How do you make the milk solution?

[lilcee]

We're going to be starting a Fall garden soon and we need to work up the garden. Our Summer garden had a lot of fungus. What can we put in the soil to control this? I heard a milk solultion is good but how do you make it? Do you use regular milk or powdered milk? Is this the right thing to use?
Thanks for any suggestions.

[rainbowgardener]

My version is dilute milk 50:50 with water. Add a tablespoon of yoghurt with active cultures and let it sit at room temperature for a few hours to culture the lactobaccillus. The lactobacillus is a fungicide that destroys the blight/ wilt fungi. Strain and spray on the affected plants, being sure to get the underside of leaves, leaf axils, etc.


If you are doing it preventatively, not treating an already existing condition, dilute the milk down more, to 10-20%. Doesn't matter what kind of milk. You can make up powdered milk and then dilute that or whatever.

The milk is very good preventatively. If you do get fungal conditions, you can use baking soda solution or 3% hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle (but I'd test that on your plants first before you go spraying your whole garden, in my experience it can burn some plants' leaves a bit).

baking soda solution:
1 tablespoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of liquid soap
1 gallon of water

Be sure the soap is soap, not detergent (dishwashing liquid is detergent), which can harm your plants.

[lilcee]

Thank you!!

[cynthia_h]

In case it's not clear, these solutions are applied to the plants, not to the soil. (With reference to OP's question, "What can we put in the soil to control this?")

To improve the health of your soil, add homemade compost. Our compost forum has LOTS of information about compost-making. I would also recommend reading through the discussions re. "Teaming with Microbes" under the THG Book Club section, since there are analyses of why compost is important to soil health.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[firstimegardener]

baking soda solution:
1 tablespoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of liquid soap
1 gallon of water

Be sure the soap is soap, not detergent (dishwashing liquid is detergent), which can harm your plants.

Ok, so what would be considered "soap"? I use that same solution on my roses for blackspot and was told to use murphy's oil soap...is that "soap?" and could you use it on veggies and fruit?

[lorax]

"Soap" is Castille Soap, or in plainer terms, rendered fat with lye. It's a solid at room temperature. Often, you can find bars of Castille Soap at the supermarket, then just shave this into some water and let it stand overnight, then give it a good shake, to make a true soap solution.

[firstimegardener]

"Soap" is Castille Soap, or in plainer terms, rendered fat with lye. It's a solid at room temperature. Often, you can find bars of Castille Soap at the supermarket, then just shave this into some water and let it stand overnight, then give it a good shake, to make a true soap solution.

Ok...Thanks! I'd been wondering about what was "soap" and what wasn't!

[lilcee]

I saw that the other day at my grocery store. I was looking for some other kind of soap and I remember seeing that. Have to give it a try, thanks

[rainbowgardener]

murphy's oil soap is soap as is Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap (which is liquid at room temperature). I think Ivory makes a brand of dish soap, but you have to look carefully, because they also make a "dishwashing liquid" which is detergent. You can also just take shavings off any bar of soap and shake them up in water.

[soil]

I find raw milk works far better than store milk. if you can get it.