Tag Archives: sulphur

GARDENING FOR HEALTH (Wally Richards)

August 2, 2023 Pam Vernon 3 Comments

I am very conscious of people that have only small sections or live in flats, retirement villages and apartments which means they have either no land or very little land to grow food in.

For people in those places they need to make the most economical use of their land available and also to grow the most highly nutritious food possible.

This is particularly so now as a draconian Government has passed the therapeutic bill which means they control what natural remedies, vitamins, minerals and supplements that you are allowed to purchase and use for your well being and health.

Traditional remedies that their parents and grandparents used to keep them healthy is now only available at the whim of some bureaucrat whom likely has a big Tax Paid salary and less knowledge about health than most of us gardeners.

So far they have yet to try and stop us from growing our own healthy food and high health products.

Recently I wrote about growing sprouts on a window sill and using Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) in the water that you are sprouting the seed with.

Spouts are very nutritious and when you sprout the seeds with MBL they become super nutritious.

Now let me tell you a little story about what I discovered over 20 years ago that made a big difference to my health and well being.

I had learnt about MSM (Organic Sulphur) which is a white crystal powder from pine trees that you dissolve in a vitamin C fruit juice and take morning and night.

Your body needs a regular amount of sulphur daily and back 40 plus years ago you would have got your daily sulphur dose from your purchased (once upon a time) very healthy food chain.

(Not any more unless you are growing your own vegetables naturally and putting sulphur into the growing soil in the form of gypsum).

MSM I learnt about from an authority on the subject who is living in America and was sent 500 grams to try it.

I did and the first thing I noticed was that my memory improved significantly to the point that I could go into any room and know why I was there.

Reason being is sulphur helps carry oxygen to the cells and they function better.

Great relief for sore joints, arthritis and many other health issues.

Sulphur is also nature’s beauty element and often women that take MSM notice an improvement of hair, nails and complexion. It is also anti-aging. (I think mainly because of the continual detox MSM does when taking regularly).

I also learnt about that same time, after reading about Sea 90, that wheat grass and barley grass are two plants that will take up all the 114 known minerals and elements if they are present in the growing medium.

(Tomatoes want 56 different minerals and elements which they take up)

I was well aware of the fad referred to as drinking wheat grass juice for health and had even tried some once from a juice bar and found it bitter and not nice to drink.

But if the wheat grass takes up all the minerals and elements given to it when it grows then there is some great benefit in growing it and juicing.

There are four sources of mineral rich products, Ocean Solids being the minerals from the ocean along with the sodium chloride (salt which is about 95%) and the other 5% is the other 113 minerals and elements.

Minerals from powdered rocks which is called Wallys Unlocking your Soil and the MBL which contains the minerals from prehistoric times when the young planet was mineral rich.

BioPhos for the phosphate which we use as a building block for several important substances including those used for cell energy, cell membranes and DNA.

I then started growing wheat grass with all the above minerals and even if you do not have much land to grow stuff you can do this also.

I obtained some polystyrene boxes from a fish wholesaler (Also some supermarkets give them away)

I filled the boxes which are about 400mm by 28 mm wide and about 200 mm deep with Daltons Value Compost to about two thirds full; after putting some drainage holes in the sides of the box

(just up from the base. Reason being is some water will be under the mix as a reservoir to help keep mix moist.)

Over the compost I sprinkled Ocean Solids, BioPhos and Unlocking your Soil; then just covered that with a little more compost.

On top of that I spread the wheat seeds very thickly like many were touching each other then I sprayed them with the MBL mix.

I watered down with non chlorinated water and placed a sheet of glass over the box to keep mice and birds from getting in and eating the seeds. Keep the mix moist with regular watering.

When the box had a good show of germination of the grass I then did the same process to a second box to enable more grasses to be cut and used continuously.

When the grasses were well established I then removed the glass cover and once they reached a height of about 150mm it was time to harvest and juice. You can spray the grass with MBL for added benefit.

Now this is very important you need to use a manual type juicer which you turn the handle to squeeze the juice out of the grass.

Electric ones will destroy some of the goodness and antioxidants as they heat up while juicing and are hard to cleans because the green juice really stains.

With a pair of scissors you a couple of handfuls of grass off just above soil level and run them through the juicer. The liquid will be sweet as it has a high brix level which also indicates its full of goodness.

I started juicing once a day and it made a big difference to my well being.

