Re: More on seaweed
Isabel Tipton wrote:
>
> > ). Anyway, I expect that if you have a watered-down solution of agar
> > and/or carageenan coating your plants it would be in essence a layer of
> > gelatin coating that would both be a barrier to fungi and bacteria, and
> > create a layer of insulation from frost.
> >
> > I am interested in this- would spraying plants now, and every couple of weeks
> > till fall protect them, or is it a surface barrier and would one have to
> > sprayafter every rain?
> > '''''''''''''''''''''''
Isabel
A lot depends on whether the frost protection is purely mechanical due
to the agar coating or also has some relationship to the strengthening
of the cells by the tonic action of other ingredients. If the former,
then putting on a coating early would simply be a waste as I doubt it
would survive more than the lightest rain, but if the latter a prolonged
"course" of protection would obviously be helpful.
You could of course experiment with this yourself - spraying some
sensitive plants at regular intervals through fall and others only when
frost actually threatens, and seeing if either treatment is more
effective.
Myself, I intend to try the spray next winter on several frost
sensitive (mainly orange flowered) fuchsia varieties, which regularly
lose their leaves in winter of not taken into the glasshouse. (too late
this year, they are already defoliated). I think with them I shall
probably put on the spray only quite late in fall, just a little before
we expect the first frost, but I won't have to worry about rain washing
off the spray, as these temperamental varieties live with my grapevines
under a clear plastic roof.
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata,
New Zealand (astride the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
