CAN ASPIRIN PROTECT OUR PLANTS FROM PESTS AND DISEASES?
Joan Powell
"It should be no surprise to learn how an important aspirin ingredient – salicylic acid – is being used as an earth friendly first aid to warding off plant diseases".
Martha McBurney, the master gardener in charge of the demonstration vegetable garden at the University of Rhode Island, tested aspirin water on some vegetables after reading about it in a gardening publication, and had some astonishing results. What caught her eye in the original article was that it said that aspirin is an activator of systemic acquired resistance, SAR. Plants under stress naturally produce salicylic acid, but not fast enough or in sufficient quantities to really help them out in time. So the bugs get them and diseases get them, and they show even more stress. Aspirin helps to boost the immune system.
The plants were sprayed every 3 weeks. By the end of the season the plants sprayed with Aspirin water looked like they were on steroids. Plants were huge and green with no insects. She also saw some disease problems that reverse themselves. Martha also sprayed aspirin water on the seeds directly sowed in the ground. Results were 100% germination compared to spotty germination in other trials.
Currently research may explain a modern old wives tale of adding aspirin to a vase of cut flowers to keep the blooms fresher longer. The explanation is the cutting of flowers is perceived by the plants as a wound, so it stimulates the production of the substance that not only aids the plant fight off bugs, but also hastens aging or wilting, just like cut flowers. Aspirin halts the formation of that substance, keeping the flowers looking younger and not wilting prematurely.”
I found this article interesting, but had no idea of what measurements were used in Aspirin water. George and Monica Wraight were about to visit New Zealand so I enlisted their help. Super Sleuth Monica was successful in her quest and found out that the recipe was 1 aspirin in 10 litres of water and that we could find more information at www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm.
I also found a wealth of information by simply typing in ‘Martha McBurney’ and doing a Google search. Of particular interest in some of the articles was that plants vary in their tolerance to applications of salicylic acid and aspirin and too much can harm some plants, so it is probably best to keep to the above recipe. Another article said that it is also important to crush the aspirin to a fine powder before mixing with water, do not just add a tablet, no reason was given. Do not use coated tablets or tablets with additives such as Disprin.
In America there are several other compounds being explored and researchers are finding results similar to those of salicylic acid. Induced systemic resistance [ISR} is an encouraging development in the realm of pest and disease control as these methods are safer and less harmful to the environment. Perhaps in the future the farmers will simply spray their crops with an aspirin instead of some of the nasties used now.
UPDATE ON GRAFTED IVY LEAFED PELARGONIUMS
by Joan Powell (August 2006)
My grafts continue to do well, with some lovely new ones flowering earlier this year. So far the only real problem I have encountered has been with the Bicolours, Zeebra Lee and Zeebra Fire. Although the leaves have meshed the flowers have lost their white stripes and reverted to solid colours. I have regrafted them with Rouletta in the hope that this will solve the problem.
The Hybrid Ivies grafted with White Mesh and Crocodile have a softer and more lacy look that the ordinary ivies. Millfield Gem and Millfield Rosebud on White Mesh are especially lovely and along with Icing Sugar and Thornlands Burgundy on Crocodile are among my favourites.
I have experimented with many other grafts using Crocodile, White Mesh and/or Rouletta, particularly on the single flower ivies such as April Hamilton and Nelson Reid. The first of these to flower was Nelson Reid which has meshed leaves and a flower that carries the white stripe.
Last year I grafted a few Zonals with White Mesh, but so far the only one to take is Pink Floral Cascade, I guess that only time will tell whether the leaves retain the mesh pattern or not. This Spring I plan to start grafting some Zonals with Wantirna, a zonal with cream veined leaves.
SNIPPETS
Did you know that crushed Pelargonium leaves can be used to stop wounds bleeding? Researchers from the University of Los Andes found that crushed Pelargonium leaves applied to a wound can reduce bleeding by 80%. 300 years ago in England scented leaved pelargonium was used for sweetening the damp musty rooms of old cottages. These wonderful plants will still do the same today.
QUICK PICK ME UP – add 2teaspoons of Epsom salts, 1 teaspoon of Sulphate of Iron and mix into 9 litres of water. Drench plants, leaves and all.
