Good observations on nettle tea, Allan. Please continue the obsession. Chris
--- Allan Balliett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Still working on the cucumber beetle problem. > > I spoke with Hugh Courtney yesterday. He recommended > making a fresh > tea just as one would 508, only 'boil' it for 1 hour > and then, after > cooling, spray it directly on the affected plants. > (Didn't discuss > stirring...hmmm...) > > I'm using nettle leaf from the coop, which is > surprisingly > economical: $8.95 a lb which makes a cup of it > pretty darn cheap. > > Right now I'm simmering 1/3 cup of nettle leaf in a > gallon of water. > That's what I'm getting around to: would that be the > appropriate > ration of leaf to water? (Anyone?) > > I sprayed fresh nettle tea (24hr) from fresh nettle > earlier this > week. Courtney was right: at the first spritz of the > sprayer squash > bugs FLEW from the affected plants. Cucumber beetles > got antsie in a > way that I hadn't seen them before and, eventually, > they all flew. > Unfortunately, cucumber beetles were back the next > day, but I haven't > seen any squash bugs since the first application. > The biggest problem > I'm having is attacks on seedling trays or in > emerging seedlings in > the field. (Courtney concurs that this is a > seed-source problem. My > seed came from Johnny's. I'll be seedsoaking in the > future to give > the plants a chance at a pest-free start.) > > It didn't really dawn on me earlier that for the > first couple of > weeks the classic nettle anaerobic tea is a > different item with > different uses almost every other day and that > Thun's unction to > spray three times has as much to do with the > evolution of the brew > (i.e. you're applying different elements in each > spraying) as it has > to do with persistence. > > -Allan > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com
