last yesterday evening

does that me early last night

I'm sorry, that was not stated very well, I had changed the sentence around a little and did not realize I forgot to delete the word "last". But yes, I used the diluted milk solution early in the evening. It had rained all day or I would have used it early in the morning. I don't normally water my plants or put anything liquid on them in the evening for fear of root rot. But I figured if I put the solution on at 5 PM, it would be plenty of time for the soil to dry some. Why, have you experimented with using milk on your plants?
Sheila

I tried using powdered milk sprinkled around the base of a few tomato plants last year but didn't notice any differences from the controls. vgkg

Sheila,

That's a fine use of waste milk, which is a perfectly good source of organic material. You might also want to check some of the sources that report success in using milk to treat powdery mildew.

Sharon

Here is a link that might be useful: Milk

There is an ongoing debate in the Organic Rose Growing forum about using milk as a fungicide. It's so nice to be able to read scientifically tested information on this topic. Thank you for the link!

The problem with using milk in the garden is the lipids (fats). Milk is made up of fats (cholesterol, triglycerides, fatty acids), proteins, and sugars in water. The use of animal-derived fats (from table scraps, carnivor/omnivore droppings, etc) is rather contraversial. These fats can become rancid quickly and harm the plants and foods from the garden. On the other hand, fats and sugars are highly concentrated energy sources and can be beneficial to soil organsims and plants. Egg shells with the yolk and whites removed lack the fats and are made of bone-like compounds (high in calcium) that can be usefull to plants once degraded and released into the soil (boiling the shells and using the water as fertilizer also works). I personally wouldn't use the milk on veggies or friut, but flowers and other plants can't do anything, but stink a bit :)
Stephen

I heard once that Coconut Milk helps a plant produce more shoots. For Example daylilies.

What about skim milk? It's fat free!

I've heard of using powdered milk to rot tree stumps. Mix it like a paste, drill lots of deep holes, fill with paste, and let the enzymes go to work. Never had the opportunity to try it though.

That's scary to think that I might have do something to rot my plants!
Sheila

No, No, No my Georgia Peach! I was not trying to insinuate that. In the soil the milk spreads out and wicks around. In the tree stump item, it is a concentrated paste, confined to one area. 2 very different situations.

Ken

Thanks for clearing that up, I was beginning to worry!
Sheila

I followed the Milk link, and I have to agree..my kids all drink milk and none of em have powdery mildew lol

Boy! People sure do try different things on their plants!
Coffee, Chocolate, Tea, Coke, Epson Salt and now Milk!

Hmmmm, a little vinegar here, soy sauce there, and garlic juice (to keep the vampires away).

I once saw a small garden with cigarette butts all around it! Wonder what it did?

What will they think of next?

Tony Theil:
I didn't know that you had been SNEAKING around in my garden. (Cigarette Butts) LOL!

Junkmanme

P.S. The cigarette filters probably help retain Moisture!

Something in one of yesterdays on-line newspapers; spray the leaves with diluted milk prevents some pest.

Anyway - I had to go to lunch and do some business and forgot which newspaper. (I scan a couple of dozen each day and do not scan the same newspapers every day so I may never find the link.) Anyone else read it?

Someone on another forum said they use diluted milk for dampening off disease of new plants.
Anyone ever heard of that?
Smarty

Hi, I don't use milk but I make something that is kind of a fresh cheese, I bring buttermilk to thicken and after draining it through a cheesecloth I have what is called "Molke" and use this on my plants (diluted) as a fertilizer.
Good to hear that other gardeners do the same thing with cigaret buds, I do it since years in containers, it seems to keep aphids away. I also know of people collecting them and soak them in water and use it to water, does the same thing.
Uschi

how about chocolate milk

This year some people had blight even before the tomatoes got ripe. Mine began as soon as the first one ripened. When I found the first tomato with blight, I picked that tomato and threw it somewhere where I will never plant a tomato. I sprayed them with milk. Since I didn't know whether it would come back or not, I sprayed once a week. I used 1 cup of powdered milk to 1 gal. of water. It worked. Once in a while I would find one tomato that was blighted. I also picked my tomatoes as soon as they began to turn yellow. (The tomatoes were red.) I brought them in and washed each one in water and dried them. I have harvested most of my crop so I have stopped spraying and there is no blight. I also sprayed my rose bush which was nearly dead with black spot using the same solution. All the leaves fell off and new ones came on. It had black spot all this year. It did come back, as I read you are supposed to spray it every two weeks until it goes away completely. I will spray it once more, and spray it next year. I think it works! By the way, I have always froze my tomatoes green if the are blighting. We love fried green tomatoes.