Listed below are several homemade sprays that I have used for years. I believe that my grandfather also used these and left the recipes in one of his gardening journals

photo credit: ellievanhoutte

Seaweed Spray

Seaweed spray is rich in nutrients and minerals. It provides protection from many fungal diseases and can be used to prevent damping-off.

How to make Seaweed spray:

Use 2/3 cup of kelp or seaweed concentrate to 1 gallon of water, spray. You can get kelp or seaweed and many gardening centers or a health store. And if you live near a lake you can harvest your own.

Chamomile Spray

Chamomile tea is an excellent preventative for damping-off. This is my most important spray in the spring when I am starting seedlings. Use the chamomile spray on seed starting soil, seedlings and in any humid planting area. Chamomile is a concentrated source of calcium, potash and sulfur. The sulfur is a fungus fighter. This can also be used as a seed soak prior to planting.

How to make a Chamomile spray:

Pour 2 cups boiling water over 1/4-cup chamomile blossoms. Let steep until cool and strain into a spray bottle. Use as needed. This keeps for about a week before going rancid. Spray to prevent damping off and anytime you see any fuzzy white growth on the soil. Chamomile blossoms can be purchased at health food stores and usually grocery stores. Tip: If you don’t have access to Chamomile blossoms, Chamomile tea will work just as well.

Apple Cider Vinegar Spray

This works well for leafspot, mildew, and scab.

How to make Apple Cider Vinegar Spray:

Mix 3 tablespoons of cider vinegar (5% acidity) with one-gallon warm water and spray in the morning on infested plants. Spraying in the morning gives the plant and soil a chance to dry during sunlight hours.

I use a diluted cider vinegar mix to clean my plant leaves. I also rinse my pots in cider vinegar after I have washed them.

I prefer homemade sprays to most store bought sprays. They have fewer chemicals and when I need a spray, I just mix up what I need. This way I have lees bottles of garden and plant sprays sitting around.

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How do you protect your plants from cold weather?

photo credit: ti:ne²

It’s brutally cold on the US east coast and in many other parts of the country. And I hear overseas is also suffering from below normal temperatures, snow and frost.

So you will need to take extra care of your plants that are outdoors. In my zone 5 climate I bring most plants in but I do have some new perennials outdoors and a few potted shrubs. To protect them I put a layer of straw over top of them and a few I made burlap covers for the rest.

Snow will also act as an insulation so let them get covered if you are having abundant snow.

If you’re in an area that usually does not get deep cold spells or frost, bring in what plants you can to a garage or extra room. If you can’t move the plants cover them with plastic or old blankets. Bales of straw that surrounds a plant will also work. You could even place straw bales in a square and cover the entire square with a blanket or plastic.

Plastic milk bottles filled with warm water and placed around your plant and covered with a blanket will keep temperatures warmer and protect a plant over night.

Tip: When you cover a plant, shrub or small tree – make sure your cover will not blow away in the wind. Weight it down with bricks, rocks or stake it in place.

Cold snaps do not usually last long so just keep an eye on temperatures and cover the plants when necessary.

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When planting Peonies plant as soon as they are obtained, being careful to set the division so that the top of the buds will be from 1-1/2 to two inches below the final soil grade after the plants are watered and have finished settling.
photo credit: my_southborough

If planted too deep you will probably get pretty foliage with a few or no blooms, and if too shallow, the buds will be exposed and are likely to get broken off by Old Shep when he serves notice on a stray cat or rabbit.

You should expect blooms from three to five eye divisions the first season. Only seven of the 60 varieties I planted in my garden a few years ago failed to bloom the first year. The plants made a splendid display of flowers the third season after planting.

Digging and dividing large, old peony clumps is no easy task, as most gardeners have learned. If the freshly-dug clump is left exposed to the air for a while, the roots will become less brittle and are more easily handled without breaking. The soil which is tightly held by the roots is best removed with a stream of water from the hose.

Do not simply cut the clump in half and plant the two peonies without removing any of the old large roots. Such divisions depend upon the old roots for nourishment and seldom bloom. The clump should be cut into smaller divisions, usually with from three to five eyes, some of the older roots removed and the others shortened to about six inches.

This method stimulates the production of new roots which increases the plant’s vigor and productiveness. A stout butcher knife and a hammer are good division tools. Established plants may be fertilized in early spring with a handful of balanced plant food applied in a ring around each plant and stirred into the soil.
photo credit: kkmarais

To Preserve Color

Most peony flowers fade in sunlight and if left to open and stand in the sun they lose much of their delicate beauty. If you wish to use peonies for display in a flower show or as a bouquet in the home, cut the flowers and let them open in the dark or at least in partial shade. Do not cut stems so long that all of the leaves are taken with the stalk. This would tend to weaken the plant.

Peonies which are properly planted and maintained are seldom bothered by diseases. The foliage is hardly ever attacked by insect pests. Plants should be carefully watched and if any disease occurs the affected parts should be removed and destroyed.

Root knot, leaf spot and botrytis blight are the three most common ailments. Root knot can be avoided by planting clean, healthy divisions in disease-free soil. New plants should not be set in an old bed where root knot has occurred. If the plants are properly spaced, very little damage is done by leaf spot.

Botrytis blight is likely to be the most serious peony disease and sometimes in orchid plants. It affects stems, buds and leaves just like in caring for orchid plants. Young stalks in early spring suddenly wilt and fall over, and young buds turn black and dry up. Later on, larger buds which become infected turn brown and fail to open up.

For control, remove and destroy all infected parts as soon as they appear. Cut off all tops near the crowns in the fall and burn. If severe infestation has occurred before, remove the upper two inches of soil around the plants and replace with fresh disease-free soil.

Also as a preventive measure in the spring, spray the young shoots as soon as they appear, with Bordeaux mixture 2-2-50 or a copper fungicide mixture. Two or three successive sprays should follow at weekly intervals.

Technorati Tags: container gardening, garden, gardening, peonies, plant care