I just got a huge box of books that I won on E-Bay. They are all Jerry Baker and I am in gardening heaven..I just love the way he writes and I have used many of his tonics over the years and have been very happy with all of them. My hubby had better watch his beer supply as I can see it is going to take quite a beating. Anyone else use his tonics?
Jerry Baker Books
never heard of him..please post a few, now I am curious
He has a book called The Impatient Gardener( one of many books) and I have used lots of his tonics but the one I used the most is a fertilizer for Evergreens....Mix 1/2 can beer and a shot glass of Fish emulsion per 2 gallons of water for each evergreen.....4 years ago we were very fortunate enough to be able to dig up 35 evergreen trees from a friends yard before he sold it..I kept everyone of them alive by using this tonic and today they all tower above my head..Another great one I use is for my Daylilies...1Tbsp liquid dish soap,1 tbsp fish fertilizer,2 Tbsp Hydrogen Peroxide 1/2 can of beer,1 Tsp Instant Tea mix in 2 gallons of water..He has tonics that are almost always things you have around the house and they work GREAT..
Does he specify what the hydrogen peroxide is for?
and -did you notice a difference in your daylilies after using this?
I love gardening books, they seem to be of two types, though, lots of info and not many pictures, or fabulous pictures, and little useful info.
This message was edited Feb 4, 2007 10:45 PM
Good Morning Cheryl: I noticed a BIG difference in the ones that I transplanted there was NO shock at all and believe me I was NOT gentle as I had to pull a lot of grass roots out of them.It seemed the ones I used it on as a complete fertilizer had MORE blooms and they certainly lasted longer. BTW I was going to mail you..I am so excited another of the seeds germinated and is showing it's pretty head this morning..I planted them last Sunday. The Blueberry ones don't seem to want to start But I still have my fingers crossed..I will let you know how things are progressing as I have about 50 seeds planted now.
I live in Windsor, right across the border from Detroit. Jerry baker is on call in radio shows now and again and on PBS Detroit. I have told many of my customers(worked at Canadian Tire in Garden Dept) to use his recipe to break down thatch in your lawn. I believe it is 1cup of liquid dish soap, 1 can of coke, 1 beer, 1 cup of ammonia(household cleaner) and 1 cup of liquid lawn food. CTC sells a hose end siphon sprayer that you put it into. Each ingred. has a specific purpose. Beer: microorganisms to help decay dead grass, Coke: sugar to help microorganisms, Ammonia: nitrogen that is necessary in the presence of micro orgs to break down vegetation, dish soap to help the solution to get into the thatch layer (it makes water wetter)
The other one I like is tobacco for insecticide. (would love to use DH's unsmoked ones to help him kick habit)
I have his book called Jerry Baker's Garden Secrets. I love the tonics and the humorous tone he takes in writing but found it very hard to reference tonics I'd remembered reading about once I was done reading because it is kind-of written like magazine format with several sidenotes, icons, dictionary descriptions, etc all over each page. I've yet to try any of his tonics though. One thing I DID WONDER ABOUT was he said his grandmother would always pour a sack of potatoes into a hole dug for a tree, that the nutrients of the potatoes did wonders for the tree. Just wondered *lol* wouldn't the potatoes sprout?!?
I really like his tonics, all the ones I have tried have really worked well.Thanks momo I was wondering where I was going to get a larger hose end sprayer as mine is just a small one mainly used for fertilizer. I will check out CT.
The hose-end sprayer is about the same size as the Miracle-gro sprayer, but it works differently. It siphons the contents instead of diluting it. I think it makes 16 Gallons (the units Jetty uses) and Jerry reccommends a 20gal. sprayer. I mix everything in a separate container then put it in the sprayer.