Cigar Asylum Cigar Forum - View Single Post

08-01-2009, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjirons69

Hi Ya, Rob! Long time, no see, Brother. You have anthracnose. It's a common disease with plants. Do a little research. I use Daconil to treat any and every fugus, rust, leaf spot, etc. Works good. Get it at Lowes or Home Depot. Not water soluble, so shake like hell before spraying.

I came across an interesting treatment/food for fungus earlier this summer. I mix 100 grams of dried/powdered Equisetum arvense added, horsetail, with 2 liters of water brought to a boil and simmered 30 minutes, then allowed to cool/rest for at least a few days in a large jar(s) with a loose fitting lid. It can be diluted using 1 part horsetail to 2 parts water and applied as a foliar or root soak .

Although I did not have anything greater than powdery mildew on some crimson sage, Salvia spathacea ground cover this year I have made it a regular staple of my fertilizers and compost additive.

IMHO Equisetum arvense is one of those rare plants many people (have) are familar with and has an interesting back story relating to it's survivability and perseverance.

Quote:

"Equisetum is a "living fossil," as it is the only known genus of the entire class Equisetopsida, which for over one hundred million years was very diverse and dominated the understory of late Paleozoic forests. Some Equisetopsida were large trees reaching to 30 meters tall;[2] the genus Calamites of family Calamitaceae for example is abundant in coal deposits from the Carboniferous period."

"This plant also has a very high diploid number - 216 (108 pairs of chromosomes) - which is roughly 5 times greater than the human diploid number (46).
—Wiki"

Equisetum (horsetails) is the sole remaining genus from a group of primitive plants that were abundant in the Carboniferous period. Today Equisetum is a dominant understory plant in boreal and mixed forests, although the inset shows it can also colonize disturbed sites. I am continuing work to characterize fungi associated with Equisetum roots, in order to better understand their role(s) in forest soil microbial ecology.
— http://www.usask.ca/biology/kaminskyj/arctic.html

Since I am not growing any commercial crops and my family doesn't currently depend on me to grow stuff I have the opportunity to explore soil biology.

As I have heard more than once. "You must have a lot of time on your hands."

For it it's like going back to school at 55 but being home schooled

BTW I really enjoy popping in and reading how you all are doing with garden/family/life