Back then I was still a smoker and would over indulge in my favorite spirit at times.

I used to suffer from chronic indigestion if I ate ice cream in the evening and pastry foods before bed, waking up later, in a bad way.

The wheat grass fixed that completely which I figure was caused by an unbalance in my body and I have hardly ever had indigestion since.

Some people prefer barley grass to wheat grass and there is no reason not to grow both together for added benefits of the barley. You will find barley juice is a little bitter when compared to the wheat juice.

I wrote about juicing many years ago after having found great health benefits from it.

One chap told me that he took the wheat grass juice 3 times a day while under going chemo and he did not lose his hair and sailed through the treatment with little side effects.

Many people have improved their health from this easy to grow grass.

An alternative to juicing is to put the grass into a high speed blender with other things to make a super healthy smoothie.

If you prefer; you can grow in a raised garden or open garden simply follow the instructions for growing it in the boxes.

I have on our mail order web site at www.0800466464.co.nz made a new category link called Wheat and Barley Grass products.

In there you will find a kit with the wheat, barley and minerals all in a polystyrene box which you can use to grow the grass in.

I have also ordered from overseas some manual wheat grass juicers which should arrive later in August.

Beat the Government’s therapeutic bill and grow your own healthy Vitamins and Minerals.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Section 10)

4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)

Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE (Section 1)

Gardening, News

The importance of phosphate in your garden (Wally Richards)

May 11, 2023 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

Phosphorus stimulates budding and blooming. Plants need phosphorus to produce fruits, flowers, and seeds. It also helps make your plants more resistant to disease.

Phosphorus helps plants gain more energy from sunlight and with cloudy, hazy skies we are seeing too often; plants need all the advantages possible to gain energy from sunlight.

Phosphorus doesn’t dissolve like nitrogen. The soil will hang onto phosphorus, not releasing it into water.

Phosphate is needed by all life forms but if taken in too greater quantities it becomes harmful.

In the distant past phosphorus was obtain from manures especially bird or bat droppings called guano.

Phosphorus is also obtained from Reactive Rock Phosphate which is a hard phosphatic rock. In most soils it dissolves very slowly.

To make the rock phosphate more readily available to plants man discovered a process of using sulfuric acid early in the 1900’s, and a new agricultural fertiliser was created called Super or Super Phosphate.

It became a boon to agriculture and farming with tons of Super been spread to cause fast growth in fields and crops.

Unfortunately like a number of discoveries such as DDT and Asbestos, there was a hidden price to pay. Super phosphate kills soil life because its acidic and with their demise leads to unhealthy plants.

Not only that, it was also found that Super laden plants and grasses caused health problems in stock including cancers.

I read a very interesting book years ago called ‘Cancer, Cause and Cure’ written by an Australian farmer, Percy Weston.

Percy observed the results of the introduction of Super on his farm and the Malays that occurred.

For many years now I have not used any chemical fertilisers or chemical sprays including any herbicides anywhere on my property.

For a while I noticed, that even though I obtained good healthy crops and plants, there was some factor that appeared to be missing and the crops are not as lush as I felt they could be.

I often thought that I am not getting sufficient phosphorus in my composts and mulches.

This caused me to do a bit of research on the Internet and found to my delight a company in New Zealand called Sieber Technologies Ltd who make a product called BioPhos.

They take the reactive rock phosphate and break it down naturally with micro organisms making it as readily available to plants as Super is.

The company sent me a email booklet and it showed trials that proved that not only did BioPhos work as well as Super, but actually better as it did not have a ‘peak’ growth on application

and gave a much longer sustained release of phosphorus to plants.

Instead of killing soil life it actually supplies new micro organisms to the soil which carry on breaking the natural phosphorus down, meaning that only one application is needed per year unless you are cropping during the winter as well.

Some rose growers and rose societies recommend using BioPhos for better, healthier roses.

BioPhos contains phosphate, potassium, sulphur and calcium at the rates of P10:K8:S7:Ca28.

BioPhos is Bio Certified for organic growing.

It is pH neutral and used at the following rates; New beds work in 100 grams per square metre, the same with lawns but water in to settle.

Side dressing plants; seedlings 8 grams (a teaspoon ) around base of the plant or in the planting hole. Same for potatoes (which do well with phosphorus) Sowing beans peas etc sprinkle down row with seeds.

