green drugstore

As the use of artifical pestcides and fungicides becomes more and more questionable and I also made the experience that some agents didn't work as they should ( eg. the fungicide I used vs. black spot) I decided to start the biological fight vs.the enemys of our roses.
The purpose of the thread ist to collect recipes and to exchange our experiences with our mixtures.

I will start with a brew that shall work against aphids, spider mites and fungi:

„Soap nuts have gentle insecticidal properties and are traditionally used for removing lice from the scalp“

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_nut

if it works on the scalp, why not using it against aphids? There is another source, where saponin, the agent from the soap nut, in combination wih tea is used also as fungicid......

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP1867230.html

So let's brew a test mixture.

my proposal: 8 soap nuts to 1l of water, heating for 10 min. If available some tea (also rehash). I assume that the working agent in tea must be coffein, so I also will test it with coffee.

Because I'm still a smoker I will also add some tobacco residues.

The filtrated soup I will extended ( 1st time) to the double and spray it on one or two test roses.

always don't forget to label your container!

Who will join the test ?

....I'm waiting for your special, magic potion

regards Bemo

last edition: displaced from another topic

vegetable oil (1 or 2 drops), sodium bicarb (2 teaspoons), few drops of detergent, and 2 litres of water. I've heard of people putting seaweed extract in this as well as an extra tonic.

You might find this interesting too: Milk Spray Fungicide - for PM. I've never had any luck with milk but should probably look into it more to see what I'm doing wrong.

I think you watch Gardening Australia. The other problem is what sort of milk, full cream, low fat.

I will place this here and get detailed rates later. On Saturday last we had to spray some of our white grapes for PM. As we have "MRL's" which is a withholding period and they seem fussy what is in the wine as this goes to the good old U.S of A. It is Hydrogen Peroxide and I think a form of acetic acid or similar, will do more homework on it then post proper

Hmmmm... I have read that vinegar is sometimes used in some DIY sprays... and acetic acid is basically vinegar. Don't watch GA so much now Peter Cundall isn't there...

Simon
Mildew is very bad where I live, even on the other plants and trees.
I use milk for mildew most of the time and it does work. 1 part to 9 water, whole milk. It does take some time to work, but once working it lasts. I was told the milk builds up a fungus on the leaves and this slowly spreads over the plant. This fungus inhibits the mildew. I add just a tad of canola oil if the wether is wet or dew at night.
I have also used Eco Carb which is basically the Cornell's formula but with potassium bi carb instead of sodium bi carb. It works very well, takes about 2-3 sprays to get it totally under control. I have also used Cornell's but found it did not work near as well as Eco carb.

Eco Carb says it is effective for blackspot, but I don't really have much of that around anymore so can't say.
3-4 years ago tried Cornells for blackspot and it had no effect. I sprayed every 7 days from just prior to first leaves (on HT's). They were covered with BS just as normal.

Can I through this one into the "green drugs" arena, petroleum oil or it's derivatives. Can it be included as it is natural.

roseman wrote:Can I through this one into the "green drugs" arena, petroleum oil or it's derivatives. Can it be included as it is natural.

possibly as 'love potion' vs. spider mites.... ???

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/CG002

....shall well to work against their eggs

roseman wrote:I will place this here and get detailed rates later. On Saturday last we had to spray some of our white grapes for PM. As we have "MRL's" which is a withholding period and they seem fussy what is in the wine as this goes to the good old U.S of A. It is Hydrogen Peroxide and I think a form of acetic acid or similar, will do more homework on it then post proper

may be you have worked with a kind of 'per acetic acid'. It's often used in the food industry for desinfections. At the end of a oxidation process you will only find water and acetic acid, the intermediate H2O2 has escaped

regards Bemo

Bemo is correct, from the label comes this, it is called "Peratec" 250g/L Hydrogen Peroxide and 50g/L Peroxy Acetic Acid, works well on grapes for "PM" so why would it not work on roses.

guess what I'm doing here......

Von misc

the recommended accessories lie on the bucket lid.


regards Bernhard

Bemo, been there done most of that. Solution is get rid of anything that is unhealthy and find roses that will grow in your climate without all the fiddling, time wasting and unhealthy sprays.

Some of the HT's in my area bloom beautifully, great colour, form, high centred just right to win a rose show. Unfortunatly by mid summer they defoliate with black spot and then go dormant in winter.The nurseries have catalogues that show fantastic pictures of new releases marked, healthy and they are usually worse than their previous releases.
One of our largest sellers of HT roses has a massive sprayer kept away from customers eyes and is used weekly with fungus and pestercides sprays. There is still defoliation and black spot, no insect will live in that invironment, have never seen an aphid there in the last 10 years.

If it's not healthy then I won't enjoy it no matter what the flower is like.

Ozeboy, spraying did'nt work anyway vs. BS in my garden, so I decided to go an other way to make the roses more healthy. The preparation above in the bucketis one of the activities. So guess what it is..

regards Bernhard

Don't watch GA so much now Peter Cundall isn't there... [/quote]
ha,ha! I watch it with much greater pleasure these days now I don't have to listen to his silly rot all the time!

Im with you Billndee!
Getting rid of Peter Cundell and getting Stephen Ryan was the best thing that ever happened to that show. I watch it every weekend now.