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Today, farmers can’t survive without folk remedies. Recently, I had to visit every hardware and gardening store in Tallinn searching for iron vitriol. It became clear that there is a dire shortage of chemical plant protection products. There is neither iron nor copper vitriol in Tallinn, and some sellers in specialized shops are even unaware of these substances. While it’s unlikely that infusions and decoctions can replace copper and iron vitriol, the threats to our plants are numerous, so we must seize every opportunity to save them.
The wealth of knowledge and experience among the people regarding plant protection is vast, but unfortunately, there is no consolidated material in this area. I will attempt to fill this gap and, as much as possible, provide my readers with the necessary information. For brevity, I won’t cite sources, but much of this has been verified through my own practice.
It’s also important to know that in the fight against many diseases and pests in greenhouses, preventive measures are crucial: crop rotation, sterilization or replacement of soil, destruction of weeds around the greenhouse, thorough cleaning of plant debris followed by disinfection of the greenhouse and tools in the fall.
Utilizing the experience of many generations of farmers, while adding your own, means ensuring a good harvest of vegetables and fruits. For instance, the scent of mint and elderberry repels the currant borer moth, while it keeps weevils away from raspberries and strawberries. If neither mint nor elderberry is available, you can spray berry bushes with a coniferous solution (30-50 ml of coniferous concentrate per 10 liters of water). Ants cannot stand the smell of parsley and tomatoes, garlic, and onion bulbs. Nasturtiums and marigolds, which themselves are not affected by pests, protect vegetables from certain worms (nematodes). The greedy, gnawing creature known as the wireworm cannot tolerate cloves, while the May beetle, aphids, and mites flee from the scent of hemp. If potatoes are grown alongside legumes (beans, peas, lentils), wireworms and moles will leave the area.
Many bacteria and microbes that cause rot and other diseases dislike the smell of geraniums, chrysanthemums, horseradish, nasturtiums, radishes, peppers, and wormwood. Phytoncides from fresh coniferous needles, such as juniper, pine, cedar, and spruce, are particularly lethal to bacteria and microbes.
Sucking and gnawing insects perish when bushes are sprayed with decoctions or infusions of certain plants. Mustard, tomato and potato tops, citrus peels, and garlic infusions kill sucking pests like aphids, thrips, and spider mites. For gnawing pests, you can use extracts, infusions, and decoctions of wormwood, yarrow, belladonna, henbane, elderberry, burdock, milkweed, tomatoes, tobacco, and peppers. For flea beetles and small bugs, powders made from dried leaves and stems of tobacco, tomatoes, chamomile, and tansy work well. Mice and voles are deterred by powders from bog rosemary, crow’s foot, and cannot stand black root. Bud mites (in spring and September) die when a garlic suspension (50-100 g per 10 liters of water) is applied.
You will learn about the methods for preparing infusions and decoctions shortly.
1. Medicine for the Garden
As we know, the first antibiotic was derived from the penicillium mold in 1929 by Alexander Fleming. Since then, drugs from this group have saved millions of human lives. Veterinarians widely use them to treat their patients. But what about gardeners?
Vegetable grower A. Shogin has been successfully using a rather unique preparation to combat many plant diseases for several years. He collects various food scraps—bread crusts, potato peels, etc.—in a basin, lightly moistens them, and then covers them with plastic wrap to prevent drying. After two weeks, the entire mass is enveloped in a thick layer of mold, which he thoroughly mixes. After that, he pours the “product” with a fermented infusion made from carrot, beet, and radish tops and strains it.
Cucumbers sprayed with this liquid remain disease-free and bear fruit for a long time. Powdery mildew disappears from currants and gooseberries, and pears and apples are significantly less affected by scab, while pouring this mixture into planting holes prevents clubroot.
Unfortunately, the publication does not provide dosages, so experimentation is necessary, but it will be easier to do so after reading the continuation of the publication. Fermented two-week infusions of tomato tops, nettles, and dandelions provide nutrients to plants and disinfect the soil. Watering cucumber and tomato plantings with these solutions helps eliminate many diseases and pests.
To prepare the solution, fill any container to the top with leaves and stems of one of the plants, cover with water, and let it ferment for about two weeks until the green mass decomposes (dried material can also be used). The strained solution is diluted with ten times the amount of water and used to water the plants, simultaneously feeding and disinfecting them.
2. Ancient Advice
(from a book published in 1779 during the reign of Catherine the Great)
How to Drive Away Ants.
Take ashes from leather shavings, lime, and soot, and sprinkle them in places where ants are most prevalent.
Alternatively, take several bottles with narrow necks, put a little honey in them, and place them where there are many ants; they will swarm in, and you can then exterminate them. However, this should be repeated frequently.
To prevent birds from pecking seeds.
Soak the seeds shortly before planting in garlic juice; this will prevent birds, mice, ants, and other insects from harming them, and the plants will thrive.
How to Exterminate Mice and Moles.
Take garlic and onion, as well as camphor, and crush them all together, then stuff them into the holes where they come out and seal them tightly; this will make these underground creatures disappear.
Alternatively, take a bunch of green hemp, stuff it into their holes, and cover it well with soil. When it rots and turns to dust, it creates a terrible stench that drives them away or at least makes them flee.
3. Pests
A great method for combating garden pests is to spray it before the growing season with a 10% solution of table salt. This measure significantly helps to clear the garden of all pests.