Roses and similar sized plants 18 grams or a tablespoon full around plant or in planting hole.

Established fruit trees etc, spread at the rate of 100 grams per square metre around drip line or where feeder roots are. Apply to vegetable gardens in spring and a further application in autumn if growing winter crops.

Can be applied to container plants also.

Apply to tomatoes when planting or side dress existing plants.

A number of gardeners over the years have obtained BioPhos and applied it around their gardens; then a few weeks later many have phoned me to say what a big difference the product has made to their gardens.

I presume one of two things has happened or maybe both of the following:

The gardens and plants were lacking in phosphate and the introduction of it gave a noticeable difference to the plants.

Or the plants were able to obtain more energy from the sun and hence creating a growth spurt.

BioPhos is a must for root and bulb crops such as potatoes, carrots and garlic.

I have now completed a third session of gardening with Rodney Hide which likely aired this coming week then available after that on replay at…..

https://realitycheck.radio/replays/real-talk-show-replays/

THIS WEEKS SPECIAL: BIOPHOS two 1.3kilo pouches for $30.00 free shipping (No PO Boxes or outer Islands) Saving you $8.00 shipping costs Normal one 1.3 pouch is $15.00 plus $8.00 shipping total $23.00

or out big 10kilo bag for $38.00 and free shipping saving you $16.00 shipping North Island or $19.00 shipping South Island (No PO Boxes or outer Islands)
That is into a carton for shipping and you could add a few more non bulk items into the same carton.

Order on our Mail Order Web site at http://www.0800466464.co.nz/

In Plant Nutrition area..

In Remarks please state This Weeks Special..
Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Section 10)

4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)

Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE (Section 1)

For more articles & with a health focus go here

Image by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

Gardening

Time to deal to those garden pests (Special offers – Wally Richards)

January 3, 2023 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

( See at end of article for New Year Sale Details…)

Wishing you a Happy New Year Gardening.

Now the weather has settled a bit and temperatures are better (But still a bit chilly at times) Insect pests will multiply rapidly unless you instigate early controls.

If you look at when you are successful in eliminating one adult female insect, that will prevent somewhere between 100 to 300 more of the same pests to invest your plants.

For instance using the yellow sticky white fly traps; hang one near your tomato plants and within a few days the number of whitefly and other flying pest insects caught on the trap’s sticky surface will be dozens.

The sticky traps are worth their weight in gold for pest control.

Plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, egg plants, capsicum and courgettes will likely have under the older leaves a lot of young pests.

Inspect the oldest leaves looking over and under and if there are a good number of pests remove the leaves from the plant and place in a plastic bag and seal.

This will greatly reduce the pest problem.

There will likely be pests on the upper/newer leaves but a spray of Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with Wallys Super Pyrethrum will take care of these.

These combined sprays should only be applied only just before dusk for two reasons, Neem Oil in sunlight or with UV on a cloudy day can burn foliage.

Pyrethrum is quickly deactivated by UV/Sunlight and when expose to than will be ineffective within a couple of hours.

Pyrethrum sprayed just before dark will be active all night affecting any pests that come in contact with it. Pyrethrum is a quick knock down affecting the insects nervous system and thus killing it.

Neem Oil on the other hand will last for up to 7 days, slowly decreasing the effectiveness due to sunlight.

Its action is anti-feedent and once a pest insect consumes some Neem it stops eating for ever.

Adding Raingard to the above sprays will prolong the effective life of them and prevent the sprays been diluted by rain or watering.

For control of guava moth and codlin moth the most effective way is to spray the fruit with Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with Raingard added.

This puts a layer of Neem Oil over the fruit so that when one of the moth’s grubs tries to eat their way into the fruit they are stopped at the first bite. Repeat spraying the fruit with Neem oil and Raingard added every 14 days till harvest.

Leaf hoppers, aphids, caterpillars and mealy bugs are simply controlled with the spray above applied late in the day.

One of the problems is re-infestation from other plants nearby or from over the fence.

Unless the other plants nearby are also sprayed you will never win.

Spider Mites are best controlled by sprays of sulphur or as we used to do in days gone by, Sulphur powder dusted over the plants that have mites.

At this time of the year you may have the cherry slug or pear slug eating holes in the leaves of those trees. If so spray the foliage with Wallys Liquid Copper with Raingard added. The pests cant handle copper and drop off and die.

