Lime Sulphur

I am using lime sulphur this winter on my roses for the first time. I am puzzled by the instructions to use a fresh mixture.
How fresh does it have to be? Does it go "off" in hours, days or weeks?
What actually happens to it when it goes stale?
I think the directions on the product are incomplete without having a time limit to explain "fresh".

If you prepare a mixture and leave it for a day, a bad smell coming from it will melt the container Anyway, that's the trouble with lime sulphur -- smells like hell, and quicker you spray the garden, better for everyone. When you spray it, quickly hide the container, go inside the house and then come outside again, and then start to look around, pretending you want to see what's going on and catch the guy who smelled the environment.
Ps. Don't forget to grip your nostrils firmly with a peg!

Ozrosarian wrote:When you spray it, quickly hide the container, go inside the house and then come outside again, and then start to look around, pretending you want to see what's going on and catch the guy who smelled the environment.
Ps. Don't forget to grip your nostrils firmly with a peg!

I left a bucket full in the laundry sink overnight accidentally.

It was feral in the morning. Hydrogen sulphide?, rotten egg gas. Nasty.

Ok, I haven't smelt it yet because the mixture is sitting in a sealed sprayer/ If the shed blows up over night I will know the cause of the explosion.

oops!

can only be beaten by stinging nettle or alfalfa-tea

I must have dull senses, because I find that the lime sulphur doesn't smell that bad the day after etc but I do find that if you leave it in a spray bottle for a long time it seems to eat into the moving sections of the spray bottle

Simon our very own Science teacher can answer this, but I think it would be the reaction between the 2 chemicals at some point.

Just mix it, then spray and wash out the sprayer with clean water.

Why would you want to keep it more than a day? Most chemicals attack metal and lose strength when stored.

What's the problem?

Or.... don't use it at all

I don't use it a great deal except on HT's and DA's. Don't really know if it makes a difference due to seasons being different.

HT's still suffer a lot of Blackspot and the DA's look like they have some terrible disease up and down the bare canes. Heritage and Grace seem to be better in that department. Wish they would grow here for they are very nice roses.

Gardening should be fun, specially when the right plants are selected for your climate. I've mentioned before how all these sprays cripple ones immune system.

Simon wrote:Or.... don't use it at all

where did the idea come from to use these things after a prune.......many, many years ago they did not have these luxeries and they still produce lovely roses.....

I don't see your point I think I agree with you... great roses WERE grown before most of these chemicals were concocted...and can still be produced today with better rose choices. I don't see them as luxuries though... I see them as life support systems for roses that can no longer fend for themselves. I personally would not use it or any other chemical... and I have a degree in chemistry and biochemistry so reckon I know a thing or two about chemicals and the risks they pose... even ones as supposedly benign as lime sulfur.