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Old 23-08-2013, 06:05 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
songbird[_2_] songbird[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jun 2010
Posts: 3,072
Default Harvesting winter squash

Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:
Derald wrote:


I can attest (anecdotally) that milk spray is
more effective than copper or neem oil and at least as effective as
sulfur -- and is far less likely to harm plants that any of those.


have you ever tried a weak vinegar solution?


I don't think so. What's "weak"?


i'd start with 20 times water to 1 part 5%
vinegar and test it on a few leaves and see
if it helps. if no help make it 18 to 1 and
wait. keep trying until either the leaves
complain or you see beneficial effect. if no
beneficial effect then it would be good to
know. as i think vinegar is much cheaper
than powdered milk.

we have no mildew here on squashes but on
other plants and i never bother to spray
thinking that nature can sort itself out
much faster than i would be able to. if it
somehow took off and affected all the important
plants i'd have to rethink gardening completely.

as it is, the past week i've noticed a new
bug on the one cabbage which turned out to not
be a cabbage plant. i've plucked leaves off
hoping to keep it from spreading to anything
else. since the plant is not what we want and
if the problem persists i may just get rid of
the whole plant. no need to start a trouble
source. no idea yet what the bug is other than
it looks like grey aphids. i just smush 'em
all and then put the leaves in the bucket for
them to bake in the sun.


I have found -- again, anecdotally -- that "whole" milk seems to
interfere with pollination of some garden plants so, if you try it, be
sure to stick with low fat or no fat milk or liquid whey.


hmm.


I think it's the fat but it could be "just my imagnation".





i've not ever seen damage to the beans or
tomatoes from birds. at least not that i
can ever recognize.


Blue jays are extremely damaging to tomatoes. Tufted titmouses
(...mice?), as well as chickadees, take very young (2-3") green beans
consistently but not enough to concern me.


hmm, not too many bluejays around here (west
nile virus has taken a large toll on their
population, but also since we do not feed
birds they only come about when we have
sunflowers ripening, so we should see them
starting in a few weeks). we do have
the titmice and chickadees. don't see them
in the beans often, i see them more along
the wooded northern border where we have
the fruit bearing bushes (wild fruit of
some kind including the honeysuckle which
i would not encourage anyone to plant if
they were worried about invasive spreading).

songbird