About Cloud-Cover
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: About Cloud-Cover
- From: K* P* <k*@ix.netcom.com>
- Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 09:18:03 -0800
>Care to explain 'Cloud-Cover' to an ignorant Limey? Some
>sort of manufactured/patented spray, I gather?
It is a liquid product that is readily available in garden-supply
departments in this area.
>Against cold?
To quote the bottle label, it is "a clear, flexible polymer coating that
holds moisture in plants and reduces stress caused by temperature extremes,
transplant shock, and dry environments." It leaves a thin, non-sticky,
shiny, surface film on whatever is sprayed.
>Its constituents are...?
16% acrylic copolymer emulsion
84% inert ingredients
You put some of it in a sprayer and dilute it with water. The dilution rate
depends on what you will be spraying, but is mostly either 1:10 or 1:12.
According to the package it can be used on trees, shrubs, ground covers,
turf, fruits and vegetables, cacti and succulents, and cut flowers -- but
NOT furry-leaved plants. (I personally have only used it on
cold-sensitive, outdoor, evergreen shrubs.)
>It works by...?
It works mostly by slowing down the transpiration rate. (I also wonder if
it interfers with ice formation by separating ice-forming, leaf-surface
bacteria from the surrounding air?)
>Are there equivalents under other brand names?
Not that I am aware of.
NOTE: If any of you nursery/landscaping professionals out there know more
about this stuff, please add your 2 cents to my explanation. The above info
is just what I see on the container label.
Katherine Pyle
Berkeley, California, USA
