Powdery mildew - what is it? how to treat it?

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a variety of plants. Infected plants have white powdery spots on their leaves. It will look as if someone has sprinkled some flour on them. As a result of this leaves die, growth of plants get retarded and yield starts to rot leading to the death of the plant. 

Listed below are some natural remedies which can help in treating powdery mildew.....

1.Milk: Diluted cow milk 40% + water 60%. Mix well. Spray weekly once. 

2. Garlic: In a mixi blend 2 to 3 bulbs of garlic with some water and add 5ml soapnut solution to this. Strain and keep aside. Take 10ml of this concoction to a litré of water and spray.

3. Water: Just simple watering will wash away the mildew...give your plants a good rub dub.

4. Baking Soda: 1 tbsp baking/cooking soda + 5ml neem oil + 5ml soapnut solution + 3-4 litres of water. Mix well. Spray once in 15 days.

5. Vinegar: 1 tbsp vinegar in 1 litre of water. Mix well and spray weekly once. Be careful not to spill over to other healthy plants élse they could die.

6. Prune: Over crowding and poor air circulation will also result in mildew.

7. Copper Buttermilk Spray: Soak copper wire or vessel in buttermilk, dilute ànd spray. Detailed recipe is there in my upcoming book Home Gardening - the Natural way.

8. Onions: Soak onion peels in water. Dilute and spray

9. Bio Fungicides: Pseudomonas florescence or Trichoderma viridi 20ml to a litré of water when sprayed will work wonders.

10. Turmeric:  Diluting little raw milk with turmeric powder and water and spraying will hélp control powdery mildew.

11. Ash: Make a concoction of 1tsp ash + 1 litre water + 30ml raw milk. Mix well and spray.

Happy Gardening!!!!

Snails & Slugs - Organic remedies

Snails and Slugs are pests which love moisture. They are night creatures in the sense that they love to come out at night. They thrive in moist locations. They are known to attack plants at every stage of growth which leads to weakening of the plant and sometimes killing it too. So here are some of the organic ways by which we can try to control them in our gardens. 

1.  Sprinkling coffee grounds around our plants. The smell acts as a deterrent.

2.   Using wood waste as mulch. Regular watering on this causes the wood fibre to loosen. The pests don't like to cross over these wood chips as they hurt their soft bodies, hence making these a natural barrier. Over time these wood chips decompose and add to the nutrient content of your soil.

3.   Making natural barriers using crushed egg shells and sea shells. These too are abrasive to their soft bodies. Over time these decompose and are a good source of calcium for the soil.

4.   Wood ash sprinkled around not only increases humic content in the soil but acts as a natural barrier.

5.   Slugs can't cross over copper. So using copper tape around your pots and plants act as a deterrent.

6.   Growing natural repellant plants like garlic, chives, chamomile help in keeping them at bay.

7.   Making beer traps at strategic locations around the garden help in controlling them. They get attracted to the smell of beer and get drowned in it.

8.   Wheat bran or corn bran canbe sprinkled around the plants. This when eaten by the snails and slugs cause desiccation and death.

9.   If the numbers are less just handpick them carefully using a tool and dispose.

10. Pick them up and drop them in a bucket of salt water and then dispose them off.

Happy Gardening!!!