Specialty Gardening: Healthy Hollyhock Spray, 1 by cactuspatch

cactuspatch wrote:
Since we have had such a nice winter and it has been so like spring lately, I am getting a head start on things in the garden. I have several hollyhocks that are getting pretty tall (18 inches or so) already. I thought I would share this recipe that I saved from a Sharon Lovejoy article in Country Living Gardener.

Mix 1 gallon of water, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 T canola oil, 1/2 tsp. Ivory liquid dish soap (I have used different kinds) 1/2 cup white vinegar
shake thouroughly before each use and spray your hollyhocks once weekly from the time the first buds appear until the flowers stop blooming. Apply in the early AM drenching both sides of the leaves with liquid.

I have to admit that I don't do it as often as I should, but since I started using it I haven't had any rust on my hollyhocks.