The Recipe

Some people want to know what I have been spraying my Brug cutting with to make them so healthy and green. We just call it the recipe. It is a work in progress because we change it up with any new information. There are a number of people in some of the Brug org. who are using variations of the recipe. I am posting here not only to help people with their cuttings but to start people to thinking about what else we could add to the recipe.

Some people use it as a spray to foliar feed and some feed when watering and some, both. We have only used it as a foliar feeder and spray daily. We have been using 1 tablespoon per gallon of water but will be increasing it to see if there are any improvements. Good luck.

2 cups water
1 12 oz can of beer
1/2 cup household ammonia
1 cup Epsom salt
12 drops Tea Tree oil
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/4 cup liquid seaweed (Kelp)

Wow they sure look like a happy bunch of brugs :*).
Do you have to store "the recipe" in the fridge?

Sure look great! Have you been using it for long?

Here is a thread with a few variations to your recipe, Kenboy. People just swear by it. I liked it too though I find that brugs love all kinds of foliar feeding even when huge. The basic one is called Becky's Beer Recipe.

Here is one epiaddict posted on the following thread

12 oz beer
1 cup Epsom salts
1/2 cup ammonia
2 cup water
1/2 cup molasses (I use black strap)
4 tbs bloom booster
vit B12 (I use 250-500mg)

You use 1 tablespoon per gallon of warm water.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/665824/

ZThis is going to be a very helpful thread !!! I would have never thought of Tea Tree oil. What does that do for our brugs?
Did I get this correct? Spray every day? Water with the same mix every day?
Mickey

OK... this is the one I have from a friend:

12 oz beer
1 cup epsom salts
1/2 cup ammonia
2 cups water
4 tbsp Bloombooster
4 tbsp Miracle-Gro
1/2 cup molasses

Mix together and store in tightly capped 1 litre bottle or jar. Does not require refrigeration.

To use: mix 1 tbsp in 1 gallon of water and apply every 2 weeks.

Hey Kell, I now see that your's is very similiar!

Teresa, I think the basic one is the same in all of the beer ones I have seen but depending on what you are using it for you can add on different ingredients.

So if you are rooting, add the Tea Tree oil or if you want blooms add the 4 tbsp Bloombooster. More growth needed, add more nitrogen rich ingredients. For roses, add alfalfa broth.

Bloombooster is high in phosphorous and is good for root and bloom so it would also be good for cutting you are rooting. Keep in mind that 4 tbsp in the concentrate that is diluted in the final mix is not much. Some people use a cup of Bloombooster. After they are rooted, Brugs do not need much phosphorous. Tropical Hibiscus are another plant that blooms a lot but does not care for Phosphorous. The Tea tree oil helps in to fight fungus. We are thinking of adding more in our next batch as well as orange oil for insects control.

We have only used this as a spray but some do use it to water. Some, like Teresa only spray every two weeks but we spray every day. Brenda aka theraglady says she uses a cup of the recipe to a gallon of water. We are going to step % of the mixture up a little bit at a time and see if it helps or hurts. We spray everything in the greenhouse and can to tell if there is anything that does not like it. We may start making different mixtures just for cuttings.

I have posted here because I have been reading on some Brug org. forums, that people just have a hard time rooting Brugs in the Fall, winter months. We have only been using the recipe for about two months but know people who have used it for about a year. If you are going to use it when you water I would only water when the plant needs watering. Also if you are going to water with it you would not need the orange oil, unless you have fungus gnats.
kenboy
www.vonrussellfarm.com

I have been using a similar mix for about a year and do think it has worked very well for me. I will start again late February since my plants will be going to the greenhouse late March, this helps wake them up and get them going.

During the summer I start with a 5 gallon pail, add a batch of "The Recipe" and spray everything. I even add insecticide when needed. I do this every Sunday weather permitting through August.

I do also use it diluted on my seedlings once they have their first set of true leaves.

We are not beer drinkers so have been known to bring home a can or two from parties during the summer.Get picked on a lot for getting my plants drunk. Friends have dropped off outdated beer to me on several occasions.

Ken,
They look great, Oh I can't wait for spring;-)Anita

That's the same receipe that I use for my hoyas!!! Already have it. Yeah!!!!!

Yes Anita, your plants are in there somewhere. I remember you wanted a Daydream.

Wow that is really interesting ...I just wanted to say that tea tree oil is anti anti fungal and anti bacterial it is used to treat many conditions such as athletes foot etc.Makes sense ...but it is capable of burning the skin if not diluted.
Thankyou for the great info :)
chrissy

i've been using this mixture on all of my plants (mainly hoyas) for quite sometime now with amazing results. It works very well but be careful discussing it as i've found talking about it openly, especially on one forum in particular REALLY seems to get a lot of peoples panties in a bunch.

