milk & baking soda - disease control

[fannyfarmer]

Baking Soda has a somewhat astringent effect on fungus and molds, so it does work pretty well, but since it is not laeled for that purpose, the company cannot recommend it for that use. Getting a gov't approval for off-label usage is VERY expensive, hence, Arm and Hammer was reluctant to do so.
HOWEVER.....there are now some products out in the Organic lines that do contain this ingredient! As organic growing becomes more mainstream, we may also see some milk based products down the road. It all has to do with enough people demanding something to make it profitable to produce.
Therefore....until the gov't garden inspectors get to your place, you can use the incredibly low cost baking soda to your hearts content.
It does have to be reapplied after rainfall.

[applestar]

I believe HG once said that Milk Solution/lactobacilus bacteria would stick to the leaves because the bacteria would make their own "stick-ums" (a technical term ). I generally use the Milk Solution anyway, but I use it with some confidence even when rain is in the forecast.

[garden5]

I'm not sure which works better, but both of them work better used preventatively or at the first sign of an outbreak. Once the infection is really advanced, it's difficult to deal with...

That's the big caveat: these things are best used as preventative measures. If you use them as a treatment, you may be successful if the spread is in it's early stages, but I've yet to hear of someone successfully beating a moderate to heavy infestation of PM with milk or baking soda (though I would like to ).

[orgoveg]

I've never eradicated a disease, but often it slows the development enough to allow for some kind of harvest. It's combined with removing damaged foliage, of course