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| Hello everyone, I came across this forum while searching for some answers and I was hoping you could help... My husband and I took on the project of redoing our landscaping in our new home. This is the first time we have done anything relating to plants or flowers. I will save the long story but we got some bad advice from a family friend that we should use the vinegar/blue dawn mix on our flowers... My husband remembered his mom using dish soap on her roses so we didn't really question it. Well, needless to say, we woke up this morning and our petunias are all losing color (literally turning white) and/or dying... We had finally gotten things to begin to flourish and now we've made this mistake and set back our progress. So, my question is, is there anything I can do to bring these back? Or have I just killed them and we'll have to dig them all up and start over? We mixed 1 tablespoon of Dawn with 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar into a standard "cleaning size" spray bottle and just misted it over the plants... Our sprinkler system ran last night and it also rained so they've gotten plenty of water so it's hard to tell how much damage is really there since they are still wet. Looking back, I feel so silly to not have thought about what the vinegar would do... I know most of you must be thinking "did she really do that?!" :) Any help would be so very appreciated! Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 10:26
| hey you are in the annual forum.. go buy more annuals... still plenty of time in MI ... just plant them a few inches to one side.. and leave the others there ... and see what happens ... now... you give NO REASON... for having sprayed down your plants... i dont care what you use.. organic.. chemical.. or some brew from the witch down the street ... we do NOT recommend willy nilly spraying.. for the heck of it .. ID a pest.. confirm some actual damage.. and THEN react ... what it all amounts to.. is you tried to love them to death.. and you may well have succeeded ... live and learn.. we all have done it ... they say you arent a real gardener.. until you have killed every plant.. 3 times.... you just sped up the curve a bit.. lol ... good luck ken in adrian MI
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- Posted by susanzone5 z5NY (My Page) on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 16:59
| Don't take advice from those people anymore! lol. What you sprayed on the plants is a mixture for cleaning scum off of bathroom tile. If you're into flowers, it's good to read up on beginning For now, throw out the plants and the soil which is all poisoned and start over. Even experienced gardeners make mistakes and have to throw stuff out. |
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| Awwww. Don't feel badly. Stuff happens. Live and Learn. Buy more annuals. They should be on sale by now. Hit up a Lowes clearance rack (my fave). There should be plenty on a Friday or Saturday morning. Plants were here long before people. They know what to do and how to survive. I have "killed" many plants just have them come back in full glory later on. |
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- Posted by happyvegan 10B (My Page) on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 23:06
| The only thing I ever use on any annuals for pest control is Sevin Dust spray and I dilute it 50/50. It only takes a tiny bit to do the job. Using soap is bad for any plant I don't care who is making the suggestions. |
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| You'll find as many opinions as you will wonderful folks on this forum. I'm too lazy to bother spraying much of anything, unless there is a really noticeable problem. But, I've read lots of people use vinegar as a weed killer. The soap is more of a surfactant which allows the spray to stick to the leaves. I liked the suggestion of getting some new plants and putting them next to the old ones and see if you can get both to survive. I wouldn't go to the trouble of throwing out soil. The quantity of spray in the soil would be minuscule if you sprayed directly on the plants. Good luck. Martha |
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| Welcome to the forums! I hope you'll be back many times. What pest were you spraying for? We don't spray "just because ". Lots of people (millions) use dish soap for plant issues, but I'm not one of them. Your accident is a perfect example of why not. Your proportions were too strong. Add to that the fact that Dawn is strong grease busting detergent and very harsh on plant tissues. I have no problem using vinegar on plants.....again, it's all about the proportions. Two tablespoons per GALLON can be used to lower the pH of water for spray solutions. As a weed killer, it needs to be used undiluted. Throwing the soil away is totally not necessary and your plants may only need to be cut back, not destroyed. As far as the Sevin goes....please don't go there. It's deadly for bees and other pollinators and is famous for causing a rebound of pest populations. So! You've learned that people don't spray plants for the heck of it.....we go after the pests on the plants. Not all insects are pests, so identify first! We
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This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Tue, Jun 11, 13 at 16:33
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- Posted by susanzone5 z5NY (My Page) on Tue, Jun 11, 13 at 21:29
| When I said throw out the soil I thought the plants were in pots. Of course don't throw out garden soil...althoughn I did just that when black spot kept coming back no matter what I did for years. Now my roses are diseasefree with new soil. |
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| Even if they are in containers, the soil wouldn't be ruined by a mist of soap and vinegar. The roses are a different story....I'd repot, too. |
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| I have had terrible luck with petunias this year. They seem fine when I plant them, then in a few days they wilt and die. It doesn't matter whether they are in the ground or in pots. I am wondering if there is some disease that is affecting this year. I have one bed that has a ligustrum tree in the middle. I planted petunias on either side of it and some coleas in front. The coleas did fine and the petunias on one side are doing ok. Every single one of the petunias on the other side died. I'm talking two flats of petunias here! Last year I had petunias in the same place and they were magnificent. People turned in the driveway just to see what they were they were so slowy! This year...nothing! Any ideas? |
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- Posted by susanzone5 z5NY (My Page) on Wed, Jun 12, 13 at 17:01
| Deleted duplicate post |
This post was edited by susanzone5 on Thu, Jun 13, 13 at 13:25
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