Growing Pelargoniums in Various Pots and Containers
Rex Daley
It is true that most gardeners grow a lot of their plants in pots and yet when they undertake this method of growing plants, they encounter many difficulties in growing results, compared with growing a plant in the open garden.
The first thing we must understand is a plant (i.e. most plants) grown in a small trough, pot or container is a plant under stress and to get good growing results we need to compensate for this by:
Using a good soil mix ( such as a premium potting mix from a garden nursery)
Features – Pots and containers come in a big range of sizes, colour and shapes, and on their own can highlight a particular area of your garden or courtyard.
Advantages – We can move them around to suit the area – easy to replace a plant in a particular spot – good for small areas where it is not possible to have plants in the open garden, and most of all in cold winters such as experienced in Canberra area, we can move them out of the danger of frosts so they live to see another growing season.
A well cared for pot plant will make an excellent addition to the benches of your Society's annual show or display.
Benefits – If properly cared for, they can be very rewarding, with flowering over long periods. Most of all for people of older vintage, they offer easy care when displayed on benches or supports, saving us the difficulty of getting up and down on our knees to normally attend to plants in the open garden.
Don’ts –
Do's –
Now is the time to do all our planning for the coming growing season, to ensure that we can gain the maximum pleasure from our effort we have put into growing our plants.
I will leave you with the words of wisdom I gained from a friend of mine many years ago. “NOTHING HAPPENS UNLESS YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN”
So next time you get an idea of what you would like in your garden, MAKE IT HAPPEN.
HARDY GERANIUMS
Diana O'Brien
It's not just a discovery process for new members - that THE red flower in a terracotta pot they have always called a geranium is actually a zonal pelargonium - many long time growers still have the same problem! In fact, it is understandable in a way because many years ago (in 1753 actually) all of the plants in the family Geraniaceae were once classified by the Swedish botanist Linnaeus as Geraniums.
However, it was only 30 years later that the French botanist L'Heritier recognized that there was a difference between two of the major groups, and reclassified them as Pelargoniums and Geraniums on the basis of their flower shape - quite different, as well as their seed pods and seed dispersal which were also quite distinctive.
So why in that intervening 30 years was there this great reluctance to accept the name change? Who knows? For some strange reason, even 220 years on, these name changes have been difficult for the average gardener to accept - nine out of ten Australian gardeners today, even those who know the difference, will still call a Zonal pelargonium a "geranium".
Why? Well much of the blame these days has to lie with the chain store garden centres as well as nurseries who couldn't care less what they put on their plant labels as long as they think people will recognize it and of course it sells! Another reason, of course, and has been for a number of years, is that the most commonly grown and commercially available plant has always been that 'red flower in a terracotta pot' and it's various hybrids. The hardy herbaceous plants that belong to the Genus Geranium, long-time members of English and European borders, have not been readily available in the Southern hemisphere except perhaps, by seed exchange.
The genus of hardy herbaceous Geraniums - commonly called Cranesbills, contains many plants that are garden desirables. One major retail success in recent years has been a G. wallichianum x- known commercially as 'Rozanne'. Its clear blue, white-eyed five-petalled flowers bloom on and on in the border for most of the spring and summer through to autumn. Who wouldn't want one?
Spring is an ideal time to make divisions of established clumps for transplanting or to set out new purchases. As woodland plantings for cool borders in the main, though of course some will prefer and even do better in full sun, you will need to prepare the soil and ensure the right amount of moisture accordingly. Don't expect even these normally hardy plants to give of their best if they are simply dumped in a hole in intractable clay ground.
Mail order rather than local retail nurseries are currently the best source of supply. Try www.mistydowns.com.au or ph. 03 5345 2847 for their perennial plant list which includes 'Rozanne' and others such as the taller growing (60 x 50cm) woodland cranesbill Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower'- a late spring and summer flowering frost- hardy plant with lilac blue flowers. Geranium macrorrhizum 'Spessart' is a much-valued border planting (30 x 30cm) that carries mounds of fragrant foliage topped with white pink-tinged flowers. Others on the list include the rich pink, magenta veined G. sanguineum 'Shepherds Warning'.
Lambley Nursery in Victoria is well noted as a drought and frost hardy perennial nursery. You can email them for further information at: www.lambley.com.au
Geranium 'Criss Canning' a G. pratense seedling raised in the nursery has been one of their cranesbill successes. Others from their winter catalogue include the desirable grey foliaged, violet flowered, 'Phillipe Vapelle and the low growing clumping pink flowering G. sanguineum 'Striatum' that does well in reasonably dry conditions.