Mealy bugs live in the root system of plants and the adults are found in the canopy. Spraying the canopy will take them out but not affect the ones in the root system.

Apply Wallys Neem Tree Powder to the top of the mix in containers that are affected and Wallys Neem Tree Granules to the soil in the root zone of plants affected.

Pest problems on citrus trees are very easily fixed by sprinkling Wallys Neem Tree Granules from the trunk to the drip line. Lightly water to get them started and normally within 6 to 8 weeks the citrus tree will be free of pests.

The smell of Neem granules/power is also a great deterrent as the Neem smell camouflages the natural smell of the plant and pests looking for their host plant by smell cannot find them and fly on by.

In glasshouses Wallys Neem Granules on the soil or on top of the mix in containers will reduce insects pests from been lured in from the smell of their host plants.

Little pouches made out of curtain netting and loaded with Neem Granules before hanging in fruit trees that are subjected to codlin and guava moth attack. Used in conjunction with the Neem Oil sprays on the fruit should mean you have plenty of unaffected fruit for your use.

Cats can be a pest in gardens as they use them for their toilets and Wallys Cat Repellent is the most effective way to prevent them fouling gardens or other areas.

Crop cover also called Bug Mesh is the best control of keeping white butterflies off your cabbages and brassicas. Hoops made out of rigid alkathene pipe with crop cover over them.

Weeds are another garden pest and a safe to use spray is Wallys Super Compost Accelerator which you can use to compost weeds where they are growing.

A few years ago a chap from UK phoned me and asked about getting ammonium sulphamate in NZ.

I had not heard of it and asked whats it for.

He told me in England you purchased it, dissolved it in water and sprayed it onto weeds to compost them where they are growing. The weeds think its nitrogen and readily take it in where it completely composts the living weeds and then coverts to nitrogen so no harm on soil life or yourself.

The most effective rate is 200 grams per litre of water sprayed on a sunny day when the soil is on the dry side. Given ideal conditions the weeds are composted very quickly in some cases with an hour.

Available as Wallys Super Compost Accelerator in 600 gram jar (makes 3 litres of full strength spray) or in 2kg jar named Ammonium sulphamate making 10 litres full strength spray.

If used at say 100 grams per litre of water the composting takes longer but on most weeds still very effective. A good choice to use instead of possible cancer causing chemicals.

One of the interesting aspects of the composting is if watered over oxalis foliage and into the soil where the bulb is, it will compost the bulb and bulblets in the soil. Repeat when new oxalis foliage appears till the area is free of the pest weed.

When used at rates of say 60 to 80 grams per litre of water it does not affect some strains of grass but can compost some broad leaf weeds in lawns. Experiment as to what rate it composts weeds but not affect you lawn grasses.

Unlike herbicide lawn weed killers that you cant compost the lawn clipping because of the reside in the cut grass that would effect herbicide sensitive plants (roses, Tomatoes, Beans) there is no problem with ammonium sulphamate composting the clippings which will only speed up the composting.

Wishing you a pest free New Year.

To help to make it so we are offering you a special discount of 20% off the following pest control items:

All Neem Products (Neem Oil, Neem Granules and Powder all sizes) 20% off

Wallys Super Pyrethrum 20% off

Wallys White Fly sticky Traps 20% off

Wallys Super Compost Accelerator 600 grams 20% off

Wallys Ammonium Sulphamate 2kilos 20% off

Wallys Cat Repellent 200 grams 20% off

All the rest of our products except bulk ones 10% off

Place orders on our mail order web site at www.0800466464.co.nz and place in comments ‘PEST SALE’ so I know to do the discounts when I will phone you.

I will apply discounts and Shipping (if any) before I phone you with the total.

Then we either do Credit/Debit card over phone or I will email you bank transfer details.

If in North Island and order comes to $100 after discounts then free shipping.

In South Island $150.00 after discounts for free shipping.

The total does not include bulk items such as 12kilo BioPhos, 13kg Ocean solids and 10 kg Unlocking soil (Freight is always charged on bulk products)

The above offer is valid till 31st January…

The first 25 orders into the web site will receive a free autographed copy of Wallys Glasshouse Gardening for New Zealand.
Make your summer free of pests and order soon.

