The area I sprayed with ammonia was bermuda grass and that big old volunteer pumpkin plant from the compost pile. It's been at least 3 weeks now and the bermuda grass STILL thrives....OH...don't I wish!

A great book for all you lovers of concoctions:....."Great Garden Formulas" by Rodale Press

I have a big 55 gal fish tank, I water all my plants with the nasty accumulation off the bottom of the tank. It works great.
I also dip off cups of water for whenever they need a drink.

Nasty Tree Caterpillars
when we were in texas- once a year nasty caterpilars would cover the live oak trees,it was so gross that I would not go outside-it was like it was raining the silkworms(or whatever they were. $40.00+ for exterminator to spray
overheard one of the ladies in the checkout line of the grocers tellin to mix powdered tide in a quart jar-add to garden sprayer and spray trees at first sign of the 'catterpillars' I tried it and it worked so well that I did it the first year,bu 2nd year 50% reduction in the CP's by 3rd year no CP's at all.And I was grinnin at not havin to use exterminator anymore.:) :) :) I imagine it dissolved their exoskelton.

Yes! ammonia and some "new improved" dish soaps don't mix, because bleach has been added to the soap. Likewise, some dish soaps say "don't add any bleach".

Hard to beleive, but you really should read the label on your dish soap these days. I just about fell over when I saw that I was not supposed to add bleach to a new type! I wouldn't anyway, but I do know people who add bleach as a matter of course. Read your labels!

For mixing up garden tonics, use the cheapest dish soap, without any of the fancy "improvements". Baby shampoo is safer and does the same thing.

Hey Smitty,
Where can I get the russian comfrey seed, sounds like a great all purpose plant.

Mark in Mass.

RE: Dog urine spots

My dog picked one spot to pee in every day. The grass was dead there all summer. Finally in about November, I sprinkled granulated sugar on the spot. We got some rain and today, that is the only green spot in the yard. While the rest of the lawn (St Augustine) went dormant, my one "dog spot" is tall and greener than ever.

I disagree with any tonic that puts alcohol on the yard. Alcohol is a disinfectant which non-selectively kills bacteria and fungi. If you dilute it and blow it through the air to evaporate the alcohol, you might have a chance, but the beneficial bacteria and fungi in your soil have a hard enough time surviving without pouring alcohol on them.

Go to:
Jerrybaker.com

Some of his tonics are there.

PeteM - Urine is generally a good fert just like manuer.. however my guess for why it turns the grass brown is that unlike manuer it has a high acidity... pouring large amounts of water would help bring the PH in that part of your lawn down.. you could also try mixing a diluted base solution and pouring it over the spot (baking soda and water?)... but then you risk getting PH off the other side of the scale... so my advice.... water often to keep the PH of your lawn at a level that wont harm your grass

As for the Beer in various formulas.... unless it is a mixture of nutrients in beer or perhaps the sugar content.. I could not see it being of any benifit to water your plants with a solution that is carboated...afterall.. roots breathe oxygen... not carbon dioxide

Can we consider coffee a "tonic"? I had a common low light office plant, I've no idea of a common or scientific name, that survived and thrived on nothing, repeat nothing, except black coffee from 1982-94.

I remember reading somewhere that the reason dog pee browns an area of grass or foliage is because it actually has an extremely high content of nitrogen, which ends up burning the plants/grass. The best thing for those situations is to dilute the area with water as soon as you can, but if the dog pees in that same spot over and over...I guess it would be a pain in the rear.

i was having an ant problem in my garden. was lisenning to the radio one day and a woman said that baby powder will ride your home of ants.Well i tryed on the ant hills in garden it work. they were gone

When down south there were caterpillars that came raining out of the trees a certain time of year.It was so gross I wouldnt go outside.so we had the tree's sprayed-a few years later one of the ladies was saying how tide and water in a sprayer killed them.I tried it and it sure did.as a matter of fact it reduced the numbers of them the following year-somthing in it dissolves their outter shell.good riddens!

Dog urine burns your lawn because of the high ammonia content.

A couple tbsp tomato juice on your dogs food every time it eats helps reduce the ammonia content.

Soapy water will get rid of fire ants in potted plants.

Mike

Tobacco formula,

If you used the Baker mix, Soap, tobacco juice and mouthwash you would find a very pleasant oder, I use lemon scented dishsoap and mint mouthwash A very nice smell.

