Oh my! You did it again!. I use to mix sulphur with Vaseline to treat scabies on dogs in the late 70’s. How pleasantly surprising to see it used for this purpose. Just one more “who knew?” coming from you. Jason, you never fail to deliver❤️
I consider sulfur to be the secret ingredient I use in my garden. My main use for it is to do with roses. I garden in the Interior of BC (Zone 5), where the soil is neutral to slightly alkaline. I was not very successful in growing roses until I researched and found that the R. multiflora rootstock likes a soil almost as acidic as blueberries. So I sprinkled some on the surface of the soil and the roses showed some improvement. But they did really well when I planted a new rose and added sulfur to the soil. Wow! Beautiful big rose bushes with loads of blooms. BUT that was not the only improvement!! Previously I had blackspot but the plants that I sprinkled sulfur on the surface of the soil no longer had blackspot! Thinking of a diagram I had once seen that showed water droplets bouncing off the soil and up to the lower leaves of the plant I theorized that the sulfur kept the blackspot spores at bay. So I sprinkle some sulfur around the base of the plant two to three times a year and I have not had a speck of blackspot for years, on 70 plants. I water whenever and however. No different from any other plant. Muriel
BRILLIANT! My bf owns a sav grape vineyard in S. New Zealand and guess what he sprays about 12x a season to keep mildew and such down on the grapes! His property is right on the ocean so there's plenty of moisture coming off the coastline there. He hates spraying it though because as he pours it into the machines for a mass spraying, it literally pulls the breath (moisture) right out of his lungs. Remember folks, grapes are never washed before they are processed at the winery so all of those sulfur runs are still on the grapes. He's been growing grapes for 14 yrs. so he's a professional. This method is 100% effective!
You're the second RUclipsr to recommend the use of sulphur today. The other one was for preserving dahlia bulbs for overwintering. Thank you Jason for another helpful suggestion :)
Here in our humid, rainy PNW, powdery mildew is rampant by late Summer so this is really helpful. Also, Spider mites are my nemesis and I am thrilled to have something to try to aid in reducing the population - thank you
99.9% of countries in the world changed to the metric system in the 1970s. NASA uses the metric system otherwise they could not attain the critical tolerances to construct any space equipment. The British invented the imperial system but was quick to dump it for the SI system SI being metric.
I just bought a bag of Bonide micronized sulfur to treat a variety of fungal diseases in my vegetable garden. It instructs to spray before the plants blossom. What is the reason for this? Will it harm pollinators? Will it harm ripening fruit?
Thanks Jason. I continue to learn from you, and I have not seen anything like this from other garden channels. Can I assume this will work on squash plant mildew as well?
Thanks Dennis. Yes, it's the thing for PM on squash and cukes as well. Best if you can apply at the very first signs of the disease because it comes on super fast in the cucurbits.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thanks Jason, a friend from work told me to mix half water to half milk and spray them but this year in NY it rained all summer and I didn't get to it in time and had a poor crop. Maybe next year I'll be better prepared.
I’m still curious about attracting beneficial insects that you mentioned during your recent video with Rose Geek. You mentioned families of plants. I’d love to see a video from you expanding on this. I’m especially curious about using mustard family plants to attract beneficial insects earliest.
Thanks. I'll add that to my list of videos. I did include a small assortment of companions in my first aphid video: ruclips.net/video/luy-sPWRDTQ/видео.html
I found this stuff on clear out shelf at Rona . Bought it , made a a solution in my garden hose sprayer and sprayed my cherry tree. It was 2022 , great year for cherries . The cherries were mostly all perfect that year ! . I can’t remember when I sprayed , I think it was after the buds dropped ?
From what I've heard, the agitation thing is actually necessary, especially if you're not using a form of sulfur which disperses readily in water (e.g. wettable sulfur). To me, it's always cool to see people develop the best way to do something and having it confirmed by science later on! Personally, I find that the biggest benefits of sulfur for me versus other organic fungicides are: 1. Effect on pesky mites in addition to fungi 2. Relatively safe for soil life in addition to other animals - I have quite a few earthworms in some of my plants, and sulfur is safer for them than something like copper 3. Naturally degrades over time - to me this is a big benefit of sulfur over, say, copper (Bordeaux mix). Overuse of copper fungicides can lead to build-up in the soil and render it inhospitable to further plant growth The relative lack of resistance against sulfur is quite an interesting topic to explore. Sulfur apparently disrupts fungal cells in lots of different places, making it very difficult for a fungus to develop resistance against sulfur since it would have to change lots of different things about itself to become resistant. However, there are bacteria which do eat elemental sulfur, so the lesson of nature is always 'never say never'! This is also why I end up having to use copper-based fungicides/bactericides for bacterial infections - sulfur isn't as helpful there.
Thanks for adding your knowledge to the topic! When I looked at the studies, I was so pleased to read about the lack of resistance over time. Between that at the potassium bicarbonate, I have a rotation that isn't likely to breed resistance, I think.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm That's great! One thing I do is to mentally classify the fungicides on the basis of how likely I am to encounter them in my day-to-day life (not exactly the same thing as how natural they are). For example, as my "first-line"/preventative fungicides, I use chitosan, salicylic acid, potassium bicarbonate and monopotassium phosphate. Potassium ions, bicarbonate ions and dihydrogen phosphate ions are everywhere in the environment around us and definitely in my plants - there's no risk at all that I'm introducing something foreign. If a plant doesn't have potassium ions/bicarbonate ions/phosphate ions, it's not a living plant anyway. Chitosan is found naturally in the break down of fungal and insect cell walls, and salicylic acid is what the plants themselves use to signal that they're under attack by a pest. Additionally, potassium bicarbonate is basically just baking soda with the sodium swapped out for the potassium, monopotassium phosphate is used as an acidity regulator in food, and salicylic acid is an active ingredient in aspirin and skin defoliating soaps. Then for my second-line fungicides, I have things which you'd find in nature but in differing concentrations/in different places. So for example neem oil and copper-based fungicides - neem oil comes from a natural plant but not all plants produce it, and copper is definitely found in the environment but at very different concentrations to what I'd apply. (PS: I'm pretty sure you know a lot of this stuff already, I just find it cool to put this info out there!) Then, when it comes to synthetic chemicals, if I ever had to use them I'd start out by looking at ones which are derivatives of naturally-occurring compounds. For example, I'd be more open to using kasugamycin (synthesised naturally by the bacterium Streptomyces kasugaensis) or group 11 fungicides (e.g. azoxystrobin - derivatives of natural antifungal compounds known as strobilurins produced by the fungus Strobilurus tenacellus) even though they're synthetics.
