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Category: Gardening Remembrances | Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 4:56 am

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I had my second to last Master Gardener Course Lesson. Only one more to go, yea!

Today's session was very enlightening. It was very interesting lecture on growing herbs and making home made all natural sprays to control bugs, fungus; bacteria based problems in your garden. Our teacher was a local herb and garden expert, Maria Pacheco-West. Maria is the grounds keeper and specialist at a 350 acre old estate named Lanark Gardens Grounds in Millbrook, AL. Lanark is owned by the Alabama Wildlife Federation.

Maria gave us a handout titled Maria's Spray Recipes (which are safe for most plants, all people and animals). She has been using these sprays for over 30 years and swears by them:

GARLIC SPRAY

Use one whole garlic bulb. Remove the papery skin and put cloves in a blender with mineral oil. Blend until liquid. Place in a glass jar, add one drop of green Polmolive dish soap (she recommends Palmolive because it works best for her, it is important that the soap does not contain lye) and fill the jar to the top with more mineral oil, seal with metal lid not plastic, store in a dark cupboard for 48 hrs. You can keep it in a refrigerator for up to 1 year. Use 3 tablespoons strained garlic solution for every 1 gallon of water. Spray all plants for fungal disease or insect invasion. Will not work for pests such as scale but deters most. It is great for killing fungus. After initial spraying you can cut back to 1 tbsp spoon to every gallon of water when you spray.

Chamomile Spray

Steep 4 teabags of Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea in a cup of hot water. After 20 minutes, squeeze the tea bags into the cup and pour the cup into a spray bottle. Fill the spray bottle the rest of the way with room temperature water and spray seedlings to control Damp-off, a fungal disease which causes seedlings and root cuttings to die.

Chive Spray

Cut a handful of chives and put into a blender half full with water. Blend until liquid.
Pour through a tea strainer into a regular spray bottle. Fill spray bottle to the top with water and add one drop of Palmolive dish soap. This can be stored in the refrigerator up to a week. Solution needs to be at room temperature when you spray your plants. This is a great remedy for White fly, Spider mite, and Mealy bug. Spray under and over leaves, up and down stems and around the base of the plant. This is very helpful with Gardenias, which are very susceptible to White Fly but sensitive to most sprays.

I hope this can help some gardeners with the pest, fungal and bacterial problems we all face. And these are organic and will not harm your or your plants.



Last edited: Fri Apr 16, 2010 5:02 am

This blog entry has been viewed 746 times

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daisybeans wrote on Fri Apr 16, 2010 11:38 am:

VERY interesting. What's best for fungals like blackspot and powdery mildew? The garlic spray? Thanks! This is neat.

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gfreiherr wrote on Fri Apr 16, 2010 5:56 pm:

Thanks for sharing...I don't like using any pesticides if I can help it. Think, I will go brew some chamomile tea for my seedlings.

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SongofJoy57 wrote on Sat Apr 17, 2010 8:45 am:

I am so glad that you posted those recipes, I am going to need them one day, I know! I am glad that you enjoyed your class. It sounds so interesting!

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