I would be surprised if you can find it in a local home center. What varieties do you have? Some are highly sensitive to sulfur.

Last year I tried to find Bordeaux Mix in stores or nurseries.I could not.I was told it was practically impossible to find it year in California.I tried to find copper sulfate and hydrated lime in order to concoct Bordeaux Mix.I could not.So I went to ebay and bought those products there.I used the ratio formula 10-10-100.That means 10 pounds of copper sulfate to ten pounds of hydrated lime to 100 gallons of water.Of course I did not need that much only enough to spray my peach and nectarine trees in order to kill peach curl leaf fungi.I did twice after all leaves have fallen.I did in January and February just before bud swelling.It was very efficient.No more peach curl leaves.I mix that stuff since I was a kid back in the old country Portugal.We used it to spray our wine grape vines.It always worked well.I bought copper sulfate and hydrated lime in powder form so a do not have to grind it.It should be available in ebay.You also ca buy it from Marshall Grain Co.But a small amout will be more expensive.Jm

Bordeaux mix has been around for a long time. You might call it an Heirloom Fungicide! Great stuff. Supposedly you can get the ingredients in farm supply stores, but I've never tried. My March 28 post on The Heirloom Orchardist has a link to a page that gives some info about Bordeaux mix.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Heirloom Orchardist

My vines are the plain old Concords. They are probably 40 years old. I planted the nursery stock when I was a teenager (oops, I'm showing my age here)at my parents home and transplanted them at my present home in the mid 80's. The woody portions are probably 3 to 4 " in diameter.
I have them running up to a 16' X 22' arbor built up over my rear porch deck. All day sun there. My intention was to use the vines for shade and get some fruit at the same time.
Up until a couple of years ago, they were loaded with grapes. The last 2 seasons, the grapes withered due to what appears to be powdery mildew. There is also some black spots on the canes even though I cut them back considerably during the dormant season.

You can order it as ready mix from Rosemania, the online rose grower's supply source. That is the only place I've seen it offered. See http://rosemania.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page5.html.

You can also make it up fresh yourself, though you may have to track down a farm supply store to get the ingredients. It is not difficult to make, but be sure to screen the stuff through cheesecloth so you don't clog up your sprayer. (Ask me how I know.) Recipes are widely available online, but the only one I've seen that is the right scale for a home gardener is the one Mississippi State University. I have included a link in case you are interested. I have read that freshly made Bordeaux is more effective than the ready-to-mix version, but I don't know if this is true just someone's speculation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bordeaux formula recipe

Hi melrose55!

Maybe you already know, but just in case you donÂtÂ

Bordeaux is caustic and you should wear Personal Protective Equipment when mixing and spraying it.

Also, it stains stuff blue, which is good to know if your vines are next to your house, etc.

Regards,
PoseyPlanter

Copper sulfate is readily available from hardware stores, even the "big boxes." It is the greenish-blue crystals sold as root killer for sewer lines. It may possibly also be sold for killing algae. Hydrated lime is often avaliable too, but you can readily make hydrated lime from quicklime which is widely available cheaply in farm and garden and in hardwarw stores. Just add water to it, but watch out for the heat it generates. Don't do it in a plastic bucket.

There used to be a ready mix version of Bordeaux from Hi-Yield, but I notice that they have removed it from the market. Newer fungicides are more popular now. I prefer it as my dormant season spray for fruit trees and roses. The next best sustitute would be Microcop (Lily Miller), but Bordeaux is more rain resistant.

Rosefolly