Milk as a fungicide, organic farming

[Guest guest]

I got this off of my list and thought it would be good to post here.

 

Tracy and Derrick Tappin (BC Canada)

Nature's Natural Solution's Body Care

http://www.goatmilkskincare.com

LaMancha Goat's CL Free CAE Tested

 

 

 

*Milk may have potential as a fungicide.*

 

A report in the October 16 1999 edition of New

Scientist<http://www.newscientist.com/>suggests that spraying diluted

milk on cucumbers and courgettes (zucchini)

may be effective in killing powdery mildew, caused by the mold

Sphaerotheca

fulinginea. This could be a significant benefit for organic farmers trying

to meet the growing demand for chemical free vegetables.

 

According to the

report<http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991016/newsstory4.html>,

milk's fungicidal powers were discovered by Wagner Bettiol of the

environmental laboratory of Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research

Corporation, in Jaguariuna, north of Sao Paulo.

 

Bettiol, who was looking for cheap ways to control plant pests, observed

that by-products from milk-processing factories killed powdery mildew on

squash. So he decided to simply spray fresh milk on the plants to see

if it

had the same effect.

 

To his surprise, he found that it did. In fact, spraying heavily infected

plants twice a week with a mixture of one part cow's milk to nine parts

water was at least as good at stopping mildew as the chemical fungicides

fenarimol and benomyl, Bettiol discovered.

 

Bettiol added that several organic growers in his region were able to

control less severe outbreaks by spraying once a week with a 5% milk

solution. In many cases, milk was both faster and more effective.

After two

to three weeks of spraying with milk, the area of leaves infected was in

some cases only a sixth or less of the area affected on plants treated

with

chemical fungicide.

 

Bettiol is not yet sure why milk works so well, but he speculates that it

helps the plants in two ways. Milk is known to kill some

microorganisms. It

also contains potassium phosphate, which boosts the plant's immune system

and so may help it inhibit the mildew's growth.

 

http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/newsandresources.htm

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Neat. And what a frightful specter for vegans, many of whom would

rather ingest chemicals than support the use of animal products. :-(

 

-Josh

[Guest guest]

I was just talking about this yesterday, to the guy who makes bulk creams etc

for me. He is using two different things that come from milk as a natural

preservative, but says it works as an anti oxidant - and fungus wont grow if

there is no oxygen.

 

Mary

Well, Naturally

http://www.wellnaturally.com

 

 

 

 

-

Nature's Natural Solution's

Tuesday, September 13, 2005 9:28 AM

Milk as a fungicide, organic farming

 

 

I got this off of my list and thought it would be good to post here.

 

Tracy and Derrick Tappin (BC Canada)

Nature's Natural Solution's Body Care

http://www.goatmilkskincare.com

LaMancha Goat's CL Free CAE Tested

 

 

 

*Milk may have potential as a fungicide.*

 

A report in the October 16 1999 edition of New

Scientist<http://www.newscientist.com/>suggests that spraying diluted

milk on cucumbers and courgettes (zucchini)

may be effective in killing powdery mildew, caused by the mold

Sphaerotheca

fulinginea. This could be a significant benefit for organic farmers trying

to meet the growing demand for chemical free vegetables.

 

According to the

report<http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991016/newsstory4.html>,

milk's fungicidal powers were discovered by Wagner Bettiol of the

environmental laboratory of Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research

Corporation, in Jaguariuna, north of Sao Paulo.

 

Bettiol, who was looking for cheap ways to control plant pests, observed

that by-products from milk-processing factories killed powdery mildew on

squash. So he decided to simply spray fresh milk on the plants to see

if it

had the same effect.

 

To his surprise, he found that it did. In fact, spraying heavily infected

plants twice a week with a mixture of one part cow's milk to nine parts

water was at least as good at stopping mildew as the chemical fungicides

fenarimol and benomyl, Bettiol discovered.

 

Bettiol added that several organic growers in his region were able to

control less severe outbreaks by spraying once a week with a 5% milk

solution. In many cases, milk was both faster and more effective.

After two

to three weeks of spraying with milk, the area of leaves infected was in

some cases only a sixth or less of the area affected on plants treated

with

chemical fungicide.

 

Bettiol is not yet sure why milk works so well, but he speculates that it

helps the plants in two ways. Milk is known to kill some

microorganisms. It

also contains potassium phosphate, which boosts the plant's immune system

and so may help it inhibit the mildew's growth.

 

http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/newsandresources.htm

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much!

 

Does it have to be REAL milk, or does it

work with the white glue from the grocery store too?

 

I will pass this on to the wonderful organic farmer who is keeping me in live

raw milk from a contented grass-fed cow.

 

She has been putting excess milk on her roses.

She will love this!

 

This is just such a great list.

 

Ien in the Kootenays

****************************

" To treat life as less than a miracle

is to give up on it. "

~Wendell Berry

Rainforest Miracles:

http://wildhealing.net

****************************

 

 

[Guest guest]

I posted the milk thing on a list that I am on with organic farmers and

here was a response from one gal there ....

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

Don't Miss The Vanilla Bean Blow Out!

http://www.aftertherayne.com/vanilla.htm

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Re: FW: Milk as a fungicide, organic farming

 

Quite a lot of research - both peer reviewed and amateur experience -

has gone into milk as a fungicide since the original Brazilian

report. In the Netherlands milk is actually on the national approved

fungicide list and has been for the last two years. At the dilution

reported in the original experiments it isn't actually very effective

in many climates but a 1:3 dilution has been found to be effective

against powdery mildew almost everywhere in the world (this is not to

say it doesn't work everywhere but the experiments haven't been done

everywhere. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it may be effective

against other fungal diseases - notably late blight of potatoes and

tomatoes, black spot on roses and, possibly, rust on various

different plants. Worth a try anyway

 

However, one should be aware that powdery mildew is often a disease

of poor plant management and a proper balance of soil and air

moisture will often prevent it entirely. Water is cheaper than milk

 

Compost teas are also very effective free fungicides

 

kathryn