On 30/05/2017 16:16, Bertie Doe wrote:


"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.




Going off topic a bit.
In the past you used to be able to get calcified seaweed but this seems
to have gone off the market in the last few years.