This year i used a mix of milk and water on my phloxes that had powdery mildew last year. I applied it in may on a sunny day as suggested and repeated in june. The phloxes got some powdery mildew later in the year but much less than last year. Could be that the conditions were worse this year for powdery mildew but going to try again next year. Thanks for the video.
Great video! Question, what about edibles/consumables... How close to harvest is safe to apply sulfur for mildew? Specifically cannabis flowers? Thank you and have a great week!
Hey Jason! How long do I leave sulfur on my plants if just doing a preventative treatment against pests? I found mites on one of my plants in the green house but I'm not sure how long to leave everything on them.
Love your presentations! Very informative. Do you have recommendations for aphids? I've been using a mix of peppermint, tea tree oil castile soap, hydrogen peroxide, 70% alcohol in water and spraying. Would the Sulphur work on aphids too?
Thanks for the information. I have a small Hydrangea that I won't get planted until spring and it has just recently (that I noticed) gotten covered with powdery mildew. Should I treat it now even though it won't be in a greenhouse? Will the cold weather kill off the powdery mildew?
Questionable whether it would be worthwhile now, since it will presumably be dropping those leaves shortly. You might even consider stripping the leaves now if it's severe. PM can persist a bit on the stems and dropped foliage, so a good cleanup would be helpful.
Just found your videos on RUclips and really enjoy your explanation of what you do and how you do it. Very straightforward and helpful. I was wondering what your thoughts are on using neem oil as a remedy for powdery mildew? Thank you for the videos. Keep up the great work!
Hi Len. I've never found neem to be the most "active" fungicide or insecticide. I trust that it does both (the research seems to support it) but I've never found it to be fast acting against either. Maybe used regularly in the early season as a general preventive... but just keep in mind that if you were considering sulfur, the general guideline is to avoid applying within 30 days of oil.
Awesome. Thank you for your quick response and advice. We live in Southwest Florida and have just started getting into growing plants and trees, focusing mainly on mango trees. We have planted several mango seeds that have grown enough to start grafting onto so we need all the help we can get to keep the young trees healthy! We'll keep plugging and see what happens.
Perfect timing! Just moved some of my container roses indoor and placed them under a grow light. Just yesterday found the signs of speckling on the leaves and found the annoying mites. Their bites can make the plant susceptible to diseases so I think the sulfur spray is something I will try. Also, I have read online that some commercial growers use some kind of poly acrylic coating spray, have you used those type of spray like wiltpruf or Antistress? Some Rosarians swear that the spray prevents mites and fungus infection. Thanks!
Thank you so much, Jason, helful as always! 🙏🙏❤ I'm thinking about using diluted enzyme water to spread the rose leaves as a prevention. You think that may work？ I have heard so much good things about homemade all natural enzyme. I am rather surprised why enzyme is not commonly used or even mentioned in the western countries. It's such a good thing for the environment...
You're right - it's not something that I've seen widely used in horticulture here. I've seen several biofungicides based on bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Streptomyces lydicus) but I'm not too familiar with the homemade enzymes.
Thanks. I just tried to add it to our Amazon list, but the product is showing as unavailable. What you're looking for is "micronized" or "wettable" sulfur. I've seen it under the Bonide or Hi-Yield brand in the US
Hello! I came across your video from a Hoya growing forum specifically regarding mites. I purchased a Sulfur Vaporizer and Elemental Sulfur. There is not much info out there on how to use this method and how often. The Vaporizer’s “instructions” state to use in a high humidity environment. My question is, will the Sulfur (once it has been turned into a gas) harm plant leaves if they are wet? Also, how often should I use this method as a preventative? Great video and very informative! Thank you so much for your advice 🪴💚 Renee in Florida, USA
Moisture on the plants doesn't seem to be a problem at the time of fumigation. I run it once a week in each greenhouse during the peaks of mildew season, and it seems to cut down on the severity quite a bit anyway.
I saw this video and a few others about sulfur and powdery mildew and have ordered a larger bag - first thing I got was a tiny bag off of ebay of 99.95% sulfur (no other info on the packet). Is it bad to sprinkle it on a plant? I took a paint brush to a few spots on a succulent with spots of powdery mildew and brushed it over them. It's so light and dust that after brushing a plant if you puff air on it it seems to fly right off. For some other plants I diluted some that I spilled on the table with water and brushed that on. Very unscientific - I was just really worried to do something quick because a few of my plants I have imported and really want them to survive. Do you recommend against using it as powder? I've heard that as a natural fungicide it helps raw spots on plants, or for succulents, cuttings and leaves removed for propagation. But should I be diluting it?
Hello Jason! Thank you for all your great information and help. My name is Nina. I live in southern California and am having trouble with one of my roses. It has always had problems with mildew. This spring has been the worst, I had to cut all the new growth completely back because they were so affected and spreading to my other roses. Your potassium bicarbonate and chitosan tip gives me hope. Can the chitosan be "chitosan finings 1%" or does it need to be powder??? Thank you Jason!
I'm not familiar with the product. If it's already dissolved in water, it should be fine to use and I think 1% is a safe rate. Hopefully there's nothing else of concern in the mix.
