Asprin for plants?

I found this in the propagation forum has anyone ever tried this?
[HYPERLINK@www.plantea.com]
http://www.bluestem.ca/willow-article1.htm
Added link

This message was edited Dec 23, 2005 1:57 PM

I had never heard of using asprin for plants but my mother always put a 1/4 of asprin in the water of fresh flowers to make them keep longer.

My mother used the asprin too, Doris. Heavinscent, I cannot find a listing of the ingredients (seaweed leaves, grass clippings, crushed leaves) in Plan Tea or mixing directions or how often it is to be used. This I ask, because I bought lots of a well known fertilizer, it was expensive, and, as it turned out, I had to use the entire box the first and last time i used it. Didn't go very far at all. Maybe all that stuff is on the site, but I couldn't find it. Thanks!!

Sherry I dont think that was the right link, this was the one I ment to use
http://www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm

Sorry! I dont even know where that plant tea came from its a good read though.

We've been discussing aspirin water and its uses in the propagation forum. Check it out! http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/560762/

That is where I got this from! I just wondered if anyone has tried it on Brugs?

I am trying to get caught up on this forum and just saw this. So funny Caren, another member here and I were just talking about using aspirin. I f you try it, let us know how you do! What a kick if it works, it is so inexpensive and easily accessible. From what I have read, it almost sounds like Messenger at a fraction of the price. I sure will give it a whirl. Why not? LOL

I am going to try it! What will it hurt? How much soap would you use for two gallons of water?

This message was edited Dec 28, 2005 6:41 AM

In the article it said, "She also added two tablespoons of yucca extract to help the aspirin water stick better to the leaves. "

The yucca extract can be substituted with a mild liquid soap. Since I don't have access to yucca extract or know how much it costs, mild liquid soap will work just fine (read on the Brug forum that Palmolive is the best to use) . The liquid soap adheres to the plant leaves and prevents the aspirin water from just rolling off the leaf surfaces. Don't forget to spray both sides for the best coverage.

Have you tried it yet, Shirley? I find it so intriguing. I love to try new stuff. Keeps things interesting after all these years.

Talking about new stuff...I used to use old,outdated birthcontrol pills from my husbands office which I dissolved in water.

That was back in the 70's and I used to have the best looking houseplants around ;-)

Too funny Brigitte. You will have us all going to the doctor to get prescriptions. Though in my case, one look and at me and she/he will send me to the psych ward. LOL

I've just started spraying aspirin water on my plants in my sunroom. Since I pulled off all the leaves on my Brugs, I can't experiment on them until next Spring. I've sprayed my tropical Hibiscuses with it and hope to see some nice healthy foliage, like when they were outdoors! The plants in my basement will not be receiving the aspirin water.

Brigitte: I too remember giving my plants birth control pills years ago! It REALLY works!! Afterall, you are putting the plants on hormone therapy!!

My doctor would think I'm totally crazy too if I asked for these pills....for my plants!! I would be joining you in the Psych ward, Kell!

One look at me and he would know I was well beyond needing birth control. LOL.

My tropical hibiscus look terrible, Shirley. I am distraught over them. I had such beauties over the summer. I moved them into the hoophouse. I am wondering if I should have left them where they were outside. All around me people have huge bushes of hibiscus. No problem all winter. And here they just want to die, inside or out. I do not understand why they hate me so. Please let me know how they like aspirin. When I look at mine, I need aspirin for my headache.

This was my favorite one and it is going south. I think I will spray it with aspirin tomorrow.

Very interesting thread. I will watch this one closely. I have a large bottle of aspirin about to expire that I will hold onto now instead of tossing.

Too funny with the BCPs...I am taking stuff for hot flashes...I wonder what that might do! I'll keep you posted!

BTW I do put a aspirin into my christmastreestands to keep the trees longer fresh every year .

Also have occassionally dropped a tablet into water with fresh flowers but never have used it for foliar treatment before.Will try that after the holidays after all our family is gone.

I have heard of the aspirin for fresh cut flowers, too. I use sprite or some other citrus soda. It is important to use regular soda, not diet, because the sugar feeds the flowers. The citric acid in the soda helps prevent bacteria from forming to keep the flowers fresh. It works well for me.

oh, wow. can't believe i'm reading this thread just now. yeah, ages ago, i know people used aspirin for fresh cut flowers.

