15 Best Essential Oils for Your Plants (Indoor & Outdoor) and How to Use Them Correctly

Essential oils are a great replacement for allopathic medicines and are widely used in various treatments.

It may surprise you to learn that these natural extracts not only aid in human well-being but also help plant growth and treatment. As a plant lover, it is important to explore the miraculous benefits of these aromatic-natural extracted oils. 

You should also know how to use them correctly; using them in the wrong way can severely affect your plant’s health. So without further ado, let’s talk about the best essential oils for plants and how they can help your plants. 

Benefits of Essential Oils for Plants

Essential oils contain a mixture of hydrocarbons and oxygenated derivates. They are extracted from the glands of some special plants, which helps them keep predators, bugs, and pests away, also attracting pollinators. Using these oils on plants helps them to:

• Repel pests
• Encourage their growth
• Makes leaves shinier
• Attracting pollinators (butterflies and bees)
• Act as an organic pesticide
• Heals plants

Both plants and humans are carbon-based organisms, which allows the healing properties of plants to work on humans and plants. Let’s move further and talk about the best essential oils for plants.

15 Best Essential Oils to Safeguard Your Plants

Each oil benefits the plants in a variety of ways, including improving their growth, combating pests, and eliminating fungal growth. Here are some of the best essential oils for your plants that can be used both indoors and outdoors.

Peppermint is a natural restraint for flies, spiders, worms, aphids, and slugs. It has a strong, sweet fragrance, which also keeps larger pests such as moles, mice, beetles, and squirrels away. 

Oil made from peppermint can also be used to keep your plants smelling fresh due to the content of cool menthol if used in the correct quantity. 

How to use: 

1. Take 8-10 drops of peppermint essential oil and dilute it with 1 liter of water.
2. Either take the cotton ball and apply it to the infestation area and leave it there, or use it as a spray.
3. Remember to use light mist and keep doing it twice a week.

Rosemary Oil acts as a bug repellent and also attracts pollinators. It has a pleasant woody scent, which is great for pest control. For humans, it helps with healthy hair growth, and for plants, it promotes root growth. 

Rosemary essential oil is recommended for use on foliage vegetables such as cabbages, spinach, cauliflower, and kale. It is effective in keeping flea beetles away, which chew up the leaf. 

How to use:

1. In a spray bottle, add 1.5 liters of water, 2 teaspoons of dish soap, 4 teaspoons of rosemary oil, and 2 teaspoons of eucalyptus oil.
2. Combine these things well and spray on your plants daily to keep bugs away.
3. For better root growth, just mix the 5-6 drops of rosemary oil with water and pour it into the pot.

Eucalyptus has an intense aroma, which is useful for keeping bugs away from your vegetable plants. It also helps in removing fungal growth on your plants, and it is considered a primary oil in your garden.

You can even mix it with other oils in water to get amazing results on infestations and notice amazing growth.

How to use:

1. Take 10 drops of eucalyptus essential oil. 
2. Mix it in a spray bottle and spray it on your plants every day until you see your plants free from pests.
3. To remove fungus from indoor plants, directly spray the infected area.

Lemongrass essential oil for plants helps them keep bugs such as mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas away. It is generally used to apply on your skin while spending your time in your outdoor garden. So you don’t get bit by these insects, otherwise, you can also pour it on your plants, which boosts their growth.

It also leaves a refreshing fragrance on your plants, which makes your garden atmosphere quite aromatic.

How to use:

1. Add 3-4 drops in 250 ml of water and apply it to your skin.
2. You can also add the drops while pouring water into your plants. 

Melaleuca essential oil is an efficient and effective way to get rid of all fungi. However, you have to be careful while using this oil, as it makes your plant sensitive to the sun.

If you directly apply it to leaves on outdoor plants, it can cause leaf burns. But it can be directly applied to indoor plants. 

How to use:

1. Combine the mixture of Melaleuca oil with water.
2. Take around 10 ml of oil, mix it with 40 ml of water, and pour it on your plants. 
3. If you apply it to indoor plants, you can directly apply it on leaves, otherwise, avoid it applying on leaves.

Lavender is the most famous essential oil that is widely used in stress and anxiety therapy. It is truly a valuable asset for your garden’s health, as it helps attract pollinators. 

