Once is interesting, twice is conincidental and three times is really intriguing. I have run into the 'best concoction you can use for your garden' concept 3 times in the last week. It being a combination of beer, corn syrup, ammonia and detergent.. in varying combos. How for real is this? Is there any reference to this in that wonderful "myth" website that was referred to a while back? I'm having trouble with this stuff being the real deal. I'd love to have some input. Thanks. Anne
Anne The concoction mentioned usually appears and reappears at the time any of the PBS stations are doing their pledge drives. Usually they have Jerry Baker on telling you how to kill this or that and green up all sorts of plants with things that are usually found in the average North American Household. I have no idea if these actually work but I would not want to let anyone play on a lawn that has had beer (waste of beer!) and detergent on it nor a lawn that has weed and feed on it. same goes for eating any thing with pesticides on them. That's what he is making!! People have the idea that if it is natural it can't be toxic. arrgghhhh if it is a pesticide it is designed to be toxic whether it is natural or not!! Nicotine and rotenone are the best examples great pesticides kills a lot of insects and is a natural product. So is it safe? seems like it is a case of "keep a straight face and you can fool some of the people some times" and also if you keep a straight face you can tell anyone anything. Just IMHO
Hi Anne, I've heard of this 'home brew' also and have tried it on my garden. I can't really tell you if it made a difference but here is my version of the breakdown of the mixture. - the beer (and it is usually suggested to buy the cheap non-alcoholic stuff) most likely adds simple sugars to the soil which will feed the resident microbes. They break down the organic material in the soil and therefore improve it. - the corn syrup probably preforms a similar function to the beer. - the ammonia is an obvious source of nitrogen and we all know that it makes things nice and green and stimulates growth. - the detergent will do a couple of things. It will help the fertilizer spray stick to the leaves of the plants, it will do a little to clean off dirt and dust from the plants but most important, it contains phosphorus. This is another of the basic fertilizer ingredients though what percentage would be available to the plants I don't know. Hope this has been of some help Anne
I have used this concoction on everything from dying Evergreens to all the veggies and YES it works...I got 14 small Evergreens that a nursery was going to throw out and I used this and I now have 14 VERY healthy Evergreens in my yard..Betwen this and NEEM oil I do not buy any more fertilizers or pesticides.
If you treated all of them you don't actually know it wasn't something else that made them look better.
I used 1/2 can of beer (Cheap stuff) a shot glass of Fish Fertilizer per 2 gallons of water for each tree.. About a week later I put a cup of CHEAP Epsom salt around each and watered well. About a month later use some Garden Fertilizer around them and water well. I forgot where you are but if it freezes in your area do not feed Evergreens after the First week in August. I have been using Jerry Bakers ideas for years and I wouldn't do anything else.. The Imaptient Gardener is his best one. Ron: Well the water didn't do it nor did the fertilizer that the nursery was using....