So sorry to hear about your tropical Hibcus, Kell. You may have the following insects making your plants sick, "such as aphids, thrips, scale, or whiteflies". Besides trying aspirin waster, many people report that Bounce fabric conditioner strips also discourage whiteflies. "Soaps and dishwashing detergents (Soaps are preferable to detergents.) are also very useful as are certain types of oils, such as Ultra Fine Oil, very good for whiteflies. Many report good results with neem products. WD40 or Pam, sprayed on the stem and branches and avoiding the leaves, are excellent for controlling scale. NEVER use liquid Malathion on hibiscus." Hope this info helps!

Definitely hold onto that expired bottle of aspirin, Angela! Your plants may thank you for it!

Brigitte: Glad you use aspirin to keep your Christmas tree and cut flowers looking fresh! Thanks for taking that leap of faith and trying aspirin water as a foliar spray. Please let us know your observations & results.

Yeah Moonglow! Another believer!

Kell - I find that my hibuscus do better over winter with a fan on them. Can you add some
air flow to your hoop house? And I'm constantly battling scale on them.

Tammy: I have a ceiling fan where I grow my tropical Hibiscus & they still get insects. Are you taking about a fan blowing air directly at your Hibiscus?

We are having 60 mile an hour winds right now. The hoophouse fell down! A couple of pieces on the top cracked. Next year we will get all new fittings. But everything is OK except maybe my husband. I won't repeat what he was muttering out there in the rain and wind as he fixed it. LOL He must really love me for he sure hates my plants.

Boy Shirley, you have a lot of info packed into that paragragh! Thanks!

I have black on the tips of some of them. Some sort of dreaded fungal disease I bet.

Tammy, I am so afraid of putting electical equipment in there. It gets so wet in there, water can drip from the ceiling! The only thing that has ever worked on scale for me is the Bayer Tree and Shrub systemic soil drench. That stuff is so easy to use and lasts up to a year!! I had scale covering my oleander trees and 1 had died from them. Nothing worked, but just 1 application of the Bayer stuff and I have never seen scale again!

I placed a couple of fans so they blow on as many plants as possible. Its helped a lot with
insects. I still fight the scale though. I use a pyrethrum product from Charlies Greenhouse but
I do need to reapply every few months since they come back. I'll look up that Bayer Tree & Shrub
soil drench.

Kell - so sorry to hear about the winds & your greenhouse woes. And you've got a wonderful
husband to fix your hoophouse!

Tam

Kell, you must live very near my Golden pals, Carmel, they are having the exact same weather, whew, what a mess. Sorry about your hoop house, all those pretties and the hard work. Hope you all are safe!!

I can't find the 81gm aspirin that isn't coated. I hope I find it soon, I sure want to try this.

My brother used to get the generic reg aspirin from the discount pharmacy down the street from his place, so that might be a good place to try. So cheap too. Too bad I threw mine away yrs ago when they told me not to use aspirin anymore. Def going to go looking and buy some again.

Sorry to hear about your hoophouse woes Kell! He must love you and be a real sweetie to fix it! ~ Suzi :)

Kell, you've got a great hubby to go out in the rain and take care of your plants. I've been seeing all the terrible weather on tv and have wondered about so many of you where there's flooding and the others of you where there are fires.

My weather has been unusually nice, 70s yesterday and I was sweating working in the yard. Today it's raining, but it's just a gentle rain so the things I moved will love that.

Good luck Tammy against your scale. Let us know how you do!

My DH is pretty great. He kept going out yesterday adding things to his fix. So I think it will be OK now. Another storm is here. We get no rain for at least 7 months of the year, but sure make up for it in winter. Our hills go from brown to lush green in winter.

Sherry, I LOVE Carmel! I wish I lived there. It is south of me.

Suzi, let us know ow you do with the aspirin. I can't remember now which plants I dosed. LOL

Linda, we are all moving to Columbia ASAP!

Hi All,
Kell, Sorry about the hoop house, Happy that DH was able to patch it up. We are having wonderful weather here for a change. Has been in the 60s for several days. Snow in the forecast though. Your Hibiscus is beautiful. I have had some really nice ones but they don't deal well with winter here, inside the greenhouse or in the basement.