Seems some people think I may be doing my plants more harm than good using this fertilizer..My personal thought on the matter is for them to grow their plants how they wish and i'll grow mine how I wish but talking about this formula always, and I mean always seems to get an argument started on that forum.

Sounds like a wonderful thing to me - going to give it a try.

I learned about Tea Tree Oil from Susie (Calalily) years ago. She had a professional nursery business and swore by it. She told us that she mainly used it on cuttings to help them root fast and without rotting. But it was good also as an insecticde and would even kill fungus gnats. She said it also helped seeds germinate. I have only used it to root cuttings without rot. PoppySue also used to use it with good results as I recall.

Anyway if you are interested in it, I get mine at a health food store but it is expensive there. I pay $10 for 1 oz but it does last a long time. I have heard Walmart sells it for much cheaper but when I went there several years ago no one had a clue what I was talking about.

I will say that I think I read that it is harmful to cats so be careful with it. I may be wrong on that, but that is what I recall from researching it when I first heard about it years ago.

Here is a pic of mine if you are interested in it. And now that I found it in my huge box of potions, I am going to do an experiment with it before mine expires. I need to start a few DPs and I will see how I do with it in winter rooting. LOL

Gotcha, Kell. ;-)

Do you mean to use it in the "recipe" Kell? Was there a different method for cuttings or the dreaded fungus gnats? I'm havin a problem with them this year.. I haven't been using peroxide like I should!!

Ken,
Are you saying orange oil is good for fungus nats? Please give us your formula. I too haven't been using my H2O2 like I chould have been
Mickey

I guess I am going to have to call upon my neighbor to get me a couple cans of beer. I haven't tried this yet. I am so bad at fertilizing anyway, Work gets in the way is my excuse. I think I may just be lazy. Encouragement needed. I need to come visit more often.
Thanks for the recipe. H202 uses?
Marie

You know I just realized I haven't had any fungus gnats at all this year. And I have no clue why. LOL

Joyce, no, Susie just used it mixed in water, to water in her cuttings into the dirt. She may have soaked them in it too. I will ask her more about it when she gets home. She is away because of a family illness right now so I do not want to bug her about anything. This all was several years ago on here that she told us all about it so I am a bit unclear now all she told us. I know she liked it for cuttings because it helped with the rot due to fungus, which is why I tried it. But she used it for other things too.

You know the orchid moss is antifungal too I have read so if that is a huge problem you could use that too. I saw where you got a little green cutting to root well for you. I wonder if it was the antifungal properties of the moss that helped.

I use rooting hormone myself when I get an end that is rotting because that too is antifungal. But I have read that it is only good for a limited time once open so I wonder if it is any good most of the tme I use it. I am probably just wasting my time. One bottle lasts so long.

We could also try willow water and an aspirin too. I always forget about adding an aspirin.

hmmm I have some water that I added asprin too - ages ago - and have totally forgotten about it. I can't even remember what it's supposed to do! LOL!

I didn't mention that when I start to wake up my plants I also add birth control pills. I tried a test group two years ago and the ones on "the pill" bloomed much faster for me. last year was crazy, we had strange weather and a lot going on so it was hit or miss when I added them to the water. I just got three months worth so plan to be much more diligent in using them. Guess I will just add them to my regular Sunday batch of " The recipe"

This recipe gets longer every time I look in. I have some premarin that I am not using, will that work?

Mickey, I am not saying that orange oil is good for fungus gnats, although it very well may be. As I said we only use it as a spray foliar feed. I do know that orange oil is widely used to control insects on the foliage. I think is smothers them. Now Kell is saying tea tree oil is good for fungus gnats so maybe the orange oil in not necessary. As for my formula, it is at the top, I started this thread. If I was to add orange oil I would not know the amount. These formulas are a work in progress, with many people using different variations.

dmichael619, if people here do not like the recipe they can go to a different thread. This is what forums are all about, learning from one another.

kenboy

LOL LOL LOL Marie, that is more my speed too!

Teresa, just think your brugs won't get a headache. LOL
Actually there was lots of goods things written about aspirin online. I tried it awhile but soon forgot to, (where was my premarin when I needed it.) LOL.

I do remember too much is even harmful so be careful. This one is so interesting.
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-27302.html
"We now know that salicylic acid is used by plants to fend off attacks by viruses, bacteria and fungi".

