[Kleftiwallah]

When I heard the chap on the till say his name when processing an order (the same name as on the front of the building).  After he had put the 'phone down I asked him if he was 'the man'  he confirmed he was and I had no reluctance in telling him how good his garden centre was.

He asked how it compared to a huge concern about ten miles away and I said his was far more customer friendly, etc, etc.

Still with me?   The chat got around to white rot on onions and I said about the garlic solution  theory, he shot off to a shelf and came back with a container of "exclude RATTY" Rodent Repellent.  This galic powder 'invites' the rodents to leave and he said that he had had good reports on this working on white rot.


I got it for free!

Cheers,    Tony.

[shokkyy]

Which GC was this? I'm near you so just wondering. I tend to use Greatfield for most things.

[allotmentann]

Please can I ask what the garlic solution theory is? (I think garlic powder may also be in the cat repellent I use to stop the local pussy cats using my front garden as a giant litter tray! It certainly smells of garlic powder! It wouldn't be so bad - but my cat never uses anyones garden, even his own!).

[mumofstig]

This is a thread discussing the treatment
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=88222.msg978622#msg978622

[simonwatson]

At what point does this sort of thing cross the boundary into home-made pesticides? Using garlic water to persuade the white rot spores to germinate and die sounds sort of pesticide like. For example, spraying with ammonium sulphamate (do not do this, it's banned) persuades the plant to take up a chemical which it thinks is beneficial, with the intent of killing it.

If someone were to suggest using garlic water to spray the leaves of a plant to treat mildew that would definitely be a no no, as we've seen on other threads recently (as the mods have a duty to point out).

It seems to me having read the legislation that using anything not approved for a specific purpose in any way where you are 'treating' something seems to leave you on very dodgy ground. Whilst I doubt that anyone will ever get prosecuted for doing this I think it does point out the absurdity of the current regulations.

[JayG]

You've summed up the current state of the legislation and John and the mod's subsequent dilemma very well Simonwatson!

Apart from this being a public forum which clearly can't promote or even condone the use of "illegal" practices, some home-made pesticides are probably more risky than others, so at least the approach avoids having to decide which "recipe" is potentially unsafe as well as illegal!

Having said that, I'm hoping that grinding up garlic with plain water to try to defeat onion white rot might be classfied merely as an unusual "irrigation technique" (especially if it turns out to work!)

I've not been able to find any instance of an amateur gardener being prosecuted for using home made pesticides - I suspect the authorities would much rather turn a blind eye to it (unless it keeps relentlessly being brought to their attention!)  

[Kleftiwallah]

Shokkyy  -  Approaching Devizes, up Caen Hill, (all those locks) and on the left just after the prison bridge over the Kennet and Avon canal, before the Black Horse pub, brilliant food after the fire!  It's the only G/C I know where you can purchase a single potato tuber or a CWT of about 40 varieties!

If you find the sell by date has expired on your garlic powder, you are only disposing of it rather than the top come off and cover the bin men in dust, now we wouldn't want that would we.

Cheers,    Tony.

[shokkyy]

I'll have to give that one a try when I'm shopping for seed spuds.

Garlic is wonderful stuff with all sorts of uses. It's widely used as a medicinal supplement for horses, both for airway/breathing problems and to deter flies in summer.  Those supplements have never been through clinical trials and yet they can legally be sold, which kind of seems a bit contrary to the regs for pesticides/herbicides, doesn't it.

[Welsh Merf]

Which GC was this? I'm near you so just wondering. I tend to use Greatfield for most things.

Nothing to do with this thread really, but when I was serving with the RAF and based at Lyneham I used to frequent a pub called the Butcher's Arms in Greatfield. This was in the late eighties, and the owner at the time was a bloke called Ian. One of the barmaids was a niece of Rick Parfitt from Status Quo, and the pub seemed to be like a fan club of the band as well. Is the pub still there?

[shokkyy]

It is still there, but it's not called the Butcher's Arms any more. It's called Riffs Bar now, lots of live bands and stuff.

[Kleftiwallah]

Out that way was a village with a chap who as he got older stopped fixing motorbikes and limited his time and skill to fixing pushbikes and garden machinery.  In his workshop he had a large mound of old bicycle frames and bits also dead grass mowers that had seen better days that had built up over the years.

What I knew, and a few others into classic motorcycles was that under that heap there were a few VERY collectable motorcycles, I knew, he knew I knew and I knew he knew I knew etc.

However, I was posted away to a far flung outpost of the empire and on my return I was given the sad news that he had died and his thick kids who had no mechanical inclination had got the mechanical grab in and the whole lot went in the skip.

Then there was Tuck's at Holt.  A much better outcome when he split for Cornwall.


It makes you weep.   Cheers,    Tony.

[shokkyy]

He used to fix our lawnmower