I also used the Bayer tree and shrub for scale. I had a couple of Arabian Jasmines that had scale when I bought them I battled it for almost 4 years. I used the Bayer Drench in the spring and they are beautiful. I found some scale on another plant the other day and am going to treat it this week. Great stuff.

I've seen a couple people mention Bayer tree and shrub systemic. I saw it on a different thread this past summer also. I can't find the one that gave usage instructions. Can someone help me with measurements to use on potted plants? Does it work on mealy bugs and white fly also?

And where do you get it? on-line source?

I just estimate, Kathy. It talks about calculating for trees and then for bushes also as I recall. I do it for bushes if small, and do it by the tree way if tall. Don't be stingy though, you want their blood level up enough to kill those buggers. If the plant is small, I just use a heavy hand for I know no way will the soil take more than a few ounces of the mix, no way the entire gallon or 2 like a in the ground tree would. And do not tell anyone this, but I have even poured it straight on th etop soil of a 5 gallon crepe myrtle and then watered it from the hose very slowly till it started running out the bottom.

Tammy, Home Depot and Lowes carries it and you will pay more at a regular nursery. It is not cheap but it supposedly lasts in the plant for up to a year after just one application and it also is so easy to apply to the roots. You put the amount calculated by the diameter of the tree or the height of the bush into 1 or 2 gallons of water and just water the plant around the base.

I just looked this up for you Tammy and Kathy.
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/garden/products/details.cfm?id=12.

And Kathy you can click on the product label and get specific use directions.

Thank you! I'll have to pick some up for the citrus & hibiscus trees in my greenhouse.
Would be great to drench 'em once and be done for a year.
Tam

I have this product and I called the 800 # but the operator said it is not to be used on potted plants. I know that is just what they recomend but she would not give me any info on potted plant use at all. Ill still use it but my mix is just a guess till someone posts a mixture. Kell I love your mix plan! LOL Just pour, water and hope for the best! ;-)

Kell, how long after a rooting or a seedling is planted do you wait to treat them with the Bayer Tree/Shrub?? I want to start off on the right foot this year...

Edited to ask another question. After you use the Tree/Shrub, how long should you wait to use the Bayer 3 n' 1?? I want to start early on an insect program. When I wait, the damage is already done.

This message was edited Jan 4, 2006 9:52 AM

Gee Caren, I had no clue that you weren't supposed to use it in pots. I wonder why! Is that on the bottle too? I use it in pots. LOL. Oh dear. Are they worried about run off or that it will be too strong? Did she say?

Someday I will get caught big time for the things I do at times. Someone on here last year said how they just take the Miracle Grow and pour the green stuff on the soil directly dry. Then hose it in. So I do that too. LOL. So far no burning! Though I wouldn't do it on small delicate roots for sure!

Sherry, I only have used it when I have a problem so I do not use it routinely. Though last year I used it on about every 10th seedling in the ground but they were all big by then. I was having a problem with cucumber beetles so I picked the most floriferous seedlings and doused them hoping their next bite would be their last. As I recall, the label did not mention cucumber beetles but it really seems to decrease their population.

Was it Patrica who said she has used it on seedlings in her GH? Someone did. I think maybe Patrica said she uses a bug bomb.

Tammy, are you going to eat the citrus fruit? I do not know if this stuff is for edible plants.

Kell, I really have no clue why bayer says not to use it in containers but the operator was firm about it. The only reason I called the 800# was to ask how to use it in pots. Like you said runoff may be an issue, but I have used it on several container plants with no problems with the exception of one very young plant that was most likely on its way out anyway. Perhaps they have just never tested it in containers and cant give any info on it.
Either way I still use it.

Kell - I realized after I posted I should have added I'd prefer scale free citrus to edible fruits!
The scent of their flowers in the greenhouse is simply heaven.

Thanks for the input. I'm going to look for some and give it a try. I mostly want to use it on potted plants also. All my tropicals are in pots. They go out for the summer and come in for the winter so bugs are a real concern. I've been fighting white fly and aphids right now. I'm willing to try anything.