And one from our own Dave's has lots of good links.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/577461/

As with most things in life, there are great reports and poor reports on aspirin use.

theraglady, there was a thread on here last year about birth control pills. I have no access to them so I never tried them. But some people did feel they really worked. Somehow I do not think a doctor would really believe me if I told him I needed a prescription. Even if I wore a paperbag. LOL

It is really amazing how everyday things around the house are used for plants.

Kell, Just having my lunch break, reading the threads. When it came to theraglady on your last comment, I was trying to sound it out. It came out as "there a glady". I must be working too long. Just think what my poor patients have to put up with. lol.

I think I may be able to get some birth control pills from one of the Dr's I work with, just tell him it is for my plants. (They have samples, I think I will).

I buy them on line real cheap from the UK.

Our Tomato growers here in Australia use aspirin.

I have used this for 3 years and it has work wonders. I got sick and ran out of it and did not make any more and my plants went to pot. I lost trays of seedling and my potted house plants look bad to.

It dose kill fungus gnats white fly and scale. When I use it every day on seeds I do not get stem rot or other fungus.

12oz of beer
1cup of epsom salts
1/2 cup ammonia
1/4 cup if molasses
1 to 3 drops of Tea Tree Oil
1 to 3 drops of Superthrive
2 cups of water
1 to 2 tablespoons of mix to a gal. of water. Spray on leaves or seeds.

I started my cuttings with out putting Tea Tree Oil in the water and half have rot on them. They were small cutting and a little green. I have put the Tea Tree Oil in them and I will let you know in a week what happpened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil
The term "tea tree oil" is also somewhat of a misnomer since Melaleuca alternifolia is a paperbark rather than a tea tree (genus Leptospermum). Tea tree oil or melaleuca oil is a clear to very pale golden color essential oil with a fresh camphoraceous odour. It is taken from the leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia which is native to the northeast coast of New South Wales, Australia. The oil has beneficial medical properties (including antiseptic and antifungal action), and is also believed to have beneficial cosmetic properties.

Contents [hide]
1 History and extraction
2 Medicinal use
3 Safety
4 References
5 External links

It is not good for cats but all other animals it is supose to be safe.

This message was edited Jan 10, 2008 9:42 PM

Joan, do you spray with the recipe or water or both?

They looks just great, Ken. I wonder, if a little more grease added would prevent fresh leaf cuttings from collapsing the leaves as I sometimes experiences that during the hot summer months. Do you think it is worth trying out?

You would have to be careful because oil can also smother leaves and you'd lose them altogether.

Tonny, I don't know what you mean by grease. Is this a trick question?

Hi, does anyone have any objection if I quote your formulas on the brug forum at GardenWeb??? I think it would be of benefit to the members there.

Now, I want to use this treatment of my brugs, seed, cuttings and all. Just need to figure out which formula to use!! ;- )!

Brenda B

No, certainly not LOL I take you very serious. I mean, if one does ad a bit of extra oil ... for example omega3 or another fatty oil ... if that would help the fresh cuttings leaves from collapsing in hot weather. Like a kind of coating that for a while will keep the leaves hold on to their water reserves?

Tonny, I believe that the use of tea oil in these formulas is as a fungicide agent and not in an attempt to help retain the leaves. Using too much oil, if it goes on in a thick coat will stop up the stomata and cause leaf drop. For what you want, some DGers have used Anti-Stress 2000. I bought some, but have not used it yet.http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/770336/
If you scroll down, you'll come across talk of using it to prevent leaf wilting.

WELL .. I made up a double batch of the RECIPE... I used up 1/2 of it... in the water.. and as a spray.. 40 gallons went on to water what's inside..and the spray... with a little posion residue for the white flies... which are just barely hanging on... I'm so happy there... last winter they were so thick.. but today only afew dozen were sent flying into the spray.. I haven't seen spyder mites in years... now that I've been spraying posion regularly
I'll start spraying first thing in the morning.. theywill love it... I'm sure if I'd been spraying water on a regular basis....I'd have them looking better than theydo now... so the mix gives me a reason to be more regular there..so already it is a big success..
Now to get the seeds sprouting for the spring... Gordon

Now I am sooooooooo confused as I bought everything Tapla said for making my own soil and getting the fertilizers he suggested. I think you are right in saying that everyone just has to do whatever works for them...........

Gail, I think the success of these recipes is that the Brugs are getting fertilizer amounts they can handle every day as opposed to one massive one most of which gets washed out the next time they are watered. Additionly, they are being bathed by a fungicide and possibly a miticide as well. But whatever works for you is the best. By the way, the two cactus starts you sent me this summer are growing well.
Veronica