Rubbing Alcohol for the Garden
 

Looking for a way to prevent new growth from being eaten by bugs/aphids, and
control brown spot & mildew.

Have bee using a GardenSafe 3 in 1 spray, but heard Rubbing Alcohol is a
good trick. What do y'all think about putting this in a hose-end sprayer?

Thanks, Brian

Rubbing Alcohol for the Garden
 

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 03:04:47 GMT, "Brian Clifton"
opined:

Looking for a way to prevent new growth from being eaten by bugs/aphids, and
control brown spot & mildew.

Have bee using a GardenSafe 3 in 1 spray, but heard Rubbing Alcohol is a
good trick. What do y'all think about putting this in a hose-end sprayer?

Thanks, Brian


I wouldn't consider ever doing that. You will certainly hit other creatures and
cause them great pain. Lizards come to mind. If you have monumental problems
with pests and disease, you should look to your soil for the cause of problems,
not solutions up on top where the plant is.

Just my opinion.

Rubbing Alcohol for the Garden
 

"Brian Clifton" wrote in message
...
Looking for a way to prevent new growth from being eaten by bugs/aphids,
and
control brown spot & mildew.

Have bee using a GardenSafe 3 in 1 spray, but heard Rubbing Alcohol is a
good trick. What do y'all think about putting this in a hose-end sprayer?

Putting any type of flammable material in any type of sprayer is not a very
good idea. Imagine spraying gasoline around your house and waiting for
someone to throw a cigarette on it. This is essentially what you would be
doing. Also I don't think it would be a very good control for your problems
and would probably be just as expensive (if not more) than the 3 in 1
product you are currently using.

If you are looking for a cheaper solution, try this: Mix 3 Tbs baking soda,
1 tsp of Ivory dish soap per gallon of water and apply with a garden
sprayer. If you want to use a hose-end sprayer, mix 1 cup of baking soda
with 3 cups water until dissolved, then add 1 oz of Ivory dish soap. Put in
your hose-end sprayer and set the sprayer to 5 oz.

The baking soda slightly changes the PH level of the plant's leaves. Fungus
and mildew can only live in a narrow PH environment. The soap washes off
the waxy coating on soft bodied insects and will kill them.

I prefer to use commercial fungicides rather than baking soda. The reason
being fungicide is pretty cheap and it works by messing with the fungus
and/or mildew's reproductive system rather than changing the PH, which could
harm the plant if used in excess.