try.

I am ecstatic about Marianna's advise on Cinnamon, i shook some on lower ends of my cuttings as I took 'em out of the fridge and wrapped them in wet paper towel and dropped them in zip=lock to root. I was thinking well...2 good weeks before I see some white growth here and there. Well, it's the 5th day now and guess what! I count 7 figlets and roots up and down the cuttings. I'm going crazy laughing at it, LOL I'm going to post a pic soon with new Post saying Cinnamon on it.
I think I'm going to water all my fig trees and , heck, all the other fruit trees also with Cinnamon water...see what happens.

Will be looking into using cinnamon to battle gnats and pest.....I have been spraying a mix of dish soap on top of the soil, thinking it may kill some larvae...???? Thanks For Posting this Topic.

Armando, I tried the dryer sheet method of controlling gnats. On the premise that soil stored in the carport was likely to be infected with our local bugs, I put a couple of sheets along the edge of a couple of my pots in my humidity chamber. Had some slow rooting varieties going and it seemed to work. Its something else you might try.

Very good info, I'll try it tomorrow..... Thanks Regards, Ong Jakarta, Indonesia

I treated my cuttings for rooting with Cinnamon, this is 5 days later

 

  
Before even rooting  the figlets started to pop left and right.

I didn't get as much of a coating as you, I grated my fresh and had a light coating, still looks positive, we will see if they root or not.

Chivas, it will be interesting to see if you get as fast results as Aaron did...although I suspect the variety of cutting may something to do with rooting speed. Please let us know how it works for you.

I am worried about the growth above going faster than the rooting itself, look at those figlets popping up everywhere, such a shame. I also injected fresh mix of Cinnamon water into my Apple Air layerings, lets see what happens. :x

this was last night, I found out that tops are growing faster then rooting process, so, I washed the old Cinnamon away and re sprinkled Cinnamon only on the half of the group and re-wrapped them in new wet paper towels and zip-locked them... lets see which group does better.
* No sign of fungus for what's so ever ;)
 

[video]http://youtu.be/p_KHDDAPn_o[/video]

I'm definitely going to experiment with this with some cuttings in Jon's Uline bag method. 

On a side note, ya'll seem particularly concerned about fungus gnats.  Are they a problem, or just annoying?  I've been seeing them on my plants but figured once I get them to the point of potting them and removing the humidity cover, they'll all die when the soil moisture dries up on the surface.  Should I be concerned?
Timothy

fungus gnat adults are annoying, but their larvae are a problem.  They will eat plant roots.

timmy2green, fungus gnats are a huge problem.  You see one, it could already be too late.  You definitely need to proactivly protect your indoor plants (including all growing fig cuttings) with BT.  If you water, make sure you do it with BT.

Aside from that, I'm going to get a huge bag of cinnamon.  I think Winco sells it bulk.  I'm sure Cardenas has it pretty cheap.  I'm going to try it on everything!  Edibles and non!  I hope gophers choke on it because I'm going to stick it down their holes also!  I need to re-read the thread because we have gazillions of snakes, and one is the rattler.  A huge one lunged at me last summer, but he missed, and I ran.  I surprised him.  They don't waste time.  The kings and gopher snakes do a good job killing rodents.

I love this thread!!

Suzi

Suzi, for snakes... hang bunch of garlic in corners of your property, 8 inches above ground. thats what we used to do in Cyprus. they never come into your property, i think they really hate the smell

Aaron, that could be difficult.  1.5 acres with various corners, and huge boulders with cracks where the snakes hide, not to mention all the gopher/vole holes and tunnels where they also hide.  How do you determine a corner?  I'm cool with the garlic.  I plant every clove with a green shoot.

Suzi

lucky you... i'm sitting only on 14,800 sf lot including the house ;/

So, if you water the recently planted rooted cuttings with some cinnamon water , will you get the leaves sooner?

Suzi, I know you're not advising to water my plants with Brown Turkey, hehe, but what is BT?  I may not be able to fix my embarrassment when I hear the obvious answer to this, but hopefully I can at least fix those dang gnats.  Time to go to war!

By the way, I had a moldy cutting last night and I cut off the top moldy part, ran under water and rolled in cinnamon and rebagged in same soil mix.  Let's see what happens!  I'll post pics as soon as I can get them off my wife's phone.

Out of several baggies of cuttings, I had 3-4 that were getting mold. Then I read this post and rubbed them all with Cinnamon. That was 2 weeks ago and I've not had any mold since. This seems to stop mold in its tracts!

Gene, you are right, Cinnamon=MoldBeGone :)

Armando, Cinnamon tee spray sounds much healthier then soap water :)

GreenFig, Cinnamon seems to give a strong boost to the growth and fruit, but... as I noticed and also this Orchid guy in the above vid clip mentions Cinnamon might also be a root inhibitor? Now I am starting to worry... look at my cuttings above, no roots yet green part all over and little figlets almost on every one of the cuttings.

