Bordeaux mixture: cooking and use

Pests in gardens, orchards, vineyards are a real scourge of the owners. In order to fight them, you have to spend a lot of time and energy. A good help in such a struggle can be the Bordeaux mixture, the preparation of which is a very simple matter. And the effect turns out remarkable.

What is the Bordeaux mixture?

Bordeaux mixture, or Bordeaux fluid, is called a solution, which includes copper sulfate and lime. According to experienced owners, its effectiveness is much higher than that of conventional vitriol. It was first used at the end of the 19th century by P. Millarde, a French gardener and botanist. He used this compound in order to protect the vineyards from such a dangerous disease as the mold fungus.

What is it used for?

There is a large group of fungicides, that is, substances that help in the fight against fungal diseases. This is the Bordeaux mixture. Application in gardening, she found a very wide. It is used to treat plants in order to protect against various fungal diseases, as well as to prevent scab. She is treated with wounds that remain after cutting tree branches. It is also effective to add this composition whitewash. Despite the fact that they have been using this substance for over a hundred years, gardeners and truck farmers have not abandoned it. The reason for this is simple cooking and efficiency. You can buy a ready-made solution for processing, but it's much better to prepare such a substance yourself as a Bordeaux mixture yourself. Preparing it is not very difficult. The finished substance is a liquid of turquoise color.

How to cook?

The store sells usually not a ready-made substance, but its components in two separate bags. One of them contains copper sulfate, and the second - lime. Following the attached instructions, you get the composition, which is called the Bordeaux mixture. Preparing it in this case is facilitated by the fact that the proportions of the constituent components are pre-measured. However, the amount of substance that will end up is small. To process a large vineyard or garden, it may not be enough. Therefore, it makes sense to purchase separately two substances that are part of its composition, and prepare the required amount of solution as needed. Especially as lime and vitriol can be used in gardens and vineyards in other solutions, not just such as the Bordeaux mixture. Preparation of this composition has one fineness: vitriol and lime are dissolved in water separately, and only then mixed. In order to get 10 liters of a 1% Bordeaux mixture, take 100 g of copper sulfate and the same amount of lime (it may need a little more, even 150 g). Dissolve them separately in a sufficiently large container of plastic or glass (metal does not fit). Kuporos should be stirred thoroughly in warm water. Lime if necessary to extinguish in a small amount of water, then dilute in 5 liters of water to make lime milk. It is desirable to drain immediately. In it a thin trickle, stirring, pour in a solution of vitriol. And then the total volume of the liquid is adjusted to 10 liters. Bordeaux mixture, the preparation of which was done correctly, should have a bright turquoise color.

It is important that the solution does not give an acid reaction, otherwise it can damage the green leaves. To check this, a normal nail is lowered into the finished liquid for 3 minutes. If it turns red, then some more lime milk should be added. If the question of how to properly prepare a Bordeaux mixture of greater concentration (for example, three percent), then you just need to change the proportion of its components. That is, for a three-percent mixture, take three times the most (300 grams of vitriol and 300-400 lime). Use the resulting solution immediately, it will not be stored. And do not forget about the means of protection - the mixture is dangerous if it gets on the skin.

Bordeaux mixture - the composition, irreplaceable in gardening. It helps to save trees and bushes from many diseases. Do not forget about this simple and reliable, time-tested tool.