You can also apply it to infected pest areas for a few days, and it will get rid of all pesticides. You can also apply its mixture to your skin to keep mosquitoes away during your time in the garden.

How to use:

1. Take 15 drops of lavender oil and dilute it with water.
2. Spray it on your plants 
3. You can also take soaked cotton balls and leave them on plants 

Oregano oil repels flies and vegetable-eating bugs. Simply applying oregano oil won’t be enough; you are required to mix it with several other ingredients. Carvacrol, the main component of this essential oil, aids plants in their battle against plant pathogens. 

How to use: 

1. Dilute the oregano oil with almond oil and carrier oil.
2. Directly apply the mixture to the affected area of your plants.

Orange essential oil gives a sweet fragrance to your garden, which gives a cheerful vibe. It attracts bees and butterflies to pollinate, and it is the safest essential oil to use on plants.

It can also repel ants, termites, and aphids, which stops your plants from getting damaged.

How to use: 

1. Take 8-10 drops of orange and rosemary essential oils.
2. Mix it with 500 ml of water and spray it on your plants.
3. To keep the solution consistent, shake it well before spraying.

Using basil oil is an effective way to get rid of vegetable-eating insects. It protects your vegetable plants from getting damaged; mostly, it is used on farms. Basil essential oil can also attract beneficial insects like butterflies, mixing it with carrier oil can maximize its benefits.

How to use: 

1. Mix basil oil with carrier oil.
2. Spray the mixed oil on the stem of the vegetables, and apply it for a few days.

Cedar oil blocks the neurotransmitters of the bugs, which makes them confused and disrupts their behavior. Mammals are not affected by this oil, so it is safe to keep and use. It is potentially the best oil to keep slugs and snails away.

How to use:

1. Mix 10 drops of orange oil, cedar oil, and melaleuca oil in 1 liter of water.
2. Regularly spray on your plants and leaves.

With a spicy and sweet aroma, this oil helps the plants to hold off ants, snails, and termites. Many farmers use this method to replace the use of pesticides, it’s a very effective solution to keep the bugs away. 

It has biocidal effects that prevent insects from laying eggs. However, a larger dose of cinnamon oil might hurt your plant and increase toxicity.

How to use:

1. Mix 10-12 drops of oil with 800 ml of water
2. Spray it occasionally on plants

Clove oil is an essential item for your garden, as it eliminates weed growth and also removes fungal and bacterial growth on plants. It also acts as a repellent which keeps aphids, cockroaches, mosquitos, and ants away. 

It breaks down the fungal growth and helps your plant to grow fluently. Furthermore, it also contains antifungal, antioxidant, and antiviral properties. 

How to use:

1. Take 8-10 drops of clove oil.
2. Mix it with one drop of Castile soap and 150 ml of water.
3. Spray it on weed, infested, or fungal growth areas.

Yarrow oil fragrance helps attract pollinators. But there are many precautions that you need to take care of as it will leave a blue color on your plants. Additionally, you should not use it if you have pregnant or breastfeeding women around you. 

How to use:

1. Take 1-2 drops and mix it with 500ml of water.
2. Light mist on your plants

Cajeput essential oil is really helpful to keep garden mites away. This oil is known for its antiseptic and analgesic properties, which also kill bacterial growth. One thing that you have to take care of is that you have to dilute it properly with water, otherwise, in pure form, it can cause harm to your plants.

How to use:

1. Take 5-7 drops of Cajeput oil.
2. Properly mix it with 1 liter of water.
3. Spray it on plants or in an infected area.

Thyme oil smells very refreshing with a hint of spice; if sprayed on your plants, it leaves behind a soothing herbaceous scent, which helps in improving memory. Thyme keeps a few pests away, but it primarily repels leaf-eating insects such as beetles, caterpillars, and ticks.

How to use:

1. Combine 1-2 drops of thyme, rosemary, and peppermint.
2. Mix it with 500 ml of water.
3. Spray it early in the morning to experience freshness in your garden.

Conclusion

Essential oils help to improve the overall growth, health, and production of your plants. It is advisable to dilute these oils with water or with other oils to increase their effectiveness.

These oils are beneficial for humans and plants as well, but it is important to use them in prescribed amounts. If used more than the suggested amount, then it may cause severe health effects.