Hi there, Do you spray it under the leaves too ? Is it possible to mix it with a organic liquid soap so it stays on the leaves ? In uk it is no longer sold as a fungicide but only as a fertiliser. So our sulfur in uk powder might not be as fine as your powder….Thank you
Here's a little contradiction: most instructions say not to combine with soap to prevent leaf damage. Yet there's a Safers product that is premixed as a soap/sulfur solution. So I suppose it's a matter of getting the right proportions.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm So I’d better not to try to mix it myself then. I’ll stick to the potassium bicarbonate treatment. However it is a shame that I can’t find another natural treatment in order to alternate with the potassium bicarbonate treatment. Thank you anyway.
Thanks. I bought mine locally. I placed an example of a burner on our Amazon store - it's not the same brand, so I'm not sure how it compares: www.amazon.com/shop/fraservalleyrosefarm
Hmmm. I've got to try this!!! I've been having huge issues with powdery mildew on my melons, cukes, and zukes. I've tried 2-3T of baking soda in a gallon sprayer and applied to BOTH sides of the leaves-AFTER removing the really badly infected leaves. The next morning I come out and there's even MORE PM on MORE leaves!!! So frustrating!!! THANKS!
Does the residual left on the leaves eventually wash off after a good rain? You also mentioned don't apply in extreme heat, will future high temps effect the plant even though you applied when weather was favorable?
Thank you for this video! If we wanted to introduce predatory mites after using sulfur as a first treatment to get rid of spider mites, how long should we wait after application? Is the effect of sulfur long enough to take care of eggs and larvae ? Thanks again
I've read a few things on persimilis and sulfur, and the literature is mixed. Some studies say there's little effect on the predators, while a couple of other references say that "overuse" of spray sulfur or active fumigation can impact their populations negatively. This seems to imply (to me) that so long as you're applying the beneficials after the sulfur treatment (by say a week), they'll be there to clean up any remaining adults and emerging younguns.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you so much for your response! I've read similar articles and also concluded that I shouldn't have to wait too long to introduce the beneficials. It's good to have your opinion. Wish you all the best.
Hi! Around my place i only find common sulphur in the pharmacy, not the one made to mix with water. And its sold in bars, so making dust with it its a pain. Could i just mix it with water too?
Hi Jason, if you're going to use pesticides for roses, do you spray it regularly or only as needed? Before I used malathion but it has a strong odor. Dithane is available here and torogi blue. Also is it really true that all the phosphorus that a rose plant needs is already in the soil and further addition would not be beneficial? Thank you!
Hi Raymund. I don't use the harder chemicals at all, but either way the strategy is similar: check your plants regularly to get an idea of when the disease pressure is at its worst. Some chemicals are systemic or work best if applied before the disease gets a good hold on the plant, but you also want to minimize your chemical use overall. If there are other environmental changes you can make to keep from spraying, take care of those first. Using the example of powdery mildew, it's not a problem for me during the dry stretch of summer so long as I stay on top of watering. I have to keep an eye out once the weather turns cool and moist in the fall. Then, at first sign of PM on the more susceptible varieties, it's time to begin weekly applications (alternating between sulfur and potassium bicarbonate in my case) to reduce disease pressure. No, I think supplemental phosphorus can be required for best performance. Without a soil test, it can be difficult to know how much to supplement, but I've always done fairly well with an almost equal balance of NPK (like 10-10-10).
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm thank you! I saw your latest farm video and it's nicer now! Hope you do a compilation video on rose growing tips and tricks for any kind of climate and for any kind of rose plant. Like a rose growing guide for dummies. Roses are hard to grow plants for me and our last miniature rose wilted. Only two remained I think they're Rosa chinensis? Anyway, good luck with your farm! Hope you have plenty of sales!
So elemental sulfur stinks less than wettable sulfur ? I use wettable micronized sulfur my indoor succulents for mites . Works great, but stinks so bad ! Some plants got the mites again and I dread spraying again. I spray them outside, then bring them back to the grow shelves once it’s dry . I leave my lights off a couple of days to keep them from burning. Maybe I should try elemental sulfur if it’s not as stinky . Thank you 😊
Hi Jennifer. Maybe my nose just isn't as sensitive, but the odor of pure wettable sulfur is pretty faint (to me) compared to the odor of the compounds (or in a mix, like lime-sulfur). The elemental sulfur I'm talking about (as a powder) is the same, and of course if you're using it in a burner it's fairly pungent.
I have access to elemental sulfur, would I be using the same 1T /liter of water as the other product showed? 😊 For context, I have a humid apartment and am getting a bit surface mold on the soil of my house plants.
I'm not 100% sure, but my impression was that wettable (micronized) sulfur was just quite a pure grade of elemental sulfur that was ground into extremely fine particles.
I have what I think is Sooty Mould on my bay tree and something similar on my Kaffir Lime. I use both of these leaves in cooking. What would you suggest as a safe remedy?
Thanks. Sooty mold is usually associated with the honeydew from an insect pest - does that match your problem at all? I wouldn't hesitate to try baking soda (preferably potassium bicarbonate) at 5mL/L (tsp per quarter gallon)
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Don't see any insects... but the Bay tree is under the canopy of a massive (90')Eucalypt. I'm wondering if fallout from that may be the problem
Hello, i only have elemental sulfur at home ( the yellow powder which is 99.9% pure apparently.. but smell like sulfur, which is a kind of rotten egg, tipycal sulfur smell). Can i use this elemental sulfur? i can't buy the one you shown in the video where i live. Thanks to answere! :)
I have one listed on my Amazon store - they're pretty simple devices really, but do try to find out the correct burning time for your volume of room or greenhouse
Hi Thomas. There are a number of good studies that support the effectiveness of potassium bicarbonate on PM and other fungal diseases, but more as a preventive than a curative. It also is not prone to the development of fungicide resistance, so for me it ticks all the boxes in rotation with the sulfur.
