Did you know that milk is good for tomatoes and peppers?
Tomatoes and peppers need calcium. Calcium helps prevent blossom end rot and I’ve experienced that in the past.
I also knew that using egg shells and powdered milk around the plants would provide good sources of calcium.
If one can use powdered milk, why not any type of milk? Well, it seems that milk has more benefits for tomatoes and peppers than I knew.
Diluting milk and using it to water tomato and peppers plants is not only beneficial in providing calcium, but spraying the mixture on the plants is beneficial in preventing plant fungus. I had no idea and this piece of information is awesome!! I have an over abundance of milk right now and some will likely expire before we can use it, but it won’t go to waste. That milk is going into the garden and help produce some lovely, tasty tomatoes.
I love gardening!!!! It’s also a little addictive!!!!
New gardener here and I LOVE and appreciate tips like this! Thanks for sharing. ~Blessings~
I’m glad you found this tip helpful. I have discovered that there is always something new to learn in gardening.
Wow, I’ve seen blossom rot on squash, but didn’t know what to do about it. Tomatoes I’m waiting till next yr to grow. It takes a green house to grow them here. I’m also waiting to grow watermelon. That is impossible here.
I have lots of milk right now, but I am busy making the yrs worth of cheese. I have to do that before Sept. when I have to sell my goats. To hard to truck them thru Canada on the move. So 52 cheeses to make, or as near to that as I can. So far I have 11 made. I can make 4 a week now as long as the milk supply holds up. Hmm 41 to go, that is 10 or 11 weeks at that rate, and I do have that long. These are 2 to 3 lb cheeses. So far I’ve made gouda, Motzerella, Edam, and am just starting Colby. The Motzerella will not move, it lives in the freezer, but the others will be red waxed and aging, so transportable.
But I do have a LOT of powdered milk. I’ll bet that will work, and it is no good for cheese.
I just bought the last of my garden tonight to p,ant tomorrow. Cabbage sets, romaine lettuce sets.
I am using up seeds and planted lots of beets. I love pickled beets, and they are canned, so they will travel OK. But, my beets never grow well. I get tiny little things. Beets do grow well in AK, but not inMY garden. Does anybody know if they are picky about high acid soil, or use a particular nutrient in large amounts?
April in AK
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You can use a milk and water for squash as well.
Beets need ideal soil temperatures, adequate moisture (not wet) and average fertile soil. They do not do well in acidic conditions. They will also fail to grow much if they are too crowded, so it’s important to thin them out early and give them plenty of space to expand.
Beets need a high phosphorus level and too much nitrogen will cause tiny bulbs.
Maybe there is too much manure in the garden. Can’t fix that, but I didn’t add any this spring. Too much in potato patch last yr made potatoes have a sort of “rust” last yr.
What so you add for phosphorus? I won’t dress the beet rows with bone meal, it is nitrogen. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the 2 lbs of seed potatoes that I haven’t room for. I had to fence my garden to keep the dog from digging everything up, so I can’t just add a row, and if I plant outside the garden, it will just get dug up there too.
April in Ak
Compost (food waste) is the best source of phosphorus. You can also use bone meal or rock phosphate. Of course bone meal is not just phosphorus and contains nitrogen as well.
Get some old tires, stack a couple and fill with soil. Plant your potatoes and as they begin to emerge, add another tire and fill with more soil. Hopefully it will be tall enough that your dog can’t easily dig up the potatoes.
I do have tires, and that reminded me of my “other” garden. A green house frame, with dirt in there and black plastic, very broken up, but not cover over it all. I never got that far. But, I WILL find room in there for the rest of the potatoes. April