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applestar
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How does MILK SPRAY work to control fungal disease?

I'm creating this thread as a pointer to this topic that is being discussed in detail in the Septoria leaf spot--what to do? thread:
Juliuskitty wrote:Please, I have heard other people say to use milk for fungus too. How does milk stop fungus?

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Has anyone used milk spray for fungal disease on peach trees. Is this done with skim milk?

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Apparently it should be done with raw milk, but hard thing to find!

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rainbowgardener
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raw milk would be good, but any milk is ok. You can let it sit out at room temperature for a few hours to let the lacto bacillus culture a bit.

It probably is a combination of effects. I always thought the active agent was the lactobacillus, which does have anti fungal effects. But I recently found the below which suggests it's not the bacterial effect but an effect of the proteins:

More than 50 years ago, researchers in Canada discovered that milk sprays could help prevent powdery mildew on tomato and barley. Then the age of fungicides began, with no further published research on the milk cure until 1999. Since then, numerous small studies from around the world have validated the use of milk sprays on powdery mildew on a wide range of plants. Most recently, a spray made of 40% milk and 60% water was as effective as chemical fungicides in managing powdery mildew of pumpkins and cucumbers grown in mildew-prone Connecticut. In Australia, milk sprays have proven to be as effective as sulfur and synthetic chemicals in preventing powdery mildew on grapes. In New Zealand, milk did a top-rate job of suppressing powdery mildew in apples.

Scientists are not exactly sure how milk sprays work, but most think proteins in the milk interact with sun to create a brief antiseptic effect. Any fungi present are "burned" into oblivion, but there is no residual effect after that. In order to be effective, milk sprays must be used preventively, must be applied in bright light, and should be repeated every 10 days or so.

There is no consensus on which dilution of milk to water is best, with the most concentrated recommended mixture 40% milk and 60% water, and the most dilute 10% milk and 90% water. I fall in between using 30% milk to70% water, with good results. It does not matter if the milk you use is skim or whole because it is the protein rather than the milkfat that is working on your behalf. https://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=242

The article is all about powdery mildew, but the milk solution does help against other fungal diseases as well.

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your answer was specifically for peaches I see. In that case the answer according to current test results seem to be no. With a peach so far the only treatments that seen to work are fungicides like sulfur mixtures or copper based solutions sprayed on the tree when the fruit buds just begin to swell and again when the leaf buds begin to swell. Beyond that, for minor infestations of fungal problems the extension here is still recommending manual removal of diseased leaves as soon as they begin to appear so it does not spread.

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I HAVE to update this thread by combining with the relevant info that was posted in the other thread for which I posted the link in the OP ("Original Post" -- first post of this thread) so all the info is right here and easy to access.

WAAAAY too busy right now though, so please go read them over there. Lots of excerpts with links to articles and background info.

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Subject: What's wrong with my peppers?
imafan26 wrote:However, cow milk makes a good fungicide for roses and powdery mildew on other plants.

Put your pantry to work, cinnamon has been used by orchidists for years as a natural fungicide sprinkled on orchid roots. You do have to repeat it though it doesn't last a long time.

The milk recipe varies from site to site 50:50 milk water to a 10% solution, organic vs skim milk. Whatever works! One orchid grower used 2% milk to dip her pruners in (after each cut) while cutting her orchids flowers to prevent disease transmission.

https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1484689.htm
https://groundtoground.org/2011/12/27/na ... ur-garden/

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Gary350
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I have never tried milk on plants. I know milk can dry sticky like a coat of spray paint so that makes me wonder if milk kills plants? Dry milk on the kitchen counter top does not wash off easy with 1 or 2 wipes.

I have used kitchen 5% vinegar full strength on plants it kills, mold, mildew, fungus in about 10 to 20 seconds. After leaving vinegar on a plant for 60 seconds I rinse it off with water spray from the garden hose.

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remember the milk we are talking about is diluted at least half with water. And no it doesn't kill plants. Many people have used the milk treatments for many years. If it killed plants, we would know that by now.

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Milk can also be used as a cheap alternative to leaf shine.
https://chemistrycachet.com/how-to-clean ... useplants/

Here are more science based articles on milk research. While it has been in the gardeners toolbox for years. There has been relatively little scientific research into how and why it works. It apparently does not work on everything but it may be because of the variation in the conditions and the type and concentration of the milk. Like most other fungicides. It works better as a protectant rather than a cure.

Theories suggest that the active agent that kills viruses requires UV light to be activated and milk was less effective on cloudy days and it may possibly deter aphids. I wouldn't know, my garden patrol takes care of the aphids so I haven't too many of them in years. Viruses are a problem but you just have to isolate and use good sanitation practices if you want to protect your collection. Most orchidists who have expensive collections have a very rigid regimen that includes a torch to sterilize the cutting tools, regular fungicide sprays and usually a hospital bench.

Non-fat vs 1%,2% or full fat milk- which one is better. I like the 2% one myself.
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/food-t ... ildew-woes
https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403 ... -roses.pdf

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rainbowgardener wrote:remember the milk we are talking about is diluted at least half with water. And no it doesn't kill plants. Many people have used the milk treatments for many years. If it killed plants, we would know that by now.
Which milk should I buy, 4% milk, 2% milk or 1% milk to mix with 50% water ?