Regards and Happy New Year

Wally Richards

Problems ring me at 0800 466464
Email wallyjr@gardenews.co.nz
Web site www.gardenews.co.nz

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

Image by jumyoung youn from Pixabay

Food, Gardening

Phosphorous for your garden (Wally Richards)

October 21, 2022 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

When we buy plant foods or fertilisers for our gardens we see on them the letters N:P:K followed by numbers which indicate the amounts of each of these elements. The NPK stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium.

Nitrogen provides growing power and helps make plant leaves and stems green.

Nitrogen is used to form basic proteins, chlorophyll, and enzymes for the plant cells. In short, a plant can’t grow without it.

Phosphorus stimulates budding and blooming. Plants need phosphorus to produce fruits, flowers, and seeds.

It also helps make your plants more resistant to disease. Phosphorus doesn’t dissolve like nitrogen. The soil will hang onto phosphorus, not releasing it into water.

Potassium promotes strong vigorous roots and resistance to disease.

Potassium is a nutrient your plants need for good internal chemistry.

Plants use potassium to produce the sugars, starches, proteins and enzymes they need to grow and thrive. Potassium also helps your plants regulate their water usage, and better withstand the cold.

I believe of the three elements its the phosphorus that is least understood by some gardeners.

In the distant past phosphorus was obtain from manures especially bird or bat droppings called guano. Phosphorus was also obtained from Reactive Rock Phosphate which is a hard phosphatic rock.

In most soils it dissolves very slowly.

To make the rock phosphate more readily available to plants it was discovered that a process using sulfuric acid, early in the 1900’s,

would breakdown the reactive rock phosphate so a new agricultural fertiliser was created called Super or Super Phosphate.

It became a boon to agriculture and farming with tons of Super been spread to cause fast growth in fields and crops.

Unfortunately like a number of discoveries such as DDT and Asbestos, there was a hidden price to pay.

Super phosphate kills soil life and with their demise leads to unhealthy plants/grasses.

Not only that, it is now known that Super laden plants and grasses can cause health problems in stock including cancers.

(Chlorine and acidic products also destroy soil life including earth worms. Overt time through continued use soil becomes inert or lifeless)

I read a very interesting book some years ago called ‘Cancer, Cause and Cure’ written by an Australian farmer, Percy Weston.

Percy observed the results of the introduction of Super on his farm and the changes that occurred.

If you are interested the book can be obtained by mail order. The book made me reconsider the use of Super phosphate in garden fertilisers.

Interestingly I have never been an advocate of Super phoshate and to the best of my knowledge have never purchased it as a stand alone fertiliser for my gardens.

Though I have on odd occasions in the past used General Garden Fertilisers.

Fortunately I have always preferred sheep manure pellets, animal manures and natural products as my general plant food.

Now days I avoid using chemical fertilisers or chemical sprays including any herbicides anywhere on my property.

But I have noticed in the past, that even though I have obtained good healthy crops and plants, there is some factor that appears to be missing and the crops are not as lush as I feel they could be.

I have often thought that I am not getting sufficient phosphorus in my composts and mulches.

This caused me to do a bit of research on the Internet and found to my delight a company in New Zealand who make a product called BioPhos.

They take the rock phosphate and break it down naturally with micro organisms making it as readily available to plants as Super phosphate is.

The company sent me a email booklet and it showed trials that proved that not only did BioPhos work as well as Super, but actually better as it did not have a ‘peak’ growth on application and gave a much longer sustained release of phosphorus to plants.

Some rose growers and rose societies recommend using BioPhos for better, healthier roses. BioPhos contains phosphate, potassium, sulphur and calcium at the rates of P10:K8:S7:Ca28.

It is pH neutral and used at the following rates; New beds work in 100 grams per square metre, the same with lawns but water in to settle.

Side dressing plants; seedlings 8 grams (a teaspoon full) around base of the plant or in the planting hole.

Same for potatoes (which do well with phosphorus) Sowing beans peas etc sprinkle down row with seeds.

Roses and similar sized plants 18 grams or a tablespoon full around plant or in planting hole.

Established fruit trees etc, spread at the rate of 100 grams per square metre around drip line or where feeder roots are.

Apply to vegetable gardens in spring and a further application in autumn if growing winter crops. Can be applied to container plants also.

Gardeners that use Biophos for the first time around their gardens often contact me tell how much their gardens have improved within a few weeks of using the product.

Maybe because the gardens are missing phosphate and a sprinkling gives the plants what they have been wanting.

