25-10-2011, 10:09 PM
posted to rec.gardens
|
|
external usenet poster
|
|
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jun 2009
Posts: 918
|
|
Denture cleaners for plants?
On Oct 24, 11:12*pm, Billy wrote:
In article
,
*Higgs Boson wrote:
Clearing out guest room, found bathroom/cosmetic supplies left by
guest. *Included packets of denture cleaners. *Powder that gets
dissolved in water?
Mentioned this to garden friend, who opined that there is something in
that stuff that is good for plants. *Is this weird
or possible?
TIA
HB
I've never tried it, but . . .
http://www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm
Plants feeling under the weather?
Give them aspirin water!
By Marion Owen, Fearless Weeder for PlanTea, Inc. and
Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul
aspirin"Take two aspirin and call me in the morning."
We've all heard that advice from doctors. And moms have been dispensing
this all-purpose cure-all to their families as a standard way of
providing relief from headaches and sniffles, muscle aches and joint
pain.
Then it should be no surprise to learn how an important aspirin
ingredient--salicylic acid--is being used as an Earth-friendly first aid
for warding off plant diseases.
Meet Martha McBurney, the master gardener in charge of the demonstration
vegetable garden at the University of Rhode Island. In the summer of
2005 she tested aspirin water on tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, basil and
other plants after reading about it in a gardening publication called
the Avant Gardener (PO Box 489, New York, NY 10028). The results were
well, astonishing...
"What caught my eye in the original Avant Gardener article was it said
that aspirin is an activator of Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR). And
that plants, when under stress, naturally produce salicylic acid, but
not fast enough and in sufficient quantities to really help them out in
time. So the bugs get them, and diseases get them, and they show even
more stress.
"But if you give them aspirin, it helps boost their immune system, kind
of like feeding people echinacea so they don't get a cold.
How much, and how often
The dosage that Martha used was 1.5 [uncoated] aspirins to 2 gallons of
water. She also added 2 tablespoons of yucca extract to help the aspirin
water stick to the leaves better. (The yucca extract can be substituted
with a mild liquid soap.) Martha explained that the yucca (or soap)
prevents the aspirin water from beading up and rolling off leaves of
broccoli and kale leaves. Finally, she sprayed the plants every 3 weeks.
[...]
..
Thanks for article and link, Billy. Definitely worth trying.
HB
|