Timmy2green, I think Cinnamon tee would work for gnats if you irrigate the containers with it then after an hr irrigate again with clear water so it doesn't harm the freshly formed roots, the gnads will definitely vanish. 

I take BT is a pesticide? why bother

[QUOTE=Aaron4USA]...

GreenFig, Cinnamon seems to give a strong boost to the grown and fruit, but... as I noticed and also this Orchid guy in the above vid clip mentions Cinnamon might also be a root inhibitor? Now I am starting to worry... look at my cuttings above, no roots yet green part all over and little figlets almost on every one of the cuttings.

...[/QUOTE]

I have 2 terminal cuttings with extensive root systems. One came from a baggie and one from a moss bin. One is sitting in a sip and one in a 1 gal pot for a looong time. I was thinking the cinnamon treatment may make them to produce a leaf or two. The buds are plump and green but no growth.

timmy2green - BT is a commonly used organic pesticide, short for Bacillus thuringiensis, which is a bacteria that gets ingested by various worms, grubs, larvae, caterpillars and kills them by a natural chemical it produces inside their guts.

Usually as a home gardener you can buy BTK for worms and fungus gnats.  In the us you can buy Monterrey Garden Spray which has spinosad in it (also made from a naturally occurring soil fungus but this formulation is not done organically)  I haven't tried it on fungus gnats but it kills loopers and thrips (depends on if the thrips are resistant or not).  Check the label on the BT if it will control fungus gnats, some sub species are better than others, in the greenhouse we use Vectobac instead of Bioprotect (loopers) even though they are both bacillus thuringiensis, they are different sub species and have a bit more effectiveness on different pests.

[QUOTE=greenfig][QUOTE=Aaron4USA]...

GreenFig, Cinnamon seems to give a strong boost to the grown and fruit, but... as I noticed and also this Orchid guy in the above vid clip mentions Cinnamon might also be a root inhibitor? Now I am starting to worry... look at my cuttings above, no roots yet green part all over and little figlets almost on every one of the cuttings.

...[/QUOTE]

I have 2 terminal cuttings with extensive root systems. One came from a baggie and one from a moss bin. One is sitting in a sip and one in a 1 gal pot for a looong time. I was thinking the cinnamon treatment may make them to produce a leaf or two. The buds are plump and green but no growth.[/QUOTE]Yes Igor, Cinnamon will make the green part grow bigger, i see it on my cutting, you can see too...I watered all my fruit trees with Cinnamon water. what I did was this, in a heavy glass measuring cup (the ones with handle) I put about 3 hefty tablespoons of the Cinnamon powder and poured hot worm to hot water in it and steered until mixed, let it sit for 15 min.. it became a very heavy gooey gel like mixture, i poured entire content in a watering can and added more cold water and mixed it, then watered the plants, about 2-3 cups for each tree (on the ground) and about 1 cup in the pots (extra runs out)

Marianna,
Thanks for starting this Topic.
I haven't tried cinnamon, but have used Peroxide spray and Baking Soda spray as fungicides. I will be trying a simple controlled test to see if it actually combats fungus (mold) growth. Thanks again.

Greenfig, I was thinking the same thing of using it to produce growth where i have potted cuttings with roots but no top growth at all.

Anyone know where BT is usually sold?  Lowe's, etc. or retail nurseries?

Wow, great tip for rooting. I knew honey was a good one, but never heard of cinnamon for it. Just be aware though that the cinnamon usually sold in the US is not true cinnamon but is actually Cassia. They are different from each other. There are measures you can take to get true cinnamon (which works better on ants I've heard than cassia). BTW, most cinnamon STICKS are still usually cassia! You can look up the pictures to see the comparisons. Then again, cassia is related and has similar properties. Maybe these recommendations were unknowingly made while implementing cassia anyway!


Timmy2Green, you mean BT as in Bacillus thuringiensis, right? I've searched long and hard because of issues with fungus gnats, and it is very expensive to get a strong dose. I'll let you in on a secret though ; ). Look up this stuff called Microbe Lift BMC. You can find it for anywhere between $15 and $25 and it is SUPER concentrated. It is sold in the pond/water garden market to treat for mosquito larvae, so each tiny bottle can treat around 500 gallons! Literally, you can put just a few drops in a gallon of dechlorinated water for your plants.

Timothy,
BTi ( Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) is the Active ingredient in Mosquito Dunks. Mosquito Dunks are available in most chain stores, including Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart. there are many subspecies of BT, the only one proven effective against Fungus Gnats is BTi.

http://www.summitchemical.com/mosquito/

[QUOTE]Mosquito Dunks®
Kills Mosquitoes before They’re Old Enough to Bite!® The Mosquito Dunks® are America’s best selling home owner mosquito control product. The only product with BTI, a bacteria toxic only to mosquito larvae, that lasts 30 days and treats 100 square feet of surface water.

