Sprays to Spray this Weekend

 We know the lemon tree has aphids that come and go., now it seems the lemon grass and the apple tree have them as well. We've been using a mixture of natural soap, water and a little vegetable oil in a spray bottle to combat the aphids.

 Now to fight back the mildew. Found this on apartment therapy web site: 

Baking Soda Spray

This spray is great for treating plants with fungal diseases. There is nothing quite as frustrating as discovering your plant has an unsightly case of mildew, a type of fungal disease. Suddenly your beautiful green cucumber and squash leaves are replaced by patches of grayish-white blotches.

1 tablespoon of baking soda
1/2 tablespoon of oil
2 quarts of warm water

Add baking soda and oil to a cup of warm water until it dissolves. Mix in the rest of the water. Before attempting to spray and treat your plant, remove the most severely damaged leaves first. Then spray your solution, repeating every few days until it disappears. This mixture is best made and used immediately.

Additional Notes: It's best to spray your plants in the morning, before the sun is too hot or you run the risk of burning the leaves of your plant. And while these spray are non-toxic and less harmful than commercial pesticides, they will kill beneficial bugs along with the harmful ones. I recommend using these sprays sparingly, only treating the infected plants.

 Here's hoping that this will take that off our leaves from the sunflowers to the cucumbers.

Here is something to try as well to kill ants, also from apartment therapy:

ants cannot differentiate between baking soda and powdered sugar because they are similar in size. The sugar attracts the ants, and the baking soda is what kills them: It reacts with the acid in their digestive system and they explode.