I’ve wanted David Austin roses for so long but hate the thought of spraying and hurting the environment and beneficial insects. But this is completely safe? I was going to try baking soda mixture or milk mixture but I doubted it would be enough for a blackspot magnet 😰
Hi Serena. Aside from its effect on mites (both pest and beneficial) sulfur is a very safe spray. So is baking soda (potassium bicarbonate). I alternate the two treatments as needed.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm oh bummer does sulfur hurt the beneficial bugs as well? Thank you so much for this info. If sulfur hurts the good bug maybe I can just stick to bicarbonate?
Hi Maria. I bought the Nivola burner from a local supplier - not sure who distributes it in the US. I did place a sample burner on the Amazon store: www.amazon.com/shop/fraservalleyrosefarm
? I just Trans planted a rose bush it's been planted about 9mos before the move . it has dropped almost all leaves and lower stems are turning brown did I kill it by moving. I have used fertilizer and food .
Hi Rob. A little bit of leaf drop wouldn't freak me out. If you give one of the darkening stems a little scrape, you'll be able to see if the underlying tissue is green or white (alive) or brown/black all the way through (dead). If it's struggling, hold off the fertilizing/food, as that can further stress new root development.
I had PM show up on a zucchini plant spread to my medical garden then to my tomatoes now its spreading through the grass ive never seen it so aggressively take over a whole yard. im gonna have to buy a pallet of sulfur.
What if I use a dormant oil in the winter and then the sulphur after the plant has leafed out? I have some spider mites on my Virginia Creeper (which we intentionally grow in the desert 😂) and I refuse to use Malathion on them so they persist.
Yes. Diluted whole milk or even skim milk powder seems to do the trick as a preventive, but it does smell awful for a day after application. I prefer sulfur overall.
So you try to beat a microscopic spore and you use it to clean your tents or plants or whatever and you miss some spores and it comes back over and over again. The best way to do this is bag it and throw it out do not try to kill mold with spray run dehumidifiers and clean your grow space check bottoms of tents for mildew etc "I just threw out a old 5x5 that had got mildew all over the bottom of it." the biggest problem with molds is its airborne as well so keep spraying your junk and raising humidity and never solve the issue THROW IT ALL OUT INCLUDING THE SPRAY.
With respect, we're talking about two different kinds of growing environments. In a tightly sealed grow room/grow tent it may make (some) sense to talk about eliminating and then excluding the spores - although long-term, this can be pretty difficult to achieve. In a greenhouse or in the garden, exclusion of spores is nonsensical. It's in the air, and there's no way to keep it out because the greenhouse isn't tightly sealed, nor is the garden (obviously). We're also talking about two very different crop cycles. For a fast growing short-cycle crop that can be quickly decimated by mildew, it may make sense to bag it all and throw it away, disinfect the grow space, and quickly start over again. For long cycle shrub like roses (for instance), where the mildew is only a minor annoyance, it would be overkill to talk about dumping the plants. It takes over a year to produce a nicely sized rose, and you'd throw it away over a bit of easily-managed mildew?
Thanks. I've seen a few biological fungicides (based on Bacillus subtilis for instance) that work on the same kind of premise. I haven't tested them all out, but feedback from other growers has been positive as a preventive.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm I understand what you are talking about, my work shows that my method gives more selective strains that give a good effect not only in comparison with the standard Bacillus Subtilis, but even in comparison with chemical fungicides in high doses. It's much deeper, I think you will not be disappointed if you study this topic✌
Oh my! You did it again!. I use to mix sulphur with Vaseline to treat scabies on dogs in the late 70’s. How pleasantly surprising to see it used for this purpose. Just one more “who knew?” coming from you.
Jason, you never fail to deliver❤️
I consider sulfur to be the secret ingredient I use in my garden. My main use for it is to do with roses. I garden in the Interior of BC (Zone 5), where the soil is neutral to slightly alkaline. I was not very successful in growing roses until I researched and found that the R. multiflora rootstock likes a soil almost as acidic as blueberries. So I sprinkled some on the surface of the soil and the roses showed some improvement. But they did really well when I planted a new rose and added sulfur to the soil. Wow! Beautiful big rose bushes with loads of blooms. BUT that was not the only improvement!! Previously I had blackspot but the plants that I sprinkled sulfur on the surface of the soil no longer had blackspot! Thinking of a diagram I had once seen that showed water droplets bouncing off the soil and up to the lower leaves of the plant I theorized that the sulfur kept the blackspot spores at bay. So I sprinkle some sulfur around the base of the plant two to three times a year and I have not had a speck of blackspot for years, on 70 plants. I water whenever and however. No different from any other plant. Muriel
Good to hear about your success!
BRILLIANT!
My bf owns a sav grape vineyard in S. New Zealand and guess what he sprays about 12x a season to keep mildew and such down on the grapes! His property is right on the ocean so there's plenty of moisture coming off the coastline there.
He hates spraying it though because as he pours it into the machines for a mass spraying, it literally pulls the breath (moisture) right out of his lungs.
Remember folks, grapes are never washed before they are processed at the winery so all of those sulfur runs are still on the grapes.
He's been growing grapes for 14 yrs. so he's a professional.
This method is 100% effective!
You're the second RUclipsr to recommend the use of sulphur today. The other one was for preserving dahlia bulbs for overwintering. Thank you Jason for another helpful suggestion :)
I saw that also! Jason’s amazon link has the one he recommends and there’s a bonide powder for bulb dusting
@@sjwestmo Thanks for the reminder of the links Sarah :) Sadly the sulfur is currently unavailable :(
Here in our humid, rainy PNW, powdery mildew is rampant by late Summer so this is really helpful. Also, Spider mites are my nemesis and I am thrilled to have something to try to aid in reducing the population - thank you
I love that you added gallons, I watch a few Canadian channels and always have to Google conversions
same thing for me on US websites, when they are gallons, I have to convert them to liters.😁😁
99.9% of countries in the world changed to the metric system in the 1970s. NASA uses the metric system otherwise they could not attain the critical tolerances to construct any space equipment. The British invented the imperial system but was quick to dump it for the SI system SI being metric.
