Epsom Salts

Sally - comfrey tea? Do share - please!? Haven't done a thing with my comfrey plant except grab a leaf quickly for a 'boo-boo'

Grab a handful or two or any parts, like the larger leaves starting to turn yellow anyway, and twist and tear them into hunks. If you lay several leaves lengthwise, and then grab across and twist they tear apart pretty easily. Drop in a bucket of water. Leave for a day or until you start smelling it, I guess, just leave it until it looks tea like. Then water. I have no idea what kind of dilution you want. I haven't killed anything yet with it. Like doc always said, weakly weekly works great. Using his logic, I would use enough leaves to make the watering can about the 'color' of real tea.

If you google it you get recipes for using a whole lot of leaves and making a very strong nasty muck which you dilute. But I like the handful method.

HollyAnneS - Maybe you shoulda marketed that pig tea for anti-Bambi spray? I am with you - I'm finding out a Ton about Epsom Salts, and honestly, I would NEVER have thought that there was so much on this subject...! I thank everyone for adding to my original thought and for educating me.

Thanks, Sally! Just realized what I forgot while at Southern States (btw if anyone has one near you their shrubs/trees are 50% off - picked up two lemons today) - the alfalfa. Dang it...will have to get it next weekend.

Really? I do love a plant sale. Please -- as you all see sales do me a favor and post to let us all know. The Southern States isn't close to me, sadly, but I am definitely in the shrub market.

happy - tis the season for plant sales...start looking at the ads for your local places. The lemons aren't hardy here...but the scent of their blooms...very jasminey. :) You with all your shade would do great with daphnes. Mine starts blooming mid Jan and keeps her blooms for at least a month. I have her planted beneath my dwarf magnollia b/c I was told they didn't like sun. She's good sized now...like a big ole fluff ball. I got her from Debbie and Ric. I bet that other mail order place we were discussing has them

Anyone wanting Comfrey plants just let me know I will bring some to the fall swap.

It's not only the time for all plant sales, guess what I got in my email this morning - an email from Burpees, advertising a "Fall Bulb" special! WOW! Guess I'd better look into Epsom Salts and Bulbs, huh. OOHH! I'm so excited to see Fall approaching - it's my favorite season!

Today--other than mowing and planting and weeding---I Epson-Salted many plants.
Mixed it in a 4gal bucket--and dished it out....
I tend to get carried away when I do something like this--so all my veggies, my 3 brugs,
and my Clematis got a dose. Hope I did not do some that should not have gotten any.

My lower leaves on the tomatoes are starting to yellow out somewhat.
Though this may help????
I sure hope I won't get the same leaf-fungus I had last year on my tomatoes....

So far--so good!

Planted all my cannas against the fence. They are all growing.
Pics: Tomatoes and Jill's sweet Banana peppers.

Gita-have/had the same problem with one tomato, noticed it two weeks ago. Coincidently or not, at the same time, I found "Neem Oil," sprayed it on the tomato, and it is growing AROUND the "Yellow Kill Zone." My problem was fungus, or maybe early Blight.
Looked at it this morning, sprayed it again with the Neem, and honestly, it does seem to have a decent chance at life now.
Neem Oil is organic, and it is a fungicide. I am spraying it on my Heritage Roses (kills sooty mildew too), my Clematis, my mildew-prone Crape Myrtles, and boy, it really improves them! But as it is an oil, you must be careful to spray early morning or late at night so it can "settle" on the plant without the burning sun causing harm...so I suggest you think of Neem Oil for those yellow leaves. Won't hurt to throw the manure and lime around, too.
Oh yes, the plants can breathe with it on them.

Tomatoes- I was just reading about one of the blights- it starts with those yellow lower leaves as the fungus gets splashed up from the soil to the leaves --one reason to like the lack of rain.Maybe fresh mulch right now would keep more fungus from the leaves. I picked off the yellowed leaves.

Sprayed all my tomatoes, Brugs, Beans, Peppers and Roses with Neem this morning.
Also--my forever struggling (with spider mite infestations--AAGH!) Butterfly Bushes.

