Once again this stuff is ruining my crepe myrtle. I tried spraying it with
water and baking soda to change the ph but that didn't seem to have any
effect. Other than fungicide that is so harmful to humans (I forget it's
name) does anyone have any suggestions? This will be year 3 that my crepe's
blooms have been compromised and drastically reducing it's blooms.

I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.

Frustrated,
Chris

Chris wrote:
Once again this stuff is ruining my crepe myrtle. I tried spraying it with
water and baking soda to change the ph but that didn't seem to have any
effect. Other than fungicide that is so harmful to humans (I forget it's
name) does anyone have any suggestions? This will be year 3 that my crepe's
blooms have been compromised and drastically reducing it's blooms.

I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.

Frustrated,
Chris


My best non-chemical results came from making sure that there was plenty
of free moving air around them and not getting water on the leaves late
in the day. Mine are now about 10-20ft tall and I keep the leaves
trimmed up to about 5-6ft. The multiple trunks are really attractive
after 20 years.

In article ,
"Chris" wrote:

Once again this stuff is ruining my crepe myrtle. I tried spraying it with
water and baking soda to change the ph but that didn't seem to have any
effect. Other than fungicide that is so harmful to humans (I forget it's
name) does anyone have any suggestions? This will be year 3 that my crepe's
blooms have been compromised and drastically reducing it's blooms.

I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.

Frustrated,
Chris



Sometimes there is a time and place for commercial fungicides...

However, some are less harmful than others. I generally go over to "It's
About Thyme" in Austin to get recommendations from them. They go organic
whenever possible.

You could try Neem oil??????

Good luck!
Mine tends to get it too!
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

The local radio expert here in San Antonio is saying that the garlic sprays
are the way to go. I haven't had the problem so can't verify that it works.

Check http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_org_research.php?id=31

"Topic


BAKING SODA
Baking soda is one of the first alternative products that had
university research. Most organic products are available now and the toxic
chemicals simply are never needed. They don't work well anyway.

The research done on baking soda is from Cornell University. Dr.
Kenneth Horst and his staff discovered that baking soda mixed with water and
sprayed on plants gave very effective fungal disease control. They later
discovered the closely related product potassium bicarbonate worked even
better and of course the potassium in many parts of the world is more
beneficial to the soil than the sodium in baking soda. They also did
research on combining products with horticultural oil and also had good to
excellent results. In most cases results were as good or even better than
toxic fungicides that are on the market. This is a good example though of
EPA registered products now that contain potassium bicarbonate that are
still ignored by the people that recommend the toxic chemicals. By the way,
cornmeal juice works even better. We'll get the research done someday. In
the meantime we just use this wonderful food material with great success."



I have used corn meal on fungal problems in the lawn with good
success. That may be the answer. Would be interested in what finally works
for you.






"Chris" wrote in message
...
Once again this stuff is ruining my crepe myrtle. I tried spraying it
with
water and baking soda to change the ph but that didn't seem to have any
effect. Other than fungicide that is so harmful to humans (I forget it's
name) does anyone have any suggestions? This will be year 3 that my
crepe's
blooms have been compromised and drastically reducing it's blooms.

I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.

Frustrated,
Chris

I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.


Unless you are prepared to deal with it every year, consider replacing
it with a powdery mildew resistant variety.

deg

"Dewitt" wrote in message
...


I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.


Unless you are prepared to deal with it every year, consider replacing
it with a powdery mildew resistant variety.

deg

I wish this was an option - this tree was one of the most expensive trees I
bought from my garden designer. Like I said, I'm still very ticked off that
my "professional" didn't choose one of the many resistant varieties.

Thank you to the many suggestions. I'll try the bicarbonate solution next.
The tree is still getting worse as days pass.
Chris

I use Neem oil for this and blackspot, but to me they are about both the
same: once they get to growing in your bark mulch, they never go away.

That means (from my point of view) it isn't like fighting aphids or spider
mites: one good shot and they are gone.

Rather, one good shot and the stuff on the leaves starts dying back. Then,
one good rain and spores are bounced up and around all over the place and
the cycle begins again.

So I got a small, easy to use hand-pump sprayer from Wal-Mart and I mix half
a gallon at a time and spray every weekend for 3-4 weeks. Neem's kinda
smelly but so are the commercial mixtures. I think any organic solution will
be similar, baking soda or otherwise: spray it every weekend and get you a
cheap sprayer so it really isn't much work.

Might be like aphids and oil: it isn't the Neem that kills aphids, it is the
oil drowning them, so about any oil is as good as any other oil. That
article posted mentioned mixing with horticultural oil -- probably vegetable
oil from your kitchen will work just as good at smothering the spores and
helping to hold the baking soda to the leaves for a bit more time.

hth,
John
in Houston

"Chris" wrote in message
news

"Dewitt" wrote in message
...


I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.


Unless you are prepared to deal with it every year, consider replacing
it with a powdery mildew resistant variety.

deg

I wish this was an option - this tree was one of the most expensive trees
I
bought from my garden designer. Like I said, I'm still very ticked off
that
my "professional" didn't choose one of the many resistant varieties.

Thank you to the many suggestions. I'll try the bicarbonate solution
next.
The tree is still getting worse as days pass.
Chris

That reminds me, I read somewhere (probably Garrett's Dirt Doctor stuff) you
can use a couple tablespoons of milk in a gallon of water to alter the pH,
too.

John

"Tex John" wrote in message
...
I use Neem oil for this and blackspot, but to me they are about both the
same: once they get to growing in your bark mulch, they never go away.

That means (from my point of view) it isn't like fighting aphids or spider
mites: one good shot and they are gone.

Rather, one good shot and the stuff on the leaves starts dying back. Then,
one good rain and spores are bounced up and around all over the place and
the cycle begins again.

So I got a small, easy to use hand-pump sprayer from Wal-Mart and I mix
half
a gallon at a time and spray every weekend for 3-4 weeks. Neem's kinda
smelly but so are the commercial mixtures. I think any organic solution
will
be similar, baking soda or otherwise: spray it every weekend and get you a
cheap sprayer so it really isn't much work.

Might be like aphids and oil: it isn't the Neem that kills aphids, it is
the
oil drowning them, so about any oil is as good as any other oil. That
article posted mentioned mixing with horticultural oil -- probably
vegetable
oil from your kitchen will work just as good at smothering the spores and
helping to hold the baking soda to the leaves for a bit more time.

hth,
John
in Houston

"Chris" wrote in message
news

"Dewitt" wrote in message
...


I'm still ****ed off at the gardener who chose NOT to put in a mold
resistant variety.


Unless you are prepared to deal with it every year, consider replacing
it with a powdery mildew resistant variety.

deg

I wish this was an option - this tree was one of the most expensive
trees
I
bought from my garden designer. Like I said, I'm still very ticked off
that
my "professional" didn't choose one of the many resistant varieties.

Thank you to the many suggestions. I'll try the bicarbonate solution
next.
The tree is still getting worse as days pass.
Chris