Allotments 4 All

the lady on the plot next to mine mentioned the other day that you can make a spray for blackfly and other nasties by boiling up rhubarb leaves. has anyone elser tried this? do you dilute it with water? do you use it as a preventative or as a cure? i shouldve asked her but didnt think till afterwards. I have loads of rhubarb on plot.

Crush a rhubarb leaf and let it soak in a pint or two of water overnight. It works quite well.

Does this work for greenfly too?  My poor clematis are covered  >:(

I use this method for my broad beans ...

Put some rhubarb leaves in a bucket of water and leave for a couple of weeks. This stink will tell you when it is ready. Just strain into a sprayer, and away you go ... I add one drop of washing up liquid to act as a wetting agent.

One drop of washing up liquid is soooo sensible.

Making up a spray last week I put a good squirt in.

Result - spray clogged.

Doh.

I never considered the effect of the washing up liquid in stoppng the sprayer from clogging, only in ensuring the liquid sticks to the plants, ie as a surfactant ...

thanks for the tips guys, i sill give it a go and prepare some for my broadies.

Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, which is quite soluble in water; I use it to contol varroa mites on bees. I don't know why so many books advocate boiling the leaves.

???

Have been given a couple of huge chunks of rhubarb and put them in immediately a few days ago. Question is...will I get any rhubarb this year or will the shock of being hacked off the original plant scare them til next year?

Give them a year to recover.

Yes, let the crowns re-establish themselves this year, you will be rewarded with far better crops next year.

Just a warning keep rhubarb spray away from kids and dogs etc..It is poisonous .
treat it like any other pesticide... Cheers ..Jim

thanks for the warning Jim, I will bear that in mind. :)