Literally had to search for half an hour for ratio of elemental suplhur to water
Thank you
I just bought a bag of Bonide micronized sulfur to treat a variety of fungal diseases in my vegetable garden. It instructs to spray before the plants blossom. What is the reason for this? Will it harm pollinators? Will it harm ripening fruit?
Jason, thank you for your down to earth and practical tips.
Thank you, Jason. I would also like to see a video of how to apply it (to container roses) as a dry dust.
It will shorten the life of a piston pump, a diaphgram pump sprayer made for wetable powders will work very well with it.
Thanks Wayne - very helpful!
Thanks Jason. I continue to learn from you, and I have not seen anything like this from other garden channels. Can I assume this will work on squash plant mildew as well?
Thanks Dennis. Yes, it's the thing for PM on squash and cukes as well. Best if you can apply at the very first signs of the disease because it comes on super fast in the cucurbits.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thanks Jason, a friend from work told me to mix half water to half milk and spray them but this year in NY it rained all summer and I didn't get to it in time and had a poor crop. Maybe next year I'll be better prepared.
I’m still curious about attracting beneficial insects that you mentioned during your recent video with Rose Geek. You mentioned families of plants. I’d love to see a video from you expanding on this. I’m especially curious about using mustard family plants to attract beneficial insects earliest.
Thanks. I'll add that to my list of videos. I did include a small assortment of companions in my first aphid video: ruclips.net/video/luy-sPWRDTQ/видео.html
awesome. instructional. professional. video, thanks
for uploading it
You bet. Thanks for watching.
I found this stuff on clear out shelf at Rona . Bought it , made a a solution in my garden hose sprayer and sprayed my cherry tree. It was 2022 , great year for cherries . The cherries were mostly all perfect that year ! . I can’t remember when I sprayed , I think it was after the buds dropped ?
I've been using a large empty Dawn container, works well!! I was getting arthritis from using the pumps!
Thanks!
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm When you get older you get smarter! 😉
excellent information. I had some powdery mildew on my monarda last summer, probably as the result of overwatering, so this would be one remedy.
Thanks. Monarda's a bit susceptible in general, so watering may not have been the problem.
Your channel is great! Sulphur is effective against powdery mildew because it changes the PH level on the leaves, which kills off the mildew.
Thanks!
From what I've heard, the agitation thing is actually necessary, especially if you're not using a form of sulfur which disperses readily in water (e.g. wettable sulfur). To me, it's always cool to see people develop the best way to do something and having it confirmed by science later on!
Personally, I find that the biggest benefits of sulfur for me versus other organic fungicides are:
1. Effect on pesky mites in addition to fungi
2. Relatively safe for soil life in addition to other animals - I have quite a few earthworms in some of my plants, and sulfur is safer for them than something like copper
3. Naturally degrades over time - to me this is a big benefit of sulfur over, say, copper (Bordeaux mix). Overuse of copper fungicides can lead to build-up in the soil and render it inhospitable to further plant growth
The relative lack of resistance against sulfur is quite an interesting topic to explore. Sulfur apparently disrupts fungal cells in lots of different places, making it very difficult for a fungus to develop resistance against sulfur since it would have to change lots of different things about itself to become resistant. However, there are bacteria which do eat elemental sulfur, so the lesson of nature is always 'never say never'! This is also why I end up having to use copper-based fungicides/bactericides for bacterial infections - sulfur isn't as helpful there.
Thanks for adding your knowledge to the topic! When I looked at the studies, I was so pleased to read about the lack of resistance over time. Between that at the potassium bicarbonate, I have a rotation that isn't likely to breed resistance, I think.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm That's great! One thing I do is to mentally classify the fungicides on the basis of how likely I am to encounter them in my day-to-day life (not exactly the same thing as how natural they are). For example, as my "first-line"/preventative fungicides, I use chitosan, salicylic acid, potassium bicarbonate and monopotassium phosphate. Potassium ions, bicarbonate ions and dihydrogen phosphate ions are everywhere in the environment around us and definitely in my plants - there's no risk at all that I'm introducing something foreign. If a plant doesn't have potassium ions/bicarbonate ions/phosphate ions, it's not a living plant anyway. Chitosan is found naturally in the break down of fungal and insect cell walls, and salicylic acid is what the plants themselves use to signal that they're under attack by a pest. Additionally, potassium bicarbonate is basically just baking soda with the sodium swapped out for the potassium, monopotassium phosphate is used as an acidity regulator in food, and salicylic acid is an active ingredient in aspirin and skin defoliating soaps.
Then for my second-line fungicides, I have things which you'd find in nature but in differing concentrations/in different places. So for example neem oil and copper-based fungicides - neem oil comes from a natural plant but not all plants produce it, and copper is definitely found in the environment but at very different concentrations to what I'd apply.
(PS: I'm pretty sure you know a lot of this stuff already, I just find it cool to put this info out there!)
Then, when it comes to synthetic chemicals, if I ever had to use them I'd start out by looking at ones which are derivatives of naturally-occurring compounds. For example, I'd be more open to using kasugamycin (synthesised naturally by the bacterium Streptomyces kasugaensis) or group 11 fungicides (e.g. azoxystrobin - derivatives of natural antifungal compounds known as strobilurins produced by the fungus Strobilurus tenacellus) even though they're synthetics.
@@ethankoeus9581what you use for botrytis? I have problem on hemp plants and their stalks
I applied it to the plant with a very soft bristle brush. What do you think?
This year i used a mix of milk and water on my phloxes that had powdery mildew last year. I applied it in may on a sunny day as suggested and repeated in june. The phloxes got some powdery mildew later in the year but much less than last year. Could be that the conditions were worse this year for powdery mildew but going to try again next year. Thanks for the video.
As always, great info! Thank you so much!
Great video!
Question, what about edibles/consumables... How close to harvest is safe to apply sulfur for mildew?