If you are mixing per Mr Bakers instuctions you can't smell
the tobacco at all, The nicotine extracted from 1/3 oz of chewing tobacco into a 1 gal concentrate (this does have a slight oder), then diluted with 320 gals of water (or 8 oz concentrate per 20 gal of water or 1/2 oz per gal)

Byron

I have those books you mentioned. My favorite allpurpose concoction based on ideas from them is this perk-up. It also takes care of discouraging pests and black spot on roses. I mix this in a 2 quart sprayer bottle:

Water
1/2 tsp ivory dish soap (or baby shampoo)
1 tsp instant tea
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cooking oil
liquid fertilizer (appropriate to amount of water based on your brand)

I spray this on my houseplants once a week or so.

If I am spraying my roses, veggies, fruits or blooming plants I add: 1/2 capful Spray N Gro (blooming/fruiting hormone)

Every plant in my house and yard gets this mixture minimum every 2 weeks and I have blooms like you would NOT believe.

OH - and my other favorite "tonic" is any clear pop like 7up or Sprite - any leftovers in cans go straight into houseplants.

To the office poster above, I too grew an office plant on black coffee. It DOES work:) But the poor plant NEVER got any sleep!! LOL

I also sprinkle coffee and tea grounds around any plants, or work them into the soil.

I mix kelp with water, blend to a liquid and spray on my vegetables to deter insects. The kelp also acts as a fertilizer and I've found that I have a higher yield of tastier veggies.

Hey, kittykatz is correct from what i have experienced.
I know a man that uses this same exact recipe and his tomatoes are the largest in our area!
I am going to try it this year as well

Whenever I hear about dogs urine killing grass I always wonder why my dogs urine never does. The area she uses is the fastest growing and greenest.

Ratherbgardening, one of two things could be happening. Your soil could be nitrogen poor to begin with and the dog's urine is actually acting as a good fertilizer. Or, your dog's urine could be very dilute. Just as a precaution, perhaps you should have your dog examined by your vet. Definitely have her examined if she is drinking and urinating alot or if she is older than six years. She could a treatable medical condition.

Dog urine contains urea a very good source of nitrogen. Urea is broken down rapidly by urease containing bacteria in the presence of water to ammonium carbonate and then further breaks down into ammonia and carbon dioxide. Until the ammonia is broken down to nitrate, the area will have a high pH and high ammonia level. This is what kills seeds and small roots. After the ammonia is broken down to nitrate (usually a matter of hours if its warm out) the area pH will lower. So the net result is a lower pH.

Ammonia is a gas. The ammonia you clean with is this gas dissolved in water. If you spray this ammonia/water combination on your plants, this ammonia will simply be lost to the air, contributing to higher than normal nitrogen levels in the air that are blamed for weird and bizarre north
Atlantic algae blooms. One of the reasons you are taught to scratch in fertilizers into the soil is to prevent the nitrogen (plants use either ammonia or nitrate ions as nitrogen sources) from being lost to the air (volatization).

At any rate that what I remember from ornamental horticulure 121.

This is the second go round on my deck plants with fighting this critters. Any idea on how to safely get rid of them and save my plants?

RatherBGardening,
What kind of a dog do you have? This makes a difference. For instance, Dalmations have unique kidney functions and their urine does not discolor grass.

have read its the higher protien dog foods that are generally advertized for active or working pets that is fed to the dogs that cause lawn spotting....
Large & small Dogs here have never brown spotted the lawn.

Must check this out...
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/garden/garden.html

I am a newcomwer to this forum,but this thread interested me because I may have accidentally come upon a 'tonic' that seems to act as a foliar fertilizer(?) I use raw eggs /water to deter deer and it works perfectly but I am noticing that the plants I use this on look the best ever even with the drought we've been having. I was wondering if any one has heard of egg as a beneficial plant tonic...

Tried the concoction where you mix tobacco juice, soap, whiskey, etc., and spray your plants to rid them of pests. Only thing it got rid of was the plant itself. Killed it. I ended up drinking the whiskey :)

The two folks whose dog urine causes no problem live in pretty rainy areas I think- PNW and FL. The San Antonian I am sure goes long periods without rain (but not lately my inlaws tell me). Unsure if it is nitrogen or pH problem but enough rain and it doesn't matter. Can you afford in San Antonio to water enough to avoid problem? Had a dog (male) kill off a cedar bush that way.