What is it about the Butterfly Bushes that EVERY year--they go to pot because of
Spider Mites????????? Is it the texture of their leaves?

They start out nice and green. Sprayed them preventably--early in the season.
Grow...Grow...Grow.....BAM! Leaves start looking mottled and dry and totally shot
from Spider Mites!!! The blooms have not even opened yet. They are in bud.

Both of these bushes are at 2 ends of my "YUK" bed. One is right behind my Bird bath.
The other is right behind my Shastas and other Daisies.
Granted! NOT much air circulation. Kind of cramped quarters there.....
Seems EVERYTHING is cramped in this bed......Maybe I should set off a "bomb"????

Is there anything I could do next year to prevent this???? It happens every year!

Thanks--Gita

Gita, I have never noticed spider mites on the Butterfly Bushes in my garden. Maybe you can try systemic pesticide?

Got a big pack of Epsom Salts from Costco. Cannot wait to feed it to the plants this weekend :-).

Just went outside and took a couple of disgusting pictures of the Butterfly foliage.

I sprayed them with Neem yesterday--but it was a bit windy.
How soon should I repeat the spraying? I know the leaves will not recover--
but any new ones may.

Pretty bad! To think they were all lush and green earlier......

Every two weeks. I tablespoon per gallon of water, and you might consider pouring what's left in your sprayer onto the roots-if you investigate on the web, you'll find reference to it being a systemic. Sometimes, you need to look at different ways to give the desired effect, and it does seem that this summer is the one for Epsom Salts and also Neem Oil for me!

Gracye---

BUT--That will not undo the damage already done--no matter how often
I spray. The blooms are there--just not yet open. They probably will not be anything to look at.

I have plenty of Systemic Granules by Bonide. I could sprinkle those around the bush--but--again--it seems a lost cause.
Shoulda--Coulda--done it sooner--it is just that I DID spray with NEEM earlier in the season--
and the leaves seemed OK--then, almost overnight, the Spider Mites did their thing.
That IS the way they work.

My Dr. Seuss Brugmansia also has them. I will, definitely, spray again--maybe even tomorrow.

Can "Neem" get old? Does it lose potency? Mine is a good couple of years old. Maybe more...

Will have to go to Lowes and get a fresh supply. $$$$$$--ugh! HD does not seem to carry it.

So frustrating!!!! Gita

Can you use Systemic Granules on plants that butterflies and hummers feed on? I wouldn't think you should.

Gita there is an interesting thread on Bug's and Disease. Might find some help here.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1266282/

Gita's description of Carroll Gardens in Westminister, Md. was right on the mark. I used to check out Fine Gardening magazines from the public library many years ago and would always see that nursery listed as having such a great nursery. Well, we stopped there one time coming from Pa. and it was a disaster. Plants were not taken care of , you could hardly walk around for all the weeds and debrie..Needless to say I was shocked that Fine Gardens would accept a garden center that looked like that. I didn't buy a thing and we didn't stay around too long.

Carroll Gardens was lovely earlier in its history -- it was one of my favorite places to go, although a long long drive for me. And it had a fabulous paper catalog. I saved a dog-eared copy for years. It must have just fallen on hard times.

I follow my (now deceased) father's advice about chemicals - I use them up in a season. I like starting out fresh! I also wonder if his background, as the child of a farmer in West (by Gawd) Virginia, he was acting under the "waste not, want not" philosophy. Maybe they used garden chemicals back then that did not survive more than a season? Dunno.
But my system works for me. Thank you, dear father!

You can also get Neem from the InterNet.

Another thing he taught me - mark your calendar for what you did, and when you need to do it next. Hard to slip up then. Sure works!

Coleup - isn't it interesting that sources point to salty municipal water for demise of Japanese Maples, yet Epsom Salts are recommended...ironic!

Gita: With all due respect to Gracye's father, I'd use the Neem oil unless it smells as if it has gone rancid. I'm pretty frugal, and unless there is a reason to pitch something, I use it. You could also call the manufacturer and ask what happens if you use old oil, and whether it goes rancid.