Mosquito Bits® “Quick Kill”
Marshy swampy areas inundated with larvae? Sprinkle Mosquito Bits® (Quick Kill) as a shock to quickly annihilate the larval population. Corn cob granules coated in Bti, the Bits™ (do not last long but) provide a punch, turning water black with larvae, to a clear pool void of future mosquitoes.  A week after application either supplement with Mosquito Dunks®, for long term control or continue to add Bits™ on a bi-weekly basis.  The Mosquito Bits® are now labeled to control Fungus Gnats in plant beds or pots! Utilizing a similar mode of action for control of mosquito larvae, the Bits™, either sprinkled on the soils surface or mixed with potting soil prior to planting will kill fungus gnat larvae with the same safety and target specific control offered for mosquito larvae.[/QUOTE]

IMO, the only documented (possible) application for Cinnamon seems to be as a fungicide, to reduce fungal growth and rot, it may allow the plant roots to develop without competition, and reduce the food supply for Fungus Gnat larvae.

Thanks Pete.

On 14th I had washed off the Cinnamon off of one group and rewrapped them in clean wet paper towel and zip-locked again, the other group was washed off of Cinnamon and re-applied fresh dust of Cinnamon all over them and wrapped in clean wet paper towel and zip-locked until today.
Today I opened the 2 zip-locked groups of cuttings that I was experimenting the Cinnamon with.
group 1 had no Cinnamon on them and group 2 had fresh Cinnamon sprinkled before zip-lockinf again.
group 1 is starting to show some roots but group 2 isn't yet. 
I broke off 5 figletts off of the cuttings while I was washing them off of Cinnamon.
No sign of mold for what so EVER :)(:

  
SO, I decided to wash group 2 also off of Cinnamon and wrapped both groups of cuttings in clean, wet paper towels and zip-locked again for more dark times in pantry.

ok, week 4 and some roots are coming out already, long enough so i separated few from each group and planted directly into one gallon pots with Mirricle-Grow potting soil formulated for new root development. Still, no sign of fungus ;)

  

Looks like my trial with Cinnamon has come to an end, since almost all cutting rooted and yet no sign of Mildew, Mold, Fungus nor Gold ;)
Took 4 week and 4 days to get to this stage! Tomorrow they are all going to joinn the earlier rooters of this series of cuttings. This was a fun project.
 

Final day before planting them!

 
Conclusion!
Cinnamon definitely prevents fungus.
So, what I am going to do for my cuttings is this (to be moderate with Cinnamon), I will soak the cuttings in very strong Cinnamon tea  (warm) for about 30 min then air dry them, then wrap them in  moist paper towel and Zip-Lock them. Once a week I will open the Zip-Lock to aerate the cuttings and either wash the paper towels or use new moist paper towels to wrap the cuttings again with. This will go on until they all root.

*I should mention again that all my cutting have been washed really well, dried then dipped both ends in melted Paraffin to prevent infections and diseases. It also helps the cuttings to form calluses at cut side.

Special thanks to Marianna for introducing me to this idea :)
I hope you all can benefit from my experiment.
Thank you.

Say Hello to new babies.
They are all in open air to grow out of their one gallon nursery pots.
Mission accomplished ;)

  
BTW, all these experimental cuttings were from this variety , picture bellow.
 

Thank you Aaron for this series. I have had had my share of mold, and knew about cinnamon, but never applied it to figs. I think it's a great idea.

By the way, my brother speaks Italian and so I put "taccarieddhrum" to him. He was baffled, but found a Sicilian friend who said, Oh yea, "turkey."

[QUOTE=musillid]Thank you Aaron for this series. I have had had my share of mold, and knew about cinnamon, but never applied it to figs. I think it's a great idea.

By the way, my brother speaks Italian and so I put "taccarieddhrum" to him. He was baffled, but found a Sicilian friend who said, Oh yea, "turkey."[/QUOTE] It was my pleasure Dale, hope every body can benefit from my experiment ;)
P.S.
does Turkey mean it's from Turkey or... Brown Turkey or something?

I think Brown Turkey means a brown fig from Turkey. Given Sicily's proximity to Turkey and it's Moorish influences, plus the absence of color reference, my speculation means the country, not the bird.

So, does DE LU TACCAREDDHRUM mean BROWN TURKEY? (SCRATCHING MY HEAD, LOL)

I've got all my recent cuttings in cinnamon.  The cupboard where they reside really smells good!

I guess I have a few weeks before seeing roots, but it's my first cinnamon adventure!

Suzi

Suzi, Cinnamon may slow down the entire process but you'll never have loss. You can wash the cuttings off of cinnamon after a week and loosely wrap them again in moist paper towel.
Your shipment was out today BTW, you'll receive it on Saturday. I included a surprise cutting for you;)

I'm going to share something you folks playing with cinnamon need to see.  Penzey spices has great cinnamon.  If you want real cinnamon then you want to buy the Ceylon which is expensive.  Since most people use grocery store cinnamon they are using Cassia which maybe fine. The orchid folks use it all the time for rot.

mine, from Smart and Final worked just fine. :)