Aphids, caterpillars, spider mites
Let me share some widely used methods for dealing with these pests.
3.1 First and foremost, treat the plants with a solution of soap, PS paste, or lye when insects appear. This is the simplest method, but it is not always effective, especially against mites.
3.2 Using aloe. Chop 50 g of the plant, pour it into 1 liter of water, let it steep for a day, and then spray.
3.3 Pour 10 g of dried peels from oranges, mandarins, or lemons into 1 liter of boiling water. Alternatively, fill a half-liter jar with peels and cover with a liter of water, soak for a day, boil for 15-20 minutes, strain, and dilute to 10 liters of water.
3.4 Black nightshade is used not only against aphids but also against scales, spider mites, cabbage whites, and cabbage moths. Soak 1 kg of finely chopped dried (dried since autumn) raw material in 10 liters of water for 12 hours and strain.
3.5 Fill a bucket halfway with onion skins, pour in 10 liters of hot water, let it steep for a day, strain, dilute (by half) with water, and spray.
3.6 Pour 200 g of dried onion skins into 2 liters of hot water, let it steep for two days, then strain and dilute with water (2 parts water to 1 part infusion).
3.7 Use 0.4 kg of chopped tomato tops in 10 liters of water. Boil on low heat for 30 minutes. After cooling, strain, then add double the amount of water and soap (50 g per 10 liters of water) and spray.
3.8 Crush 100 g of garlic (the plants with leaves removed during thinning, as well as the flower stalks) or 50 g of garlic cloves in an enamel bucket, fill with water to the brim, and let it steep for 12 hours. Then strain the infusion. Repeat spraying with these infusions at least three times with intervals of 5 days.
3.9 A three-hour water infusion of 1.2 kg of chopped potato tops in 10 liters of water.
3.10 A three-hour water infusion of 300 g of horse sorrel roots in 10 liters of water.
3.11 A three-hour water infusion of 400 g of dandelion leaves in 10 liters of water.
3.12 A one-day infusion of 1 kg of tobacco in 10 liters of warmed water. Dilute 1 liter of infusion in 5 liters of water.
3.13 To combat cabbage white caterpillars, cutworms, and moths, use a burdock infusion. Place chopped leaves in a bucket and fill with water to the top. Let it steep for three days. After straining, spray the cabbage.
3.14 Small caterpillars are deterred by a decoction of pepper pods. Chop them finely, boil on low heat for nearly an hour, cool, let steep in a glass container for two days, then dilute with water, approximately 50 g of decoction per 10 liters of water. You can use about 100 grams of pods.
Notes:
1. It is essential to strictly adhere to the recommended concentrations for infusions and decoctions, as excessive strength can cause leaf burns.
2. Add 40 g of liquid or household soap or a tablespoon of laundry powder like “Novost” or “Lotus” to a bucket of any infusion.
3. All infusions should be used only on the day they are prepared. Spray as needed once a week.
4. Although all folk remedies are harmless, it is necessary to wear goggles and protect your nose and mouth with gauze masks while working with them to avoid irritation of the mucous membranes.
5. All plant treatments should be done with fresh infusions and preferably in the evening. Evening spraying is not only more effective but also protects plants from burns and bees from poisoning.
Apple Blossom Weevils (beetles – weevils or snout beetles)
The simplest way, especially in a small garden, to eliminate beetles early in the spring is to take advantage of one of the weevil’s habits. When disturbed, the beetle curls its legs and lies still, as if dead. If this happens on a branch, it falls to the ground. This is its way of escaping from enemies. Early in the morning, when it’s still cool, the beetles are sluggish: when they fall, they don’t fly away, and once on the ground, they don’t immediately crawl or take off. Spread a cloth or light shields under the trees, shake the beetles off, collect, and destroy them.
Shake the trees until the buds are exposed. If you miss this task, don’t forget the second opportunity. After the apple trees bloom, the dried and brown buds are easily noticeable, and they harbor larvae. These buds need to be collected and destroyed. This task should be done quickly: within a week or so after the apple trees bloom, the beetles will emerge from their pupae.
4. Diseases
Preventing many diseases is significantly easier than curing them. Therefore, I strongly recommend using “Medicine for the Garden.” For powdery mildew on cucumbers, use a solution of potassium permanganate (5 g per 10 liters of water). Among folk remedies, you can use a cow dung infusion. Prepare it by filling a quarter of an enamel bucket with fresh cow dung and topping it off with water. Stir the solution several times over 4-5 hours, then strain. For the first spraying, dilute the solution with water by half. If there are no burns on the leaves, repeat the spraying after three days without diluting the infusion.
For powdery mildew on gooseberries, I have successfully used two methods for many years:
1. Three sprays at weekly intervals with a solution of calcined soda (50 g per 10 liters of water with a spoonful of neutral laundry detergent).
2. Three sprays at weekly intervals with a solution of buttermilk or kefir (1 liter per 10 liters of water). In both cases, the first spraying should be done immediately after flowering.
Various spots, molds, rots, streaks, scab, and late blight.
These and other fungal diseases are significantly easier to prevent than to cure. The best remedy is copper vitriol (20 g per 10 liters of water with a wetting agent), copper oxychloride (40 g per 10 liters of water), or one percent Bordeaux mixture. But we have already discussed chemical control methods.
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