[gardeners] milk warning
flylo@txcyber.com (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 3 Jul 2001 08:41:55 -0500
I raise dairy goats and therefore usually toss out more milk than we
could ever use in cheese and soapmaking projects. (And we do
drink a lot of it too.) HOWEVER, beware using too much milk. I
use it as a weed killer along fencerows!
In small amounts it's probably great, (or your roses would have told
you by now). But the fats in it must be what break down and kill
plant roots. Also, (voice of experience here), I'd occasionally give
my peach trees and other yard plants a 'glug' of milk along the root
zone. Fine on occasion, but the one time I (wasn't thinking), had
made a quick set cheese (vinegar curd), and dumped the whey
around a group of antique Sweet Olive bushes, within 3 days they
all died.
Apparently a 1/4 cup of vinegar goes a long way when it's put in
milk.
And George, thanks for the Ponderosa hints. Don't know why mine
are dry, maybe I'm too stingy with the waterhose. Will see if more
deep soakings result in better (juicier) fruit. How tall will these guys
get? I have to whack the top out of mine because it's direct planted
in a covered grow area (uncovered all spring/summer, greenhouse
in winter) and it will get 15' overnight it seems. Oh, and it never
quits fruiting! Not seasonal at all, it might have clusters of flowers
all over it and the limbs bent double with big lemons at the same
time. Do I need to pluck the small ones to give it an occasional
rest?
And 'football sized' was the Florida nursery boast I got it from. This
one usually produces fruit about the size of acorn squash. We also
bought a kumquat that probably hasn't grown 1/2 inch in 6 years! It
bears fruit so I haven't had the courage to move it. What growing
conditions do kumquats like?
Martha, (Texas)
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