Did a bit of research on the dog urine thing when we noticed that my brothers dog kills grass and mine does not.
Doesn't matter if it's his sandy yard in MD or my red clay in NJ. His is male, mine female (one would think more concentrated)

What we found out is that there are several theories as to why some dogs urine is bad and some is not. Most of them involve diet. The link below explains. Personally, I don't buy #2, the concentration of the urine. My dog is crated for several hours a day, the grass-killer has free access to water all day. his should be less concentrated.

On a side note, Lilacs love human urine. (Potty training story-don't ask the details, just take my word for it.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Grass Heads and Lawn Killers

So, on the dog pee topic ... if urea has beneficial aspects, should I train my dog to go on a compost pile? Would it help the compost break down any faster? Certainly could help protect my lawn if he is a brown-spot-causer (dont know, new to this house and just put in our lawn, which he's still not really allowed on -- to tender to handle the paw traffic)

hey...i want to understand what is happening when we ferment alfalfa pellets, bat guano, watercress etc. in water before we pour the tea into the soil. soil organisms will break down the nutrients if we just work the raw materials into the soil. i am thinking that fermenting the tea will speed up nutrient availability...any scientific thoughts?

Hello, all! New to this forum, but love it already, as I love doing garden experiments!

Braidnboots, somewhere I picked up something that is rattling around in my brain about the fermenting thing. The fermenting process forms sugars that feed beneficial organisms so they mulitply rapidly, thus providing a boon of beneficials to the area when you use the tea.

Also, just a general comment/question - I'd be leary of using tobacco in any concoction in the garden - couldn't that transmit the Tobacco Mosiac Virus? I know some plants aren't affected, but I wouldn't want to risk introducing it to the garden on the chance it might make it to plants that are affected. (Tomatoes and other nightshades, for example.)

Diana

hi diana, yup, my brain is rattling around too. when we ferment fruit, first we get alcohol, then we get vinegar. there are gazillions of bacterias and yeasts...when i ferment botanical teas i get the retched smell and sometimes a vinegar mother...when we compost aerobically we get oxygen involved and as long as the carbon to protein ratio is correct, the moisture level is about right and the pile gets forked then the smell is not too terrible, even in the early stages. on the other hand, when there the oxygen levels are low, as in covered pits or when rain keeps the pile too wet too long, the smell is terrible. bacteria works to our advantage most of the time in the soil. on the other hand, terrible smell is objectionable, makes me imagine terrible bacteria, it repels us...i don't eat what smells terrible so it is a huge leap of faith to feed the soil and plants something that smells rotten. I have often read that it is important to add a source of sugar to nitrogen fertilizers. Sugar is important to the fermentation process when making wine...so i think i am on the verge of understanding something here. i wonder if the fermentation of botanical teas should be done for a prescribed period of time...like, until the rank smell turns to a smell like alcohol or vinegar to be good for soil life...or if soil life would prefer the rank stuff.???

ketvalgal,

The original Tobacco juice formula was tabacco, soap and mouthwash nothing else, I have used it about 10 years and never even had leaf scortch say mothing about killing plant. I have used it on just barely emerging seedlings with no problems

Phantomfrye

FWIW ALL varieties of chewing, cigar and pipe tobacco have been TMV free for 40 years. In 98 the cigarette tobacco was 0.237% ~ this is US crop..

Betty Bloomers

Adding ammonia what happens is that ammonia combines with nitrogen in the air and soil producing ammonium nitrate. Read side panel of your fertilzer box Nitrogen derived from Ammonium nitrate

Tea look at the micro nutrients in tea

Cola look at the side label, Preservative Phosphoric acid P2O5 Look at the side panel of most fertlizers Phosphour derived from Phosphoric Acid P2O5, Plus sugar to feed the micro herd

Beer you could sub with a pinch of ale yeast. A homebrew works better.

Guniess uses Nitrogen for their bubbles

Dog P try 1 cup of molasses or corn syrup in a 20 gal hose end sprayer. The high carbon content will help neutralize it

Human urine, best use is around the outer perminiter as a deer deterent. I have seen tracks 25 ft away from my garden
but no damage. Not on my veggies

Anybody have any information about a concoction that gets rid of Bark Beetles??!!

Does anyone have a tonic for keeping cats from pooping in my garden beds? thank you, or a tonic for keeping cats out of the garden area?

