Eloine's Blog

My swiss chard has been growing pretty well but fairly pale. Yesterday I noticed some beginnings of powdery mildew so I decided to take action. I thinned it down so I could get to the soil and also to allow it to air out. I pulled out most of the diseased leaves. Then I dug a little trench between the freshly thinned rowed and poured some ammonium sulfate to green up the leaves. I covered those back up with dirt so that when I water them later none of the ammonium sulfate splashes back on the leaves to burn them. Then I filled a hose end sprayer with VF-11 and sprayed that as a mineral supplement. It says not to use it with other fertilizer but I used it mostly on the leaves to give it some kick to combat the powdery mildew. Then I sprayed the leaves with a half solution of hydrogen Peroxide. I was told that this tends to work if sprayed at the first signs of powdery mildew. We will see!

Here is a quote from Dave’s Garden web forum on VF-11. Someone called and spoked to the person who created it. This what they said

“Eleanor said that for best results VF-11 should be used regularly by itself without any other fertilizer. It may be used solely as a foliar spray. It may also be used on roots by watering, though I inferred from what she said that this would result in higher costs that might not be worth the added benefits. VF-11 balances the nutrients that plants obtain. It also hardens plant cells and seals in amino acids, thereby frustrating insects such as white fly. The N-P-K is .15 – .85 – .55 (hundredths). She got the formula from a “cantankerous” elderly chemist who grew healthy plants, including tomato plants that were 30 ft. long with the formula. She originally marketed it for houseplants, but now farmers are interested in it. VF-11 does not fit into any of the categories of plant products used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, so, for example, she could not call it “plant food.” Instead the label says it is “for plants.” Also, she is not allowed to list the ingredients. She was once fined $35,000 for saying something like it “gets rid of bugs the natural way” because, to the Department of Agriculture’s way of thinking, this would make it a pesticide. “VF” means verticillium/fusarium, signifying that it creates disease resistance. “11” signifies it has eleven ingredients. These ingredients include iron, boron, copper, zinc, and molybdenum (I couldn’t write fast enough to get all of them) in an electrolyte balanced solution.”