Jerry Baker's recipes

I have been trying to use some of Jerry Baker's "homemade" recipes for taking care of my yard and flower beds this year. I am having problems with ALL of the recipes that call for the use of molasses or karo syrup. They gum up my hose end sprayer big time and I find them to be virtually useless in any kind of sprayer. These recipes have been published for many, many years without any changes in the ingredients. So the problem must be with me. Has anybody out there had success using these mixes in their hose-end sprayers? If yes, would you please share your secret of success with me? Thanks.

Honestly I wonder if Jerry really has tried all his elixirs! I have one of his books and have yet to try most of them because they sound sticky or stinky or just alot of trouble. I don't think it is you, it's the recipe, and poor Jerry who's probably laughing all the way to the bank.

YardenMan - I have tried some of these recipes.
The secret is to thin the syrup out with warm water,
then add it to your sprayer. I've used his recipe
for the lawn also. Last year, I had French drains
put in and all the foot and wheelbarrow traffic
decimated the St. Augustine grass. It was dead
and brown. The soil was totally compacted.
So, this spring I've been using Jerry's method
and - surprise, surprise - there are new long
runners coming up all over. The area is greening
up very nicely.
His DVDs are available at Netflix, and I am
sure other places as well. Really, when you
get right down to it, the recipes are all one basic
recipe, with a few added twists.
Amonia, Listerine, lemon scented dish soap,
cola, pinch of instant tea, spoon of sugar,
a shot of whiskey now and then or a bit of
coffee, plus chewing tobacco tea.
I just do it once a month and it seems to be
working here. Hard to tell yet. I'm new to
Texas and not used to things frying on the plant
in June. But back in Chicago, I had a really nice
house, updated, huge wrap around porch,
but the people bought my garden thanks to
Jerry's advice over the years. His method can
be as simple or as complicated as you make it.
I have found that it all boils down to getting out
there and paying attention, plus a little loving care.
Good luck.

Mahnot --- Thanks for the informative reply. I agree with your statement that all of JB's recipes are the same with minor variations for the different applications. That is an observation I have made myself. I am glad you told me about the hot water dilution because I would have not thought it would work. Intuitively I would have thought that once the warm-water diluted syrup was mixed with the other liquids, it would cool down enough to thicken up again - not completely, but certainly enough to gum up my sprayers. I am inferring from your posting that you dilute the syrup with enough hot water to the point that the mix has the consistancy of water. My solution to the sprayer gumming problem had been: The syrup was being added to the recipes for their high, concentrated sugar content; therefore I was using root beer (the soda with the highest sugar content that I could find) as a substitute for the syrup. Your solution is better because it will result in a higher sugar content in the mix. Thanks.

YardenMan, you're most welcome. I did forget to mention
one very important ingredient - THE BEER !!! LOL

Do you apply the beer before or after???

You apply it liberally to everything entering the garden.
Like Mae West said, "Too much of a good thing
is wonderful."

when I bring up the subject of Jerry Baker at the extension office, all the horticultural staff start rolling their eyes. They don't think much of him.

I first learned of him thru PBS and brought it to hubby's attention but didn't actually prepare any of the elixirs. Hubby did and since then he's bought 2-3 of his books and he believes there is a positive difference after application. Of course, after he's watched me use Messenger, he's come to realize that "homemade" concoctions are not the only answer out there in gardening world.

I hear 'ya, Vossner. There is an easier way to do it,
but Jerry's methods do work - they're just very
labor intensive.
The best tip for me has been the one about spraying
the grass with beer, soap, amonia, cola, syrup, and
Listerine. It opens up the soil so that water can
penetrate, and the grass also benefits from a
light washing and feeding.
I started doing this after I saw the demonstration he
gave about compacted soil. He spit on the ground
and it just sat there. Wasn't absorbed. Soil tension,
I believe that's what he called it. Anyway, I'm not
that diligent about his schedules, etc..; however, it
does help to wash the plants with his mix and I notice
that the bushes put out more leaves when I do this.

Like the song says - to each his own.
Who had the hit song on that anyway?.....
"A rose must remain with the sun and the rain,
Or it's lovely promise won't come true.
To each his own, I found my own
One and only you." ........etc....

Now it's gonna be stuck in my mind for days.

he uses that one and likes it quite well.

Great to hear that there is some creedence to those recipes. Have 2 of his books, have read them both, but have been too scared to try them. Will try it on the grass first, who needs it anyway - all it does is take up precious space that could be used for more garden beds.

Well, the way I look at it is that your eye needs
somewhere to rest between flower beds, and
that is why God invented grass. Of course,
we are allowed to keep it to a minimum.

I suggest a book that I read a couple of weeks ago called The Truth About Garden Remedies: What Works, What Doesn't & Why by Jeff Gillman. He goes through many of the home remedies ingredient by ingredient and explains why many of them are a waste of time or are more trouble and less effective than the alternatives on the market. I tend to agree with him in most cases.

Yeah, andidandi - but did he remember the LOVE that
goes into each mix? Most likely, it's not the mixes
themselves that do the trick; it's probably the due
diligence that a dedicated gardener gives to the
garden that really produces the desired effect.
Anyway, that's mystory and I'm stickin' to it.
Will check out the book. Thanks.

I agree. I think in many cases the remedies "work" because of a sort of placebo effect. People are paying attention and watering more if they are the sort to bother with these remedies in the first place, and they attribute the results of greater care to the formula. In most cases it seems like the remedies cost more that professional products when you consider all of things that go into them.