Grocery store 2% milk is 4% milk mixed with 50% water. 1% milk is 4% milk mixed with 75% water. Wife use to work at the milk factory that is how they make milk. We buy 4% milk, save an empty milk jug, pour 1/2 in the empty jug, then fill both jugs with water, 1 gallon of home made 2% milk costs $1.50

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Sorry, but that is completely off base whatever your wife says. 1%, 2% etc refers to the percentage of milk fat in the milk. Milk consists of a lot of other stuff besides fat (obviously 98% other stuff in the case of 2% milk). If you were to take a quart of 4% milk, add a quart of water to make a half gallon, the resultant fluid would be 2% milk fat, but it would also have half of the percentage of protein, half of the percentage of calcium, half of the lactose and other sugars and carbohydrates, half of the flavor. Actual 2% milk has the all of the protein, calcium, carbohydrates etc that is in 4% milk. The only thing removed is some of the milk fat.

If you actually do as you suggested, you are not drinking 2% milk, you are drinking water with a certain amount of milk solids in it.

Here's how 1 or 2% milk is made using cream separators: https://www.quora.com/How-is-2-fat-milk-made

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rainbowgardener wrote:Sorry, but that is completely off base whatever your wife says. 1%, 2% etc refers to the percentage of milk fat in the milk. Milk consists of a lot of other stuff besides fat (obviously 98% other stuff in the case of 2% milk). If you were to take a quart of 4% milk, add a quart of water to make a half gallon, the resultant fluid would be 2% milk fat, but it would also have half of the percentage of protein, half of the percentage of calcium, half of the lactose and other sugars and carbohydrates, half of the flavor. Actual 2% milk has the all of the protein, calcium, carbohydrates etc that is in 4% milk. The only thing removed is some of the milk fat.

If you actually do as you suggested, you are not drinking 2% milk, you are drinking water with a certain amount of milk solids in it.

Here's how 1 or 2% milk is made using cream separators: https://www.quora.com/How-is-2-fat-milk-made
I guess I should have asked, which milk do you use to spray on plants, 4% or 2% or 1% before adding 50% water?

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Since all of those have the same amount of everything except milk fat, I am not sure it matters. The milk fat is not what is important as an anti-fungal treatment, it is the proteins and perhaps the lacto-bacillus. All of those are not affected by removing some of the milk fat.

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I agree — due to varying opinions and even “scientific facts” for and against efficacy, it’s really difficult to tell just what it is about milk spray is supposed to be working, and there are varying recommendations on what kind of milk.

Personally, and anecdotally, I believe it works especially used as preventive — I have been using it for years. I also still spray when powdery mildew or fruit tree fungal issues are starting to show up already. But I won’t go out of my way to buy special milk to spray with. So I actually mostly use organic whole milk which is what we buy most often. But I only spray when I have milk that is getting a little old — that mean the taste is a little off (not bad but not fresh... enough that my children won’t drink it any more — this Is used for baking or for gardening) ...or that have become old — actually soured. Rinse out the container with the same unchlorinated water — every little bit helps. But if not, just pour the rinse water over plants or use to water with — protein is aminos — nitrogen... and of course calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium.... oh look fertilizer.

I just don’t use the soured milk for overhead spray but mostly closer to ground spray because it doesn’t smell as good. Obviously strain well so the sprayer doesn’t clog... yep been there done that. Note, too, that rodents go crazy for soured milk, so don’t spray that on things they like to eat or can be damaged by them... and yeah, don’t go spraying your herbs or lettuce with the soured stuff either — common Sense.

I need non-homogenized milk for culturing good kefir, so sometimes, when I have bought a new bottle of “good” milk, ultrapasterized organic milk in the fridge suddenly loses its status and then that might get used for gardening even before it is deemed off.

You can culture yogurt by adding starter to powdered milk. To me, this means if the lactobacilus IS one of the primary active agents, you can even use powdered milk for milk spray as long as you add something to culture it.... but I hardly ever have powdered milk in my pantry. I don’t have the link handy, but a long time ago, I posted a link to a commercial greenhouse operation instructions which said to mix powdered milk to liquid milk to bring up the protein content to some number (Was it something like 17%? I don’t remember) and use this to dip hands and tools between handling infected plants to prevent spreading the disease.

I always add whey when making milk spray — I used to use yogurt or sour cream whey, but now I use kefir whey. The strength to which I make the mixture depends on the plant and situation/condition — how susceptible to fungus or how critical it is to spray ...impending weather conditions, showing some signs of infection already, how much infection the plant can survive, etc.


Had to come back and add ...wash the sprayer out well, including clearing the nozzle after use. You are supposed to do this anyway, you know. But if you leave milk spray in the sprayer, it will sour beyond good sour smell to very stinky, get clumpy, and moldy.

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Just came across this paper. Maybe it is related in some way?

Bacillus sp. BS061 Suppresses Powdery Mildew and Gray Mold
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3714439/

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I should have tried milk on cucumbers & tomatoes this year. I totally forgot about milk. It sucks that I can't remember things these days, I found this link about blight. Next year I will try milk if I can remember.

https://www.growveg.com/guides/how-to-p ... ur-garden/

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In a hot and humid place, preventive fungicides just delay the inevitable. I have found a few cultivars of tomatoes and cucumbers with some very good disease resistance at least while they are young and healthy. They have made it through at least a week of constant rain without mildew and I even had a zuchhini that was good against mildew as well, but it was a favorite of the melon fly so I had to get rid of it to keep the cucumbers from being stung.



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