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

Photo: Image by Ville Mononen from Pixabay

Gardening, News

GARDENING: THE IMPORTANCE OF CALCIUM IN YOUR SOIL (Wally Richards)

July 31, 2022 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

Calcium (garden lime) is a very basic mineral that is often overlooked by gardeners.

Kiwi gardeners in the past would dig over their vegetable garden at the beginning of winter after the last crops had been harvested.

The soil would be turned to the depth of one and a half to two spade depths, bringing the subsoil to the surface and then left in unbroken as mounds for frosts to work on.

Over these clods of soil a good coating of garden lime would be applied making it look like it had snowed after application.

The idea was to bring up from the subsoil minerals to the surface. Weeds would be buried underneath to compost down and the soil would be exposed to the elements as the lime would be washed in.

In spring these clods would break up with a light touch of the hoe turning the garden into a lovely fine tilth of healthy soil. Potatoes, brassicas and other vegetables would be

planted to not only feed the family as they were harvested but also to store and preserve surpluses for the coming winter.

Life was hard but very rewarding; it was a different world.

The principals of liming our vegetable gardens has not changed even if this practice is too often neglected these days.

I was talking to a keen gardener on the phone this week who explained to me that he was gardening naturally (without the use of chemicals) and he had felt that the results were not as good as he would have liked.

So last season he gave the garden a good dose of gypsum (calcium & sulphur) and the improvement of the crops was really noticeable. Even his dad (an old, very experienced gardener) remarked that he had finally got things right.

Getting things right can be as simple as giving your gardens a good dose of a fast acting lime.

I say fast acting because not all limes are equal in the time frame that they can be of benefit to the soil.

Some garden limes come from lime stone that can take up to 10 years to become soluble and useful in the soil.

That is like putting your money in the bank and having to wait 10 years to get any interest.

On the other hand soft limes start working for you immediately on application.

Lime sweetens the soil as we say which means it lifts the pH to be more alkaline.

NZ soils over time become more and more acidic because of our rain fall, these days likely even quicker because of pollution.

All our beneficial friends in the soil require calcium to thrive, as one source explained it; calcium is like the coal that feeds the furnace, calcium feeds the soil life making for great gardening.

Acidic soil becomes anaerobic and breeds the microbes you do not want, called pathogens or diseases.

The soil has the same principals as our own bodies, if we become acidic inside we can become sick and diseases such as cancers can thrive. If we keep our internal body alkaline then we will be much better off.

Soil pathogens can be suppressed by using Terracin followed by applications of Mycorrcin.

There maybe minerals in the soil that plants need but cant take up because of the lack of calcium.

In plants calcium is part of cell walls and membranes; it controls movement in and out of cells, reacts with waste products and neutralizes toxic materials.

Calcium activates many enzyme systems, it improves microbial activity and it enhances uptake of other nutrients.

It is essential for cell division as well as increasing cell density, and improves texture (crunch) of crops.

Calcium is critical for balancing excess nitrogen as well as disease suppression.

Having the correct amount of calcium in the soil will require less nitrogen.

The calcium will loosen the soil and make more nitrogen available.

Lack of sufficient calcium will result in the following plant disorders;

Necrosis at the tips and margins of young leaves, bulb and fruit abnormalities, (such as blossom end rot in tomatoes), deformation of affected leaves, highly branched, short, brown root systems, severe, stunted growth, and general chlorosis.

It must be remembered that these problems are caused by an inadequate supply of calcium to the affected tissues.

These deficiencies can even occur when the soil appears to have an adequate presence of calcium.

A gardening product is now available called Wallys Calcium And Health which comprises of a fast acting calcium along with important elements for your health and the health of your plants.

Calcium & Health contains fast attacking lime, magnesium, selenium, boron, sulphur, potash and phosphate in a balanced ratio for your gardens.

Using this new product on your food crops is going to help ensure you obtain these essential elements in your diet.

A number of gardeners are concerned about their bodies not obtaining elements such as selenium from the vegetables and fruit they grow.

By applying Calcium & Health to your gardens will help increase the goodness and nutritional values of your home grown diet.

Used at 60 grams per square M (scoop provided is 60 grams) or as I like to do is place a small amount into the planting hole of seedlings.

Avoid using the 60 grams around acid loving plants as it does increase the pH but about 20 grams will be of benefit without interfering with the pH to affect the plants.

I also recommend you using gypsum and dolomite in your gardens as well; these later two can be used around acid loving plants as they are pH neutral.

