Is there anything more beautiful in the world than bright juicy colors of nature, filled with thick nostrils fluttering the scents of the garden or drowning in the luxuriant flowering of elegant greenhouse plants? How cool it is amidst the scorching summer heat to plunge into their peace and coolness, to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city amid tender birds' voices and a pristine fragrance. And how does the heart of a caring hostess hurt when one of her green pets perishes from illness. However, if you do not hesitate in this situation, you can still fix it. A simple tool that has been effectively used by gardeners for more than a decade, the Bordeaux liquid, will help us, the preparation and rules of application of which will be discussed below.
What do I need to know before I make a Bordeaux liquid?
Before you prepare a Bordeaux liquid, let's get acquainted with some of its features and safety rules. After all, this substance is a powerful chemical compound, and therefore requires some caution in handling and the presence of at least minimal theoretical knowledge.
It should be noted that the problem of protecting garden and ornamental plants from diseases and pests was also occupied by scientists and philosophers of antiquity. However, the chemistry in this industry began to be applied quite recently, only about 150 years ago. And the first preparation of the Bordeaux liquor took place in 1885 thanks to the Frenchman Alexander Millarde. He created this highly effective fungicide to protect vineyards from a disease called mildew.
The composition of the Bordeaux liquid includes three components: copper vitriol, quality quicklime and water. In one dish of lime and water, so-called lime milk is prepared, and in another with hot water, copper sulphate is bred. The used utensils should be either glass, or wooden, or clay, or enameled. The use of metal cans and decoctions is unacceptable, except for utensils made of copper.
When mixing the components, the diluted copper vitriol is poured into the milk of lime by a thin stream, while the mixture is continuously stirred with a wooden rolling pin. As a result, a liquid of a beautiful sky-blue color with a neutral reaction should be obtained. Attention! When cooking, both parts of the Bordeaux liquid must be cold and connect exactly as described above, and not vice versa. You can check the neutrality of the reaction with litmus paper or any metal object, knife, nail, wire, most importantly, they must be clean. If a piece of paper or a knife blade is stained with a red copper color, then lime milk should be added until the staining effect disappears. Otherwise, you can burn the tender foliage of plants and then they will die no longer from fungi, but from loss of the crown. And now let's see how to prepare a Bordeaux liquid in a percentage.
How to make 1% and 3% Bordeaux liquid?
To get 10 liters of 1% Bordeaux liquid, take 100 g of copper sulfate and 100-120 g of quicklime. Copper sulphate first pour 1 liter of hot water and stir, and then with cold water bring this solution to a volume of 5 liters. In a separate container, 1 liter of hot water, quench the lime and also bring its volume to 5 liters with cold water. Further, after cooling both solutions as much as possible, slowly, constantly stirring, pour vitriol into the lime and, once again mixing everything well, check the mixture for the reaction of copper. If it is present, pour lime milk. In general, this component should be prepared for a third more than copper sulfate. Let the drug be a little weaker than the desired one, than the leaves will burn. To prepare 3% Bordeaux liquid of the same volume, you should take 300 g of copper sulfate, 350-450 g of lime, 10 liters of water and repeat the above steps.
Application of Bordeaux liquid
The fungicide prepared as described above is widely used for spraying fruit trees and shrubs from various fungal diseases. Processing Bordeaux apple, pear, grape, currant, gooseberry and other plants will save them from scab, powdery mildew, phytophthora, ring mosaic and various rot. Start spraying from early spring, until flowering began. During flowering and fruiting, the treatment is suspended and renewed in late August - early September after harvest. Now you see that knowing how to cook and apply Bordeaux liquid is a real salvation for your garden.