A Rosey Start to the Summer Avoid spreading fungal diseases.
Welcome to Sonny's Corner! This year the East Tennessee has
experienced a tremendous amount of rain. I've had several people ask me about their roses so I thought I would address that issue this month. The big concern has been with powdery mildew and black spot. I do not claim to be an expert in this area but have had some experience with roses in my own garden in the past. I will suggest some remedies for you to try and if they are not satisfactory then just let me know and we'll try something else.
Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and Wesson Corn Oil. To prevent roses from getting powdery mildew and black spot, mix one teaspoon Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and five drops Wesson Corn Oil in one quart water. Fill a trigger-spray bottle with the solution and spray directly on leaves. Apply once a week for approximately two months. Reapply after rain. The USDA has approved baking soda as a fungicide. (Before treating the entire plant, test this oily formula on one of the plant's leaves and wait one day to make certain it doesn't burn the leaf.)
To cure black spot, mix two teaspoons Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and four drops Ivory Dishwashing Liquid in one gallon water. Spray the solution over the entire rosebush and repeat every five days until the spots disappear.
Another issue with the heavy rain has been slugs and snails. Try the following remedies and see if they work for you;
Coca-Cola. Fill jar lids with flat Coca-Cola and set in the garden. Slugs and snails, attracted by sweet soda, will slither into the jar lid and be killed by the acids in the Coke.
Crayola Chalk. Slugs will not cross a thick chalk line.
Budweiser, Set a plant saucer in a shallow hole in the garden so the lip of the saucer is one-eighth inch above the ground, Fill the saucer with Budweiser beer. Place a curved terra-cotta roof tile over the saucer to give it shade. Snails and slugs like the taste of beer, crawl in, get drunk, and drown. Apparently the alcohol in the beer destroys their body tissue, (in us humans it destroys brain cells). Be sure to empty and refill the saucer with fresh beer every two to three days.
Hope you've enjoyed this session. The tips you've learned should make your garden grow healthier and more beautiful.
For now, happy gardening to all!
Sonny
Sterilize your pruning tools with a mixture of three-quarters cup Clorox Bleach in a gallon of water after each use to avoid spreading fungal disease. Dip your pruning equipment into the disinfectant solution between cuts or at least between plants. When finished, soak the pruning shears in the solution for one hour, then rinse clean and dry.
By Sonny Robison
(About the Author)
Lester Robinson,or “Sonny” as he is called, has been gardening for about 25 years. He got his start in his own back yard by applying different techniques to see what actually works and produces the best results. He got so involved that about 20 years ago he built his first greenhouse and started producing head-start tomato plants for local farmers. It was a huge hit with the local Wal-mart and K-mart stores and even locals such as Mayo’s and Ace Hardware in Loudon County. He enjoyed this so much that he expanded into flowers and even other vegetable plants such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, hot peppers, squash and cucumbers. He has been known to have the most popular varieties of tomato plants for the area and the most varieties to choose from. His assortment of flowers have been mostly annuals but he does have some knowledge of perennials for he carried a small variety of them also. Herbs have become very popular in the last five years and he was able to find a huge variety of them to sell at his greenhouses. Although he didn’t actually grow the herbs he was in the know as to where to obtain them so he could supply this much requested item for his customers. He loves talking about plants and enjoys everyone’s input and questions.
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