The important aspect to remember is that calcium is vitally important to the health of your plants and soil.

Every plant needs calcium to grow. Once fixed, calcium is not mobile in the plant.

It is an important constituent of cell walls and can only be supplied in the xylem sap.

Therefore, if the plant runs out of a supply of calcium, it cannot re-mobilize calcium from older tissues.

If transpiration is reduced for any reason, the calcium supply to growing tissues will rapidly become inadequate.

Without adequate amounts of calcium, plants experience a variety of problems as our gardening friend found out at the beginning of this article.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

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Gardening

Clean up time in the garden (Wally Richards)

April 18, 2022 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

Time flies that’s for sure we are now only about 2 months away from the shortest day and after that has passed we are into a new season of gardening.

Now during this quieter time we can do some tidy ups in preparation for the new season ahead.

Starting for those that have glasshouses or tunnel houses if your summer plants are about finished and ready to remove then it is time to fumigate the house and kill off all the pests that maybe on the old plants and in the nooks and crannies.

The cheapest way to do this is to burn yellow sulphur powder inside the house.

Leave any plants still in the house that are finished as why take them out with likely pests to later infect your outdoor gardens?

The sulphur fumes will likely damage most plants in the house so any that you want to save you should remove their containers or dig them out of the soil and put them in pots.

Move these preferred potted plants to a protected place such as under a carport or on a veranda where they have some protection against the winter chills.

You could spray them with Vaporgard before or after moving them to reduce their shock of being out in the real world.

Close down all your vents leaving the door open for your escape route.

Place about three tablespoons of sulphur powder onto a steel plant such as a spade or hearth shovel.

To light it you need a very strong flame such as one used for burning weeds.

If you do not have then wet a little of the powder with some mentholated spirits and light that.

Once the Sulphur powder starts burning it is hard to put out and all should burn creating sulphur fumes which choke and kill the pests that are inside the house.

Once it starts to burn quickly exit the house and close the door.

Leave the house sealed for a day or two before entering the house which should be safe with only a lingering smell of sulphur.

As it is winter there is no need to open vents or leave the door open to let any pests from outside enter the house.

If you grow in soil or in raised beds in the house you may like to wipe out any possible soil diseases from last growing season.

Some gardeners like to change the soil in the house each winter with the idea that it will remove any soil born diseases.

Outside of a lot of work to do so the only likely advantage is the psychological aspect you gain.

Soil born diseases are very difficult to remove as only a small amount left behind can re-infect the new soil brought in.

Also the new soil brought in may also have diseases in it and so then a waste of time.

In the past injecting steam into the soil was used by commercial growers later to be replaced by chemical sterilization.

For the home gardener this was to use a now banned product called Basamid.

Basamid killed soil diseases, pests and weed seeds and from what I saw in the spring seemed to give the soil a new lease of life as plants seem to take off.

Jeyes Fluid was also another popular disinfectant used to kill bacteria in the soil.

The product is not easily available in NZ anymore but maybe available by mail order.

The problem with Jeyes fluid is that it not only kills the pathogens in the soil but also harms the beneficial microbes which you want for a good healthy soil.

A new natural product is available called Wallys Terracin.

Terracin contains a bacteria that produces antimicrobial compounds which, when introduced to the soil,

resets the existing soil biology.

It contains powerful beneficial microbes that beat up on the pathogens.

As it contains microbes you should only dilute it to the instructions using non chlorinated water as you do not want to kill what you paid for.

Used as a soil drench on lightly moist soil to give the soil a nice soaking as to the instructions on the label.

Two weeks after applying Terracin I suggest that you mix Bio Marinus™ ( manufactured by the enzymatic hydrolysis of fish offal, blended with humate, seaweed and biology including Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma and other beneficial microbes) with Wallys

Mycorrcin in a watering can using non chlorinated water to dilute.

Once mixed apply to the moist soil immediately as the food content in the Mycorrcin will start the microbes breeding and it would, if left in the watering can, overflow the liquid.

Also if you were to put the two products together into a plastic bottle and seal the bottle will expand like a balloon before it explodes.

Powerful microbes for sure.

Also you may like to apply the same treatments to your vegetable garden or other preferred gardens to increase the microbial soil activity making for significantly healthier plants this coming season.

Remember that once used you do not want to destroy what you have created later on by watering the areas with chlorinated tap water.

