*1 part RAW milk and 9 parts water gets rid of Powdery Mildew. RAW milk. RAW! Not regular, store-bought, dead, pasteurized milk. Big difference. Read on for details.
So... As is the case with so many growers out there, Powdery Mildew (henceforth to be called PM) has been a nagging pain in the ass for me over the years. Some strains, like Killer Queen, are horrible PM magnets, inviting the quick spread of spores in the back, shadowy areas of the garden before I know it has even started.
I've tried TONS of techniques to get rid of the stuff, from sulfur sprays and baking soda spritzes, to straight water spray and sulfur vaporizers. The most effective of these was the sulfur vapor, but the PM would eventually come back, and hot sulfur is not the most plant-friendly substance.
I read about some university that had discovered that milk, mixed 1:9 with water, sprayed on plants would kill the PM and protect the sprayed plant surfaces from infection in the future. I tried it... It worked. However, there are some aspects I discovered about this technique you need to know in order to have success.
An anecdote:
After using the 1:9 milk/water spray with AMAZING success, I suggested it to a couple friends who were struggling with PM in their gardens. IT DID NOT WORK FOR THEM. Naturally this was puzzling for me since it DESTROYED the PM in my garden. However, I had a hunch it was because they were using regular store-bought milk, and I was using raw milk from a farm up the road from us. I suggested the raw milk, but they never went and got it, and they kept spraying the dead, store-bought milk.
After a few weeks of desperately spraying the shit out of their plants with no success at killing PM, there were white splotches of dried milk all over their plants. Here's what's to pay attention to... MY MILK LEFT NO WHITE SPLOTCHES AT ALL. At most, my milk would leave small, oily spots which would dissipate over the course of a few days. Their plants had white splotches of dried milk which never dissipated. This is how very different the milks are, even down to how they dry.
One friend, who was still using the store-bought, pasteurized milk, actually caused the PM to turn into full-on bud rot by spraying it on the buds, which in turn drove the PM spores INTO the buds where they developed into bud rot! Bad scene. I've driven PM spores into my buds before when I was trying to spray with baking soda solution... Same result... bud rot. So if you ever HAVE to spray buds to remove PM, make sure to spray from the top of the buds so as to not drive spores INTO the flowers. And... make sure to spray RAW MILK.
So... after a few weeks of my friends spraying dead milk on their plants with very little success (or even outright failure), I finally mixed a bottle of my RAW milk and went over to spray their gardens for them. The next day I received a call telling me it did the job, the PM was seriously knocked on its ass... AND... my milk left no white, dry milk splotches. The result was obvious... the milk had to be alive (raw/unpasteurized) for it to ravage the PM effectively.
VERY IMPORTANT... spray with lights on! SPRAY-WITH-LIGHT-ON!
Apparently the milk becomes anti-septic when exposed to bright light.
Evidence supporting the anti-septic idea:
Ancient Egyptian soldiers would use the milk of breast-feeding mothers on serious battle wounds to help disinfect.
And... breastfeeding mothers who know the trick, will squirt a small amount of breast milk into the eye of their infant if the baby has an eye infection... which is a common problem in the first couple months after birth. I doubt it would kill the infection if the mother's milk was dead/pasteurized!
So... instructions. Mix raw milk at a ratio of 1 part milk to 9 parts water, spray on EVERY plant surface, with or without an active PM infection. The PM areas will be cleansed of PM, and the uninfected areas will be protected from PM. Spray on leaves, top and bottom, and hit all stems also. Lastly, do a victory dance because you just kicked the shit out of your old adversary... naturally.
* Edit... I now believe that the fat in the milk is much more of an important factor in the control of Mildew than the antiseptic angle. I learned this by having kids. What I mean is... I used some of our raw milk to spray plants, and this time the milk dried to little white spots, instead of oily spots. Well, the milk that dried to white spots was much less effective at controlling the mildew than the milk that dried and left oily residue. I blame the kids because they often forget to shake the milk before pouring themselves a glass. With raw milk, you have to shake it up before pouring it because all the fat rises to the top. So... I used milk that had been "skimmed" by the kids, leaving the rest of the milk very low in fat. The coating of fat on the leaves is what seems to do the most damage to the mildew, and prevents spores from taking root. I had heard about oil being a good mildew killer in the past, and I think someone in this thread even mentioned it.
So... Now, instead of using milk, I use a little whipping (or heavy) cream in some warm water with a drop or two of dish soap. The dish soap helps to get the milk fat (the oil) to spread out and evenly coat the leaf and stem surfaces.
So... through this process I have learned that raw milk is NOT that important, but rather, HIGH MILK FAT (or some other appropriate oil) is what makes the biggest difference.
