Has anyone heard of using a spray of buttermilk, flour and water for spider mites??? If so, does it work?
Buttermilk spray..
I just read this recently too. It's worth a try :)
Might look a little nasty, but it should wash off later. The only thing I would wonder about would be....will it clog up the pours? I would want my leaves to be able to breathe.
This is the recipe I was talking about.....wondering if it is worth trying or will I end up with a coated brug ready for frying..
Use this for heavy infestation of spider mites
1 pound white flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
5 gallon water
Mix until blended well.
Siphon into a spray container and apply weekly
to fruit trees until the leaves are full grown
and mite populations have decreased to about 3 per leaf.
"Siphon into a spray container" ?? I guess that's to seperate the sediment? That's a huge recipe... 5 gallons! I would have to cut it down a lot.
I would think the leaves would look white. I once sprayed milk on my roses, I can't remember why. What a smelly mess. Not one of my brighter days.
Milk is supposed to be a great powdery mildew remedy.
Do not tell the organic gardeners on me Sue, but I will take the chemicals over dairy any day! LOL
I remember Monika saying that oily stuff sprayed on arboreas will kill them. Like Endall and other products like that. The oil jams up their pores.
Maybe that is what was happening to mine. I was spraying every week with something for white flies and it began getting very sick. Hopefully I have saved it by cutting it back. I think it helped to get it outside too.
This is a little off this thread but I can tell you that today I ran across a HUGE mess of fireants and eggs in my patio and ran around the house looking for Raid..when I couldn't find any, I picked up the first spray can I could find (which was Pam) and sprayed the devil out of them..killed them all. So..Pam kills ants along with making food not stick..LOL
Great to know.
Wouldn't horticultural oil in a fine spray work well too?
I think anything would have been better than using Pam but I was in a panic..didnt want them fireants getting away, especially with so many eggs. Pam'd to death..what a legacy.
For ants... Orange oil (horticultural) will work, especially when mixed with a little MOLASSES! Also, grits work well (uncooked). I recently learned that diluted milk is good for plants that wilt in the heat. It makes a coating which prevents them from losing water during the transpiration process resulting in less wilt, and less stress on the plant.
Milk seems to be very good for a variety of horticultural applications. I knew it was excellent for protecting plants against powdery mildew, but I didn't know that it helped to prevent moisture loss in plants during very high temperatures! Boy, I sure could have used that advice yesterday and today. Our temps were in the high 80's and my plants were wilting from the heat! I had to water them early in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. We aren't use to such a heat wave in April!! It felt like it was August!!!
Hi
Shirley1md!!! You posted: I knew it was excellent for protecting plants against powdery mildew,
Could you tell me more about powdery mildew??? I found some today on dwarf crepe myrtles, which had a plant??? above them that has aphids. What to do??!!! TIA!!! SherryLike, zone 8a
PS - I've never used chemicals before but I think I'm about to cross the line. Oh, well...
SherryLike,
Mix up a solution in a spray bottle of 9 parts water to 1 part milk. It doesn't have to be whole milk. 2% and skin milk work work well too. Just shake to mix the water with the milk and then spray. You need to reapply after it rains or if you have a bad infestation of powdery mildew.
A few drops (2-3 per quart) of liquid soap in water will kill most soft bodied insects - Aphids, Mites and Earwigs. The soap breaks the surface tension on the leaves and the soft-bodied insects basically drown.
Good Luck!
Shirley
Thanks, Shirley1md!!! I will try the milk today, I have already used the liquid soap water and there are no new places, but I'll give milk a go, since I don't have much of it. I will also use the milk on a Bachelor Button plant that wilts almost daily. Tag said to plant in full sun, which was a no go, moved him to more shade, but he still wilts. He is so pretty, I hope the milk works. BTW, does is make any difference which liquid soap is used? I think that gentleman gardner, who wrote the book, maybe named 'Baker', said to use a lemon liquid soap, but mine was plain. This I know, I'm going to have to get another wagon to carry around all my supplies, LOL! SLike
LOL SherryL..I know what you mean about a wagon to carry your supplies. Seems if we are going to try everything, it will take more than a wagon..sigh
SherryL,
It doesn't really matter which liquid soap you use. Basically, which ever brand you have in your house is fine. I'm sure that the lemon liquid soap smell good, but don't know if it is necessary.
Your "little red wagon" that you played with as a child will really come in handy now! You can put your gardening supplies and tools in your wagon and you're all set!!
Happy gardening,
Shirley
I read someplace that we should not use anti-bacterial dish soap. Does anyone know anything about this and why we shouldn't use it? Hope I wasn't have a dream one night. LOL!
We need to have germs around us to build up our immune systems, Brugie.
it does matter which liquid detergent to use!!!
Palmolive dishwashing soap from previous experiences learned is 'wetter than water', if that make sense ... the very reason why it washes better. my only preference to use for plant spray.
lemon scented soap is 2nd preference cause from some readings i've done, bugs dislikes the smell of lemon accdg to J. Baker.
3rd soap to use Murphy's oil soap cuz it is derived from vegetable oil. hth.
I'll switch to Palmolive liquid soap and if they have a lemon scented variety, so much the better. I forgot about Murphy's oil soap. That's good to use in the garden too. Thanks MaVieRose!
Has anybody tried the buttermilk spray yet?