Specifically cannabis flowers?
Thank you and have a great week!
You may want to check for specific recommendation on the cannabis forums, but I know that indoor growers often use a sulfur burner.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm 👍
Hey Jason! How long do I leave sulfur on my plants if just doing a preventative treatment against pests? I found mites on one of my plants in the green house but I'm not sure how long to leave everything on them.
I just leave it on until it dries and eventually wears off on its own.
Love your presentations! Very informative. Do you have recommendations for aphids? I've been using a mix of peppermint, tea tree oil castile soap, hydrogen peroxide, 70% alcohol in water and spraying. Would the Sulphur work on aphids too?
As a direct spray, yes, sulfur will knock down aphid population for a bit.
I.use potassium.sulphate as a drench regularly. We have low potassium. It's 17% sulphur. I'm in south florida.
Thanks for the information. I have a small Hydrangea that I won't get planted until spring and it has just recently (that I noticed) gotten covered with powdery mildew. Should I treat it now even though it won't be in a greenhouse? Will the cold weather kill off the powdery mildew?
Questionable whether it would be worthwhile now, since it will presumably be dropping those leaves shortly. You might even consider stripping the leaves now if it's severe. PM can persist a bit on the stems and dropped foliage, so a good cleanup would be helpful.
Very good!
Just found your videos on RUclips and really enjoy your explanation of what you do and how you do it. Very straightforward and helpful.
I was wondering what your thoughts are on using neem oil as a remedy for powdery mildew?
Thank you for the videos. Keep up the great work!
Hi Len. I've never found neem to be the most "active" fungicide or insecticide. I trust that it does both (the research seems to support it) but I've never found it to be fast acting against either. Maybe used regularly in the early season as a general preventive... but just keep in mind that if you were considering sulfur, the general guideline is to avoid applying within 30 days of oil.
Awesome. Thank you for your quick response and advice.
We live in Southwest Florida and have just started getting into growing plants and trees, focusing mainly on mango trees. We have planted several mango seeds that have grown enough to start grafting onto so we need all the help we can get to keep the young trees healthy! We'll keep plugging and see what happens.
Perfect timing! Just moved some of my container roses indoor and placed them under a grow light. Just yesterday found the signs of speckling on the leaves and found the annoying mites. Their bites can make the plant susceptible to diseases so I think the sulfur spray is something I will try. Also, I have read online that some commercial growers use some kind of poly acrylic coating spray, have you used those type of spray like wiltpruf or Antistress? Some Rosarians swear that the spray prevents mites and fungus infection. Thanks!
Thanks. I'm skeptical about the use of any coating that might block the stomata (air openings) in the leaves to gas exchange.
Very interesting
Thank you so much, Jason, helful as always! 🙏🙏❤
I'm thinking about using diluted enzyme water to spread the rose leaves as a prevention. You think that may work？
I have heard so much good things about homemade all natural enzyme. I am rather surprised why enzyme is not commonly used or even mentioned in the western countries. It's such a good thing for the environment...
You're right - it's not something that I've seen widely used in horticulture here. I've seen several biofungicides based on bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Streptomyces lydicus) but I'm not too familiar with the homemade enzymes.
Thanks for the video! Where can we get the specific sulfur product you’re using? I looked at your Amazon page and don’t see it listed.
Thanks. I just tried to add it to our Amazon list, but the product is showing as unavailable. What you're looking for is "micronized" or "wettable" sulfur. I've seen it under the Bonide or Hi-Yield brand in the US
Hello! I came across your video from a Hoya growing forum specifically regarding mites. I purchased a Sulfur Vaporizer and Elemental Sulfur. There is not much info out there on how to use this method and how often.
The Vaporizer’s “instructions” state to use in a high humidity environment. My question is, will the Sulfur (once it has been turned into a gas) harm plant leaves if they are wet?
Also, how often should I use this method as a preventative?
Great video and very informative! Thank you so much for your advice 🪴💚
Renee in Florida, USA
Moisture on the plants doesn't seem to be a problem at the time of fumigation. I run it once a week in each greenhouse during the peaks of mildew season, and it seems to cut down on the severity quite a bit anyway.
I saw this video and a few others about sulfur and powdery mildew and have ordered a larger bag - first thing I got was a tiny bag off of ebay of 99.95% sulfur (no other info on the packet). Is it bad to sprinkle it on a plant? I took a paint brush to a few spots on a succulent with spots of powdery mildew and brushed it over them. It's so light and dust that after brushing a plant if you puff air on it it seems to fly right off. For some other plants I diluted some that I spilled on the table with water and brushed that on. Very unscientific - I was just really worried to do something quick because a few of my plants I have imported and really want them to survive. Do you recommend against using it as powder? I've heard that as a natural fungicide it helps raw spots on plants, or for succulents, cuttings and leaves removed for propagation. But should I be diluting it?
It's fine to apply as a powder or suspended in water.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you so much for the response.
Hello Jason! Thank you for all your great information and help. My name is Nina. I live in southern California and am having trouble with one of my roses. It has always had problems with mildew. This spring has been the worst, I had to cut all the new growth completely back because they were so affected and spreading to my other roses. Your potassium bicarbonate and chitosan tip gives me hope. Can the chitosan be "chitosan finings 1%" or does it need to be powder??? Thank you Jason!
I'm not familiar with the product. If it's already dissolved in water, it should be fine to use and I think 1% is a safe rate. Hopefully there's nothing else of concern in the mix.
Thank you so much Jason. It's one of the winery products that I found... I'll check it out. Have a great day!
Where do you get the pellets for burning? Can’t find any in Amazon in such a small quantity
I got mine from a local hydroponics supplier.
