Nauvoo2002
03-23-2010, 09:22 PM
The successful organic gardener has a totally different mindset from the "conventional" gardener.
"Conventional" gardeners (a group that includes both those who use chemicals on their gardens AND those who just don't use anything at all because they are afraid of using chemicals in their garden) tend to be a reactionary type -- they wait until a problem develops, then they spray or dust for that problem.
Organic gardeners, on the other hand, are always thinking about how they can PREVENT problems in the first place.
My two favorite sprays are both PROBLEM PREVENTERS. I use one or the other regularly, and between these sprays plus extending the effort to build and then maintain a healthy garden soil -- I seem to avoid about 90% of the disease and insect problems that plague other gardeners in my local area who grow the same crops that I do.
The first of these sprays is a kind of all purpose spray that is pretty easy to make.
Ingredients for one gallon of the mix (increase as needed for the amount of spray that you need):
Fish emulsion (available at most plant nurseries and sometimes even places like Lowes or WalMart) follow directions for mixing a gallon given on the bottle
Liquid kelp, aka "liquid seaweed" (available at the better plant nurseries) follow directions on the bottle
1/4 of a cup of non-fat powdered milk (this is a good use for that slightly over-aged powdered milk that has languished a little too long in your food storage)
1 tablespoon of Epson Salts (you can get this at any drug store or in the pharmacy area at WalMart)
1 cheap, non-coated aspirin (do NOT use the coated type that many folks take once a day to help control blood pressure - get your garden's aspirin at the Dollar Store)
A good squirt of a lemon scented dishwashing liquid
Mix this all up and put it in your sprayer, then spray your plants. This mix can be safely increased for the number of gallons your sprayer will use -- I mix it in 25 gallon batches because I have a 25 gallon sprayer that I pull behind my garden tractor. And yes, I grow so much stuff that I can easily use 25 gallons of spray in one administration.
Mix up only as much as you will need at one time. You really need to use this spray fresh.
The second spray that I use to prevent problems is Compost Tea.
Compost Tea needs a thread of its own. It's not really hard to make (though it is more involved than the process I just described). The reason it needs its own thread is because to use it effectively, you must understand what the stuff is and why you are using it.
Believe me, that IS a thread of its own.
"Conventional" gardeners (a group that includes both those who use chemicals on their gardens AND those who just don't use anything at all because they are afraid of using chemicals in their garden) tend to be a reactionary type -- they wait until a problem develops, then they spray or dust for that problem.
Organic gardeners, on the other hand, are always thinking about how they can PREVENT problems in the first place.
My two favorite sprays are both PROBLEM PREVENTERS. I use one or the other regularly, and between these sprays plus extending the effort to build and then maintain a healthy garden soil -- I seem to avoid about 90% of the disease and insect problems that plague other gardeners in my local area who grow the same crops that I do.
The first of these sprays is a kind of all purpose spray that is pretty easy to make.
Ingredients for one gallon of the mix (increase as needed for the amount of spray that you need):
Fish emulsion (available at most plant nurseries and sometimes even places like Lowes or WalMart) follow directions for mixing a gallon given on the bottle
Liquid kelp, aka "liquid seaweed" (available at the better plant nurseries) follow directions on the bottle
1/4 of a cup of non-fat powdered milk (this is a good use for that slightly over-aged powdered milk that has languished a little too long in your food storage)
1 tablespoon of Epson Salts (you can get this at any drug store or in the pharmacy area at WalMart)
1 cheap, non-coated aspirin (do NOT use the coated type that many folks take once a day to help control blood pressure - get your garden's aspirin at the Dollar Store)
A good squirt of a lemon scented dishwashing liquid
Mix this all up and put it in your sprayer, then spray your plants. This mix can be safely increased for the number of gallons your sprayer will use -- I mix it in 25 gallon batches because I have a 25 gallon sprayer that I pull behind my garden tractor. And yes, I grow so much stuff that I can easily use 25 gallons of spray in one administration.
Mix up only as much as you will need at one time. You really need to use this spray fresh.
The second spray that I use to prevent problems is Compost Tea.
Compost Tea needs a thread of its own. It's not really hard to make (though it is more involved than the process I just described). The reason it needs its own thread is because to use it effectively, you must understand what the stuff is and why you are using it.
Believe me, that IS a thread of its own.