Society members who grow plants in this group will always be happy to put you in touch with other sources of these fine garden plants so don't hesitate to ask.
PELARGONIUM CARE: SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER
Joan Powell
Now is the time to prepare your plants for the spring growing season. Many plants will need potting on, those that don’t will benefit from a top dressing. Carefully remove a few centimetres of soil from the top of the pot, taking care not to damage the roots and top dress with new soil. For the top dressing I add some blood and bone and a little dolomite to new soil and then water it in with a weak solution of seasol.
Commence feeding with a good balanced fertilizer. I use Phostrogen at ½ strength until the end of September and then full strength through to flowering. You should always water plants before adding fertilizers.
Late August or early September is a good time to give your Regals a top dressing of Sulphate of Potash to improve flower colour. Apply at the rate of a ¼ teaspoon for 125ml pots, ½ teaspoon for 150ml pots and about a teaspoon for 200– 220ml pots.
Inspect your plants to see if they have a nicely balanced shape. If not, a further light prune may be necessary. Don’t forget to also inspect your hanging baskets and pinch out the growing tips to encourage branching and to ensure a well shaped bushy plant.
Spring is the best time to take cuttings of fancy leaved varieties but wait until the possibility of frosts is over. Repot if necessary and then move to a warm protected position.
Check for any insect attack particularly white fly, aphids, mites and caterpillars. If they are not brought under control at the start of the growing season it will be almost impossible to eradicate them. There are several good products available for controlling each of these pests. I have been using a relatively new product containing Bifenthrin* which claims to control sucking pests, mites and caterpillars. To date I have had good results, and after two applications cannot see any sign of either white fly or caterpillars.
Also check for soil pests. Soil mealy bugs and slaters can be eradicated with Hortico Lawn Beetle and Slater Granules. When using any chemicals ensure that you read the label and carefully follow all safety directions.
Remove dead leaves and old flower heads from potted plants and give them a quarter turn weekly Make sure they have good light and are spaced well apart to provide good air circulation. Check for signs of mildew, black rot or rust, if necessary spray with a fungicide such as Zineb or Mancozeb. Clean used pots, growing benches and sterilize cutting implements. Good hygiene will help prevent disease spreading.
A careful watering program is essential, water early in the day and avoid wetting the foliage. The size of containers, type of potting mix and position of your plants should determine how much water is needed.
HANDY HINTS
by Diana O'Brien
Having trouble with neighbourhood cats using your garden beds as a toilet? Try sinking small containers (the plastic tops from empty aerosol cans are ideal) part way into the ground at strategic points and half filling them with cloudy ammonia. The cats don't like the smell and will look elsewhere.
Possums not only become a pain when they chomp the tasty bits from your crop of winter broccoli but particularly when they transfer their affections to your collection of 'geraniums' later in the year. You can try several deterrents such as mothballs and/or Dynamic Lifter pellets but one of the most effective seems to be an aluminium ammonium sulphate based product called D-Ter. Used according to the instructions you'll find that it will not only repel possums but dogs and cats, rodents and pesky parrots that nibble new rose shoots in spring.
Potting on Pelargonium Plants
by Renate Marcks
The expression “potting on” refers to the transfer of a plant from its pot to a larger one, as the plant grows. Some growers strike pelargonium cuttings in single pots, or others place several cuttings around the top of a medium sized pot or in rows in garden beds.
A plant which has rooted in a single small pot is much easier to "pot on" than those which are grown several to a pot or those in a garden bed. Even if handled very carefully when “potting on” the last mentioned two types are subject to a severe setback through damage to the roots. If the plant survives the "potting on" their growth is very much slower than plants which were rooted in individual pots and were transferred without damaging the roots.
Most experienced pelargonium growers are satisfied that best results are obtained if a plant is "potted on" into a pot not more than 2" (100 mm ) than the one in which it is growing, 2” to 4” (50 mm to 100 mm ) 4” to 5” (100 mm to 125 mm ) etc.
For miniatures the preference is for increases of only 1" ( 25 mm ).
For the amateur grower the size of the pots used when "potting on" is not as important as the manner in which the plant is handled.
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