Happy - it's just as much of a challenge to buy and dole out the chemicals as it is to work with each, unique season, isn't it?! I did not mean to throw anything out, I meant to use it up. I know that sometime it isn't possible, but I try!

One other potential problem is that I keep all the garden chemicals in my shed--
where it also gets as hot as outside--minus the sun.
Many of them are years and years old.....

Costs too much to replenish there on a regular basis. G.

Keeping them in the shed probably is bad for them. (Take this from the gal who left her new -from Sssgardener- Bayer sitting in the sun for a week lol) I would store liquid chemicals in a designated shelf in the utility room - your lower level?
I would think dry mineral fertilizers last pretty long no matter what.

Ditto Carroll Gardens- The guy knew his stuff for sure but whoo whee, when you have too much to care for properly, well...too bad he didn't have the buiness acumen. (word of the day lol)

My butterfly bush has yucky leaves too. I was trimming nearby and snapped off a major branch and it was hollow at the base- Do BBushes get a borer? Maybe thats the real problem. I'll look today for mites. Those can seem to pop overnight and I did seem them on something....

My Dr. Seuss definitely has Spider Mites--I know the look! It is unmistakable.
Yellowish, speckled, look to the leaves and tiny black (?) dots underneath.

Been around plants a long time--seen all the maladies...

Sally, I've seen hollow stems when pruning BB, since I never saw it in diseased wood I just assumed it may be like forsythia, much of which is hollow. Ric


I just saw that BBs should not be pruned in the fall because their hollow stems can hold water and freeze.

This message was edited Jun 28, 2012 5:44 PM

Will post it here as well---did on donner's Thread.

if you see leaves like this---the tiny yellow speckles--you HAVE Spider Mites.
Took this picture today of one of mt Dr. S. leaves.

Attend to the Mites asap. It can get much worse....

Meant to add--It is usually recommended that Butterfly Bushes be pruned back in very early spring.
Also a good time to treat them with Systemics or whatever else.

Last year--I pruned them back in late fall. Heard somewhere that it was OK to do so.

Maybe that was part of my problem????
Having NO winter may also be a factor.
Having all this heat from day one in spring--did not help either.

Hmmmm....What else can I blame it on???

Combo of all those factors, maybe

Very stressful in the garden of late- Many things are wilitng like mad , lke AUGUST.

Yeah It's very weird, my blue yellow and white garden is very disappointing this year Jethro Tull Coreopsis which I absolutely love bloomed for only a very short time and now only has 1 bloom, I have pale blue Scabiosa blooming and the Lily 'Eyeliner' is blooming only because I just planted that one. Even the Stellas, DOro and Black Eyed are not even blooming...what's the dealio?

I think the warmer than usual winter, spring and these intermittent heat waves are causing plants to bloom earlier than usual and for shorter periods. In the veggie garden I have currants and red raspberries coming in at the same time. Unheard of as the raspberries are two weeks ahead of themselves. The garlic is ready to pull - again two weeks ahead of time. Day lilies are blooming for shorter periods. So don't despair! It seems to be happening all over. I am reconciled to the thought that in a few weeks the garden will have bloomed out unless the fall blooming things decide to bloom ahead of time too. Maybe everything will start over again in the fall!!

Hmmmm....mites that eat mites....it's a thought http://homeharvest.com/beneinsspidermites.htm http://www.naturescontrol.com/mite.html http://bestbudsgreenhousesupplies.com/natural_insect.htm or the Pirate Bug (sounds like a bad movie, doesn't it?) http://www.naturescontrol.com/piratebugs.html

Wow, what an education I received from reading this. Saved a couple of the links in order to do further reading. I had a half gallon container of Epsom Salts that sat in a corner of my bedroom for a couple of years until I finally gave it to my older son who has some issues that often require he bathe in it. Will have to definitely stock up on more to have here and to garden with.

Thanks to all who shared.

Ruby