Baking soda/cayenne pepper

Dataw Island, SC(Zone 8b)

Does anyone have experience using baking soda for fungus control? An article in our local paper suggests 1 tsp. of baking soda per quart of water sprayed every few days. It also suggests cayenne pepper (1tsp. per qt. of water) for aphid and "other leaf-eating creatures" also sprayed every few days.

Woodland Park, CO(Zone 4b)

No personal experience with either but heard abut the baking soda mix for blackspot and powdery mildew control on roses.
Would wonder about the effectiveness of cayenne pepper tho. Sort of implies that bugs have tatse buds and don't like pepper, LOL!?! Ok, tell me that bugs *don't* have tastebuds, please.and their affinity for certain plants/substances is only survival and nutrition...
MrsMoose, do you have problems with either/both on your houseplants??

Dataw Island, SC(Zone 8b)

I have a beautiful, tall, aloe ciliiaris with a fungus in it's lower section and am searching for a way to salvage it. Any ideas? BTW, the article simply says aphids "hate" pepper.

Woodland Park, CO(Zone 4b)

MrsMoose
Does this involve the leaves and the stem or just the lower leaves?

This is basic into: http://ipm.ncsu.edu/InteriorScapes/DISEASE.html, but may help. I really couldn't find anything specific to aloes as searches pull up treatment of human disease *with* aloes-not diseases of Aloes.
Scroll down to the Fungi and Bacterial disease part and a possible diagnosis as to whether this is really a fungus or bacteria.
At any rate, excising the lower leaves and dipping the clipper/knive in alcohol before and between each and every cut won't hurt if it's just a few leaves.
The first step is getting rid of the diseased parts, then modifying growing conditions and/or additional chemical (from alcohol to baking soda to hydrogen peroxide to commercial products) treatment.


Dataw Island, SC(Zone 8b)

It's just the leaves. Thanks for the link! I'll check it out.

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