Hi, this is for "daughterjane" in regards to keeping cats out her garden beds. Try puting down red pepper flakes. It has worked for years for my neighbors. I have 2 cats, that loved their flower beds and to keep peace and happy neighbors, I kept them supplied with red pepper flakes. The cats hated the smell and stayed out of the beds and didn't hurt the plants. Hope it helps.

I buy large containers of cayenne pepper at Sam's and use it to keep the rabbits from eating stuff.

Also, I read somewhere that peroxide (the kind sold in beauty supply places) is also very good for plants

Seed germination: 1/2 oz. to 1 pint of water. Soak overnight.
Indoor/Outdoor plants: 1 oz. to 64oz of water. Spray twice weekly.
Mildew Plants: 2 oz. 6% H202 to 64 oz. water spray twice weekly. (maximum 5 oz.)
Mold: Wash or spray area with 3% H202.
Fertilizers: H202 will neutralize chemicals in mixture.
Insecticide spray: 4-8 oz. plus 8 oz. of mollasses or white sugar, per gallon of water.

See link for interesting article

Here is a link that might be useful: From the January 2003 Idaho Observer:

For babsclare

Yep, you can use moth balls or moth crystals and the cats will stay out - you can also use indoors the keep the cats away from things you don't want scratched or broken.

Sorry, the message about moth balls was for daughterjane.

I don't know about using the eggs but my grandmother would mash egg shells put them in a wide mouth jar and add water. after the jar was 1/2 shells & 1/2 water she would add the mixture to the garden soil and she had the biggest flowers in our end of town. I still use this old jewel & it works for me.

I've got a bunch of cigarette 'outposts' around campus. Sometimes we empty one (100+ butts) into a bucket of water and let it steep for a couple days. I pour the resulting 'butt tea' around the base of rhodies and viburnum that are having problems with root weevil. The nicotine does the rest.

Wear gloves. The stuff is nasty.

Anybody know any good tonics for powdery mildew, blight, or that sort of thing.I got hit hard last weekend with an assortment of tree diseases.I used the chemical sprays, but would rather use safer , and less dangerous ones on my follow up sprays.

Thanks, Richard
SE PA

I had a place where there were two sorts of tumbleweed like plants. Roundup would just flow off the waxy leaves and do nothing. So I mixed the roundup with dish soap and foamed the feeds and the died.

I have nothing to try it on now but I would like to foam the leaves of something with dish soap and a liquid folar feed and see how it compares to just folar feeding - I have never been impressed with folar feeding in the past. Maybe I need to foam it.

To Garden Jane-re:cats in gardens
Cats hate citrus smells so you can use orange, lemon and lime rinds and zest etc
DO NOT USE CAYENNE PEPPER -- the pepper solutions you read about cause the pepper to get on paws , then cats try to lick it off, gets in eyes, they can scratch their eyes out.
Try putting plastic forks upside down, pushed down in the soil. They won't like the feel of that. Of course their are many safe repellants you can buy, too.

hi there!
i want to try mixing some potions for my plants and i have the ingredients chewing tobacco and other natural stuff (the ones from baker's book),but it's hard to find chewing tobacco nowadays.can i use smoking cigarette instead?i hope you could advice me on this because i'm still uncertain,but i need to feed my plants and lawns because it's already spring.thanks! :)

I found this recipe on internet a couple years ago:
1 tsp salt petre
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp epson salt
1/2 tsp ammonia
1 gallon of water.

I haven't tried it on many things but I did use it on my young african violets .. It worked very well.

has anyone else tried this recipe??
And if so, how did it work for you??

I buy a product called Sea-90 which is harvested ocean salt. A lab found it contains 92 minerals, trace elements and organic compounds plus more than 50,000 organic substances in the just the right proportions.

Crop production benefits from enhanced micro flora populations include:

• Enhanced nutrient uptake
• Significantly improved flavor
• Greater production and yields
• Reduced days to harvest
• Reduced transplant shock
• Reduced drought stress
• Reduced heat stress

I add it to the soil and also use it as a spray for leaves. Aphids hate it and it will cure many diseases as well.

I swear this i something you'll want to know about. There's years of research behind it. Read amazing and detailed info on the sea-90 website. [seaagri.com]

Not an ad. I don't benefit from this, I just think our soil needs the minerals.

What are those minerals, percentage wise ?

Most sea salts or any salt is more than 95% NaCl, that is table salt.

Sey

Salt is really bad for both plants and soil.