Keep learning!
Peace,
cc
So... As is the case with so many growers out there, Powdery Mildew (henceforth to be called PM) has been a nagging pain in the ass for me over the years. Some strains, like Killer Queen, are horrible PM magnets, inviting the quick spread of spores in the back, shadowy areas of the garden before I know it has even started.
I've tried TONS of techniques to get rid of the stuff, from sulfur sprays and baking soda spritzes, to straight water spray and sulfur vaporizers. The most effective of these was the sulfur vapor, but the PM would eventually come back, and hot sulfur is not the most plant-friendly substance.
I read about some university that had discovered that milk, mixed 1:9 with water, sprayed on plants would kill the PM and protect the sprayed plant surfaces from infection in the future. I tried it... It worked. However, there are some aspects I discovered about this technique you need to know in order to have success.
An anecdote:
After using the 1:9 milk/water spray with AMAZING success, I suggested it to a couple friends who were struggling with PM in their gardens. IT DID NOT WORK FOR THEM. Naturally this was puzzling for me since it DESTROYED the PM in my garden. However, I had a hunch it was because they were using regular store-bought milk, and I was using raw milk from a farm up the road from us. I suggested the raw milk, but they never went and got it, and they kept spraying the dead, store-bought milk.
After a few weeks of desperately spraying the shit out of their plants with no success at killing PM, there were white splotches of dried milk all over their plants. Here's what's to pay attention to... MY MILK LEFT NO WHITE SPLOTCHES AT ALL. At most, my milk would leave small, oily spots which would dissipate over the course of a few days. Their plants had white splotches of dried milk which never dissipated. This is how very different the milks are, even down to how they dry.
One friend, who was still using the store-bought, pasteurized milk, actually caused the PM to turn into full-on bud rot by spraying it on the buds, which in turn drove the PM spores INTO the buds where they developed into bud rot! Bad scene. I've driven PM spores into my buds before when I was trying to spray with baking soda solution... Same result... bud rot. So if you ever HAVE to spray buds to remove PM, make sure to spray from the top of the buds so as to not drive spores INTO the flowers. And... make sure to spray RAW MILK.
So... after a few weeks of my friends spraying dead milk on their plants with very little success (or even outright failure), I finally mixed a bottle of my RAW milk and went over to spray their gardens for them. The next day I received a call telling me it did the job, the PM was seriously knocked on its ass... AND... my milk left no white, dry milk splotches. The result was obvious... the milk had to be alive (raw/unpasteurized) for it to ravage the PM effectively.
VERY IMPORTANT... spray with lights on! SPRAY-WITH-LIGHT-ON!
Apparently the milk becomes anti-septic when exposed to bright light.
Evidence supporting the anti-septic idea:
Ancient Egyptian soldiers would use the milk of breast-feeding mothers on serious battle wounds to help disinfect.
And... breastfeeding mothers who know the trick, will squirt a small amount of breast milk into the eye of their infant if the baby has an eye infection... which is a common problem in the first couple months after birth. I doubt it would kill the infection if the mother's milk was dead/pasteurized!
So... instructions. Mix raw milk at a ratio of 1 part milk to 9 parts water, spray on EVERY plant surface, with or without an active PM infection. The PM areas will be cleansed of PM, and the uninfected areas will be protected from PM. Spray on leaves, top and bottom, and hit all stems also. Lastly, do a victory dance because you just kicked the shit out of your old adversary... naturally.
* Edit... I now believe that the fat in the milk is much more of an important factor in the control of Mildew than the antiseptic angle. I learned this by having kids. What I mean is... I used some of our raw milk to spray plants, and this time the milk dried to little white spots, instead of oily spots. Well, the milk that dried to white spots was much less effective at controlling the mildew than the milk that dried and left oily residue. I blame the kids because they often forget to shake the milk before pouring themselves a glass. With raw milk, you have to shake it up before pouring it because all the fat rises to the top. So... I used milk that had been "skimmed" by the kids, leaving the rest of the milk very low in fat. The coating of fat on the leaves is what seems to do the most damage to the mildew, and prevents spores from taking root. I had heard about oil being a good mildew killer in the past, and I think someone in this thread even mentioned it.
So... Now, instead of using milk, I use a little whipping (or heavy) cream in some warm water with a drop or two of dish soap. The dish soap helps to get the milk fat (the oil) to spread out and evenly coat the leaf and stem surfaces.
So... through this process I have learned that raw milk is NOT that important, but rather, HIGH MILK FAT (or some other appropriate oil) is what makes the biggest difference.
Keep learning!
Peace,
cc
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