See www.0800466464.co.nz for a housing and filter system you can easily connect to an out door tap.

Filtered tap water will make am amazing difference to your gardens and plants.

It means healthier plants with less problems as the soil life is not harmed by chlorine poison.

Also if you do not have a filter in the kitchen for drinking and cooking water then you can easily fill flagons or bottles from the filter outside which is much better for your health and the health of your pets.

With this crazy world currently you want to have the best soil possible so you can feed your family with

highly nutritious foods, home grown.

As always for those that are interested send me an email for other non gardening bits.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
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Environment, News, NZ, Pollution

A pollution problem you probably weren’t aware of – concern expressed by an Akaroa resident, a problem dubbed an “international embarrassment” by Victoria University Law Lecturer

December 9, 2017 Pam Vernon 6 Comments

Here is a topic that’s slipped somewhat under the radar and is affecting beautiful Akaroa in the South Island … the pollution from cruise ships. An Akaroa reader affected by this issue to the extent they sometimes wear a mask, contacted me recently saying they’d tried both government and media channels with a largely ‘not interested’ response. Turns out the issue’s been written about by a University lecturer Dr Bevan Marten (link below the reader’s piece) who says:

New Zealand’s lack of action over air pollution from shipping is an international embarrassment… Dr Bevan Marten

Copy of WP_20171120_004 — Cruise ships in Akaroa’s harbour with engines pumping all day [Photo supplied]

So from Akaroa:

It is with a heavy heart I farewell the winter … cold, clear, cleansing southerly winds blowing through the harbour heads straight from the Antarctic.

Today, as dawn breaks , the onslaught of mighty tourism blows through the heads. Just one of 80 ships to visit this season.

Another season of poisonous sulphurous emissions … 12 hours day … often 2 or 3 ships per day … 7am to 7pm.

The air is sharp … stings the throat … wear a mask outside and keep windows closed.

Because of the shallowness of the harbour these floating cities moor out in the open harbour. The engines are pumping all day, swinging 360 degrees on their mooring to stay facing the prevailing winds.

The sediment disturbance turns the harbour a milky grey.

What does this do to the Hector dolphins, the paua beds?

Atmospheric pollution. Ocean pollution.

Seven pm and the engines ramp up for departure. The smoke spreads, the sediment spreads. The bilge water pumps out into our harbour.

Gone … ’til tomorrow. Here til March 2018…

Our council bans woodburners in Chch for home heating. Our council plans to have electric cars. Why bother?

Six months of poison pumping into our air negates all such clever initiatives.

24282037_1655573811159365_1908002011_n — Swinging 360 degrees on their mooring what are these cruise ships doing to the marine life – the hector dolphins and paua? [Photo: supplied]

NZ’s ignoring dark cruise ship undercurrent

Dr Bevan Marten is a Senior Lecturer in Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Law, specialising in maritime and transport law. He is scathing about the damage those gleaming white cruise ships are doing to the environment.

New Zealand’s lack of action over air pollution from shipping is an international embarrassment. This is true of both the country’s commitment to addressing global climate change and the safeguarding of local air quality. Walking along Auckland’s waterfront, that gleaming white cruise ship may look spotless but the fumes coming out of its funnel might be anything but. It’s time to tell the Government to get serious.

Larger ships mostly burn “bunker” fuel, a grade of oil closer to Marmite than anything the local service station will pour you. It’s also a key source of pollutants such as sulphur dioxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

Sulphur dioxide in particular creates a risk to human health, despite not having the telltale smog we associate with the problems faced in cities like Beijing. And while we have largely removed sulphur dioxide emissions from road vehicles and some industries, shipping remains a major source of this pollutant.

The global community has long acknowledged this issue. In 1997, countries agreed to Annex VI of the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (known as MARPOL, short for marine pollution). In addition to rules improving ship engine efficiency, this included a promise to reduce the maximum sulphur content of ships’ fuel to 3.5 percent in 2012 and 0.5 percent in 2020. Between 2006 and 2014, special emission control areas covering much of Northern Europe and North America entered into force, bringing sulphur content there down to just 0.1 percent.

Although 86 other countries are party to the Annex VI agreement, New Zealand has never signed up. This makes us a real outlier internationally. The only other OECD countries in this position are Iceland, Israel and Mexico. The only other countries in the South Pacific Commission to ignore it are Fiji and the Solomon Islands.