Natural First Aid For Gardening Plants In winter

"Winter gardening first aid that can stop your plants failing or falling off the twig entirely"

One of the safest ways to combat plant diseases in the garden is to prevent them from occurring. While organic gardeners want to limit the use of sprays and deploy them only where significant amounts of crops may be lost, there are some treatments that can be applied safely and, used well, are highly effective. 

• At the end of winter, as deciduous plants - fruit trees and shrubs in particular - are coming back to life, there's a window of opportunity to prevent diseases that can affect the plant later in the year. Broadly, this prevention is referred to as winter spraying or winter washing. 
• Fungicides such as copper, lime or sulphur are used to stop diseases from taking hold as new growth develops. The fungicide prevents the disease from "germinating" and developing. 
• As the plant is leafless, winter washing won't damage foliage. Treatments are applied before leafy growth returns and often need a follow-up application. Rain may lessen effectiveness. 
• Some diseases kept in check with a winter spray include peach leaf curl, brown rot, downy mildew and scab and bacterial problems, including bacterial leaf spot and cankers. 

These diseases may affect leaves, branches and fruit but are hard to control once the effects of the disease become evident in spring and summer. 

BORDEAUX MIXTURE

One traditional treatment is Bordeaux mixture. Developed in France in the late 19th century to protect grapevines from disease, it's now one of the oldest fungicides, widely used to control a wide range of bacterial and fungal diseases. Best of all, it's approved for organic use. It can be bought ready mixed but keen gardeners can make up their own solution using copper sulphate and slaked lime (see box, top of opposite page). Both ingredients are available from garden centres or hardware stores. Also from the traditional grape-growing regions of France is Burgundy mixture, a combo of copper sulphate and sodium carbonate, or common salt.  

HOW TO MAKE BORDEAUX MIX

1. To make a one per cent Bordeaux mix, dissolve 100g of copper sulphate (also sold as bluestone) in 5L of warm water. In a separate container, dissolve 100g of quicklime (such as Limil) in another 5L of warm water. 
2. Mix to dissolve then combine the two mixtures by adding the lime mix to the copper, which will be blue in colour. Stir to combine, strain to remove lumps that may block sprayers, then pour into a sprayer through a strainer and treat the plants. Be generous and spray to the point of runoff. 
3. Use within 24 hours and regularly stir or agitate the sprayer to keep the ingredients in solution. Although this is an organic spray, it is not without concerns. 
4. Always wear protective clothing and eyewear (and, preferably. gloves) when mixing and applying this spray and follow normal safety procedures. The picture below shows limewash being applied liberally to prevent canker. 

Diseases Controlled By Winter Spraying

Use an organic fungicide containing copper, lime or sulphur to spray for these diseases on deciduous plants before they re-leaf. Always mix and apply treatments following instructions on the container.

S. No	Disease	Plants Affected
1	Bacterial leaf spot	Lilac, mulberry, stone fruits
2	Bacterial canker	Stone fruits
3	Brown rot	Stone fruits
4	Downy mildew	Grape, rose
5	Peach leaf curl	Nectarine, peach, almond. apricot
6	Rust	Blackberry, raspberry, rose
7	Scab	Stone fruits
8	Shot hole	Stone fruits, ornamental plums

Best For Plants To Do First Aid

• It is important to note that copper is toxic to aquatic life so do not use near ponds or watercourses. Keep away from areas where stock graze. 
• It's also toxic in high quantities to earthworms, so avoid soaking soil with copper products, including Bordeaux mix. Non-reactive chelated forms of copper do not accumulate in soils.
• Other preventive organic sprays include lime, sulphur, copper sulphate and copper oxychloride. 
• These are available in ready-mixed products and concentrates to mix at home. 
• Diseases such as canker that cause gum to "bleed" from the trunk or the stems of some fruit trees,including cherry and apricot, can also be treated using a paste made from lime, which is painted on to the wound. 
• As it's applied to woody growth and not leafy growth,it can be used safely during spring and summer.
• Use organic fungicides in autumn in an ongoing disease management program that also involves cleaning up diseased material. This includes fallen leaves and fruit and mummified fruit - diseased fruit that has whitered on the plant.