Hi there,
Do you spray it under the leaves too ? Is it possible to mix it with a organic liquid soap so it stays on the leaves ? In uk it is no longer sold as a fungicide but only as a fertiliser. So our sulfur in uk powder might not be as fine as your powder….Thank you
Here's a little contradiction: most instructions say not to combine with soap to prevent leaf damage. Yet there's a Safers product that is premixed as a soap/sulfur solution. So I suppose it's a matter of getting the right proportions.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm
So I’d better not to try to mix it myself then. I’ll stick to the potassium bicarbonate treatment. However it is a shame that I can’t find another natural treatment in order to alternate with the potassium bicarbonate treatment. Thank you anyway.
Great video! Do you have a link for the burner?
Thanks. I bought mine locally. I placed an example of a burner on our Amazon store - it's not the same brand, so I'm not sure how it compares: www.amazon.com/shop/fraservalleyrosefarm
Hmmm. I've got to try this!!! I've been having huge issues with powdery mildew on my melons, cukes, and zukes. I've tried 2-3T of baking soda in a gallon sprayer and applied to BOTH sides of the leaves-AFTER removing the really badly infected leaves. The next morning I come out and there's even MORE PM on MORE leaves!!! So frustrating!!! THANKS!
Does the residual left on the leaves eventually wash off after a good rain? You also mentioned don't apply in extreme heat, will future high temps effect the plant even though you applied when weather was favorable?
Yes, it eventually rinses off, and future high temps won't be a problem, so long as it's applied when the temperature is okay
Great info...thank you.stay well
Thanks!
Thank you for this video! If we wanted to introduce predatory mites after using sulfur as a first treatment to get rid of spider mites, how long should we wait after application? Is the effect of sulfur long enough to take care of eggs and larvae ? Thanks again
I've read a few things on persimilis and sulfur, and the literature is mixed. Some studies say there's little effect on the predators, while a couple of other references say that "overuse" of spray sulfur or active fumigation can impact their populations negatively. This seems to imply (to me) that so long as you're applying the beneficials after the sulfur treatment (by say a week), they'll be there to clean up any remaining adults and emerging younguns.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you so much for your response! I've read similar articles and also concluded that I shouldn't have to wait too long to introduce the beneficials. It's good to have your opinion. Wish you all the best.
Hi! Around my place i only find common sulphur in the pharmacy, not the one made to mix with water. And its sold in bars, so making dust with it its a pain. Could i just mix it with water too?
I'm not too familiar with the one for pharmacy use - so I'm not sure about the differences.
Hi Jason, if you're going to use pesticides for roses, do you spray it regularly or only as needed? Before I used malathion but it has a strong odor. Dithane is available here and torogi blue. Also is it really true that all the phosphorus that a rose plant needs is already in the soil and further addition would not be beneficial? Thank you!
Hi Raymund. I don't use the harder chemicals at all, but either way the strategy is similar: check your plants regularly to get an idea of when the disease pressure is at its worst. Some chemicals are systemic or work best if applied before the disease gets a good hold on the plant, but you also want to minimize your chemical use overall. If there are other environmental changes you can make to keep from spraying, take care of those first. Using the example of powdery mildew, it's not a problem for me during the dry stretch of summer so long as I stay on top of watering. I have to keep an eye out once the weather turns cool and moist in the fall. Then, at first sign of PM on the more susceptible varieties, it's time to begin weekly applications (alternating between sulfur and potassium bicarbonate in my case) to reduce disease pressure. No, I think supplemental phosphorus can be required for best performance. Without a soil test, it can be difficult to know how much to supplement, but I've always done fairly well with an almost equal balance of NPK (like 10-10-10).
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm thank you! I saw your latest farm video and it's nicer now! Hope you do a compilation video on rose growing tips and tricks for any kind of climate and for any kind of rose plant. Like a rose growing guide for dummies. Roses are hard to grow plants for me and our last miniature rose wilted. Only two remained I think they're Rosa chinensis? Anyway, good luck with your farm! Hope you have plenty of sales!
Whether we have to spray on the underside of the leaves as well?
A fine spray will get some coverage beneath the leaves as well, but PM is far more an issue on the upper surface.
So elemental sulfur stinks less than wettable sulfur ? I use wettable micronized sulfur my indoor succulents for mites . Works great, but stinks so bad ! Some plants got the mites again and I dread spraying again. I spray them outside, then bring them back to the grow shelves once it’s dry . I leave my lights off a couple of days to keep them from burning. Maybe I should try elemental sulfur if it’s not as stinky . Thank you 😊
Hi Jennifer. Maybe my nose just isn't as sensitive, but the odor of pure wettable sulfur is pretty faint (to me) compared to the odor of the compounds (or in a mix, like lime-sulfur). The elemental sulfur I'm talking about (as a powder) is the same, and of course if you're using it in a burner it's fairly pungent.
I have access to elemental sulfur, would I be using the same 1T /liter of water as the other product showed? 😊
For context, I have a humid apartment and am getting a bit surface mold on the soil of my house plants.
I'm not 100% sure, but my impression was that wettable (micronized) sulfur was just quite a pure grade of elemental sulfur that was ground into extremely fine particles.
Does the sulfur burner give off the egg bad smell, before i go order a burner and sulfur, thanks in advance.
Yes. It's a touch different than rotten eggs, but you'd recognize the odor.
What ratio do you use to spray indoor plants with liquid sulfur for spider mites
As directed on the product, but I think it's something like 2 to 3 g/L
Would it hurt bees? ...may try on mites with bees....
Sulfur is low risk to bees, but best to time application when bees are less active (early mornings, say) to reduce direct exposure.
I have what I think is Sooty Mould on my bay tree and something similar on my Kaffir Lime. I use both of these leaves in cooking. What would you suggest as a safe remedy?
If aphids are causing the problem, just soapy water will kill them.
Thanks. Sooty mold is usually associated with the honeydew from an insect pest - does that match your problem at all? I wouldn't hesitate to try baking soda (preferably potassium bicarbonate) at 5mL/L (tsp per quarter gallon)
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Don't see any insects... but the Bay tree is under the canopy of a massive (90')Eucalypt. I'm wondering if fallout from that may be the problem
That could be it! If so, removal of the honeydew is the priority.
