by Louise Mclean, LCCH.
Around ten years ago I was friends with the author of the book Homeopathy for Farm and Garden and met him for a coffee a couple of times. He was a Dutch man and had changed his name to Vaikunthanath Das Kaviraj.
Giving homeopathic medicines to trees and plants is known as Agro-homeopathy, making them stronger and healthier, just as you would for humans. It is a non-toxic, inexpensive and residue free alternative, rather than using chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides.
The author 'Kaviraj', as he was known, first discovered that homeopathy worked on the plant kingdom when he saved an apple tree from dying and which subsequently produced delicious apples. The story is in the review. Here is a very nice review of the book.
I told Kaviraj about my Mother's dark red heritage roses which have a beautiful scent and that I had been given after her death in 2012. I told him they had black spots on the leaves and tiny aphid insects all over them. I was worried they would die. He told me to give them the homeopathic remedy Belladonna.
I gave them Belladonna 6c and soon after the black spots on the leaves disappeared and so did the aphids! The leaves became dark green and shiny and the roses were beautiful again! I was extremely pleased and 2 years later gave them another dose. Now every 2 years I give them Belladonna 30c (a higher dose) and it has kept them alive and well.
I take a measuring glass jug, put one remedy pill at the bottom, crush it to a powder with the back of a teaspoon and then fill the jug with mineral water. (I don't water them with tap water). Then you simply pour the whole jug of water with the remedy onto the roots of the roses (or plant/tree) and it works, as I say, for about 2 years.
I don't grow vegetables or fruit so I don't know the best remedies for these but you can buy Homeopathy for Farm and Garden in a number of online places. Just Google the title. Some prices are high but you can get the book at a lower price on Ebay and Abe Books.
Aphids and slugs can be deterred using the remedy Helix Tosta or Silica. I would suggest low potencies such as the 6c or 30c. Bacterial or fungal blights - again it says Belladonna and for root rot use Calcarea Phosphorica.
If you are repotting your plants and they might suffer from transplant shock you can give them Arnica 30c for shock or Calendula 30c for any physical damage. There is more information on remedies for plants if you scroll down to page 8 of this pdf magazine.
So the only experience I have of Agro-homeopathy is with my Mother's roses, but it is about 13 years since they nearly died and I was told to use Belladonna, and they have been flourishing ever since! I wish I had known about it in the last place I lived, which had a very old apple tree that hardly bore fruit!
Anyway, I usually buy all my homeopathic remedies from Helios Homeopathic Pharmacy, where you can order them online.
Incidentally, this rather blows up the theory of homeopathy only working through the placebo effect! In addition, homeopathy works wonderfully on animals too!
