"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 30 May 2017 10:49:49 +0100, "Bertie Doe"
Meanwhile back on planet earth, a quick call to a local farm supplier;
they
have "Copper Mixture" made by Vitax at £3.74p for 175g "Sufficient to make
9
litres". It doesn't state Chris, whether it's c sulphate or oxychloride.
"contain copper, manganese and zinc".

..Amazon do it, at twice the price of course:
..http://tinyurl.com/ya2gsppl But Vitax are marketing it as a trace
element fertiliser, but I suspect that's just to get around the
regulations, a bit like Root-Out is advertised as a compost
accelerator rather than a herbicide

The best compost accelerator, by a country mile is Yarrow. It thrives in the
grass roadside verges, that have been regularly mown. The fern-like leaves
are instantly recognisable. You can buy the seed, pick leaves at 4", a
heaped tablespoonful per wheelbarrow of weeds/grass :-
https://tedmanzer.com/2012/06/10/yar...edicinal-herb/
snip

David, it may be of interest as it includes fruit as well as potato
protection.

Chris, if Bordeaux is a mix of copper and lime, the local supplier also has
"garden lime" 3.5 Kg at £3.98 (inc) and 20 Kg at £9.98 inc. Should I
sprinkle lime on soil or mix with the copper and spray on potato leaves?
TIA


Question: is it truly hydrated lime, aka slaked lime, or is it ground
limestone? The latter is frequently advertised and sold as 'garden
lime' because hydrated lime needs to be handled a little carefully,
especially so that it doesn't get into your eyes. Suppliers these days
are very H&S conscious, and won't risk selling anything remotely
hazardous to the general public for fear of somebody misusing it and
the supplier being sued. Hence proper hydrated lime is no longer
available in garden centres, but only through builders merchants.
snip
Another call to the farm supplier - no it's not hydrated/slaked lime and is
in granular form. These should be forked into the ground. It does not state
that it's water soluble. If I can't get hold of the slaked, I'll spray with
Vitax and dig in the ground lime. I also need to move brassicas from g/house
to allotment. These will also benefit from a dose of lime.