Any chance it works against scale? If not, do you have any organic remedies for scale?
Usually for scale the recommendation is horticultural oil or neem oil (neither is compatible with the sulfur)
Hello, i only have elemental sulfur at home ( the yellow powder which is 99.9% pure apparently.. but smell like sulfur, which is a kind of rotten egg, tipycal sulfur smell). Can i use this elemental sulfur? i can't buy the one you shown in the video where i live. Thanks to answere! :)
It needs to be ground up super fine.
What do I look for if I want to buy a burner like yours?
I have one listed on my Amazon store - they're pretty simple devices really, but do try to find out the correct burning time for your volume of room or greenhouse
What about potassium bicarbonate? Is it more effective or less effective for powder mildew than sulfur?
Hi Thomas. There are a number of good studies that support the effectiveness of potassium bicarbonate on PM and other fungal diseases, but more as a preventive than a curative. It also is not prone to the development of fungicide resistance, so for me it ticks all the boxes in rotation with the sulfur.
I’ve wanted David Austin roses for so long but hate the thought of spraying and hurting the environment and beneficial insects. But this is completely safe? I was going to try baking soda mixture or milk mixture but I doubted it would be enough for a blackspot magnet 😰
Hi Serena. Aside from its effect on mites (both pest and beneficial) sulfur is a very safe spray. So is baking soda (potassium bicarbonate). I alternate the two treatments as needed.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm oh bummer does sulfur hurt the beneficial bugs as well? Thank you so much for this info. If sulfur hurts the good bug maybe I can just stick to bicarbonate?
Can the white residue be washed off after it does the job if ridding the garden and plants of spider mites and powdery mildew?
Yes, the sulfur residue can be rinsed off after application
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you!
Can you provide the link for the small burner gadget?
Hi Maria. I bought the Nivola burner from a local supplier - not sure who distributes it in the US. I did place a sample burner on the Amazon store: www.amazon.com/shop/fraservalleyrosefarm
My Rosemary has had a white sticky substance on it the last two years….is that powdery mildew?
I don't think so - PM isn't generally sticky.
? I just Trans planted a rose bush it's been planted about 9mos before the move . it has dropped almost all leaves and lower stems are turning brown did I kill it by moving. I have used fertilizer and food .
I had a similar situation. It turns out I didn't plant it deep enough. When I dug the hole deeper it recovered quickly.
@@gardeningjunkie2267 t.y I will try that then
Hi Rob. A little bit of leaf drop wouldn't freak me out. If you give one of the darkening stems a little scrape, you'll be able to see if the underlying tissue is green or white (alive) or brown/black all the way through (dead). If it's struggling, hold off the fertilizing/food, as that can further stress new root development.
I had PM show up on a zucchini plant spread to my medical garden then to my tomatoes now its spreading through the grass ive never seen it so aggressively take over a whole yard. im gonna have to buy a pallet of sulfur.
how did that all pan out for you?
What if I use a dormant oil in the winter and then the sulphur after the plant has leafed out? I have some spider mites on my Virginia Creeper (which we intentionally grow in the desert 😂) and I refuse to use Malathion on them so they persist.
Thanks Rebecca. I think the general rule is to leave 30 days between oil and sulfur, so that could be a good strategy.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm ok, didn't know about this 30 day rule, thanks!
I just bought some .. heard about it crossing my fingers
Using milk for the mildew is ok?
Yes. Diluted whole milk or even skim milk powder seems to do the trick as a preventive, but it does smell awful for a day after application. I prefer sulfur overall.
I use elemental sulfur in our chicken coop; keeps away mites.
1 tablespoon micronized sulfur per 1/4 gallon aka liter.
Isn't the sulfur powder hydrophobic ???
The micronized sulfur seems to suspend with no problem - it's often sold as "wettable" sulfur because of the super fine texture
So you try to beat a microscopic spore and you use it to clean your tents or plants or whatever and you miss some spores and it comes back over and over again.
The best way to do this is bag it and throw it out do not try to kill mold with spray run dehumidifiers and clean your grow space check bottoms of tents for mildew etc "I just threw out a old 5x5 that had got mildew all over the bottom of it."
the biggest problem with molds is its airborne as well so keep spraying your junk and raising humidity and never solve the issue
THROW IT ALL OUT INCLUDING THE SPRAY.
With respect, we're talking about two different kinds of growing environments. In a tightly sealed grow room/grow tent it may make (some) sense to talk about eliminating and then excluding the spores - although long-term, this can be pretty difficult to achieve. In a greenhouse or in the garden, exclusion of spores is nonsensical. It's in the air, and there's no way to keep it out because the greenhouse isn't tightly sealed, nor is the garden (obviously). We're also talking about two very different crop cycles. For a fast growing short-cycle crop that can be quickly decimated by mildew, it may make sense to bag it all and throw it away, disinfect the grow space, and quickly start over again. For long cycle shrub like roses (for instance), where the mildew is only a minor annoyance, it would be overkill to talk about dumping the plants. It takes over a year to produce a nicely sized rose, and you'd throw it away over a bit of easily-managed mildew?
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm agreed can decimate crops and less is more even if that means you throw it away.
Soap kills bees
did you leave your job?
Hi David - I sure did, around 3 weeks ago now. It's been great to spend my time on the farm full-time since then
There is rez left over because ur dose of sulfer is to much do half that
👍❤️😊
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🙏🙏🙏
Adaptive cultivation of hyperparasites - possible method for controlling pathogens and insect. If you are interested🍈
Thanks. I've seen a few biological fungicides (based on Bacillus subtilis for instance) that work on the same kind of premise. I haven't tested them all out, but feedback from other growers has been positive as a preventive.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm I understand what you are talking about, my work shows that my method gives more selective strains that give a good effect not only in comparison with the standard Bacillus Subtilis, but even in comparison with chemical fungicides in high doses. It's much deeper, I think you will not be disappointed if you study this topic✌