I noticed my last remaining overwintered apricot hollyhock was covered in rust-coloured spots far too late. And when I looked carefully, it had spread to my Chater’s Mixed hollyhocks too!
Just goes to show, constant observation is the key. Anyway, I wanted to do something about it quickly, not having the time to go to the garden centre for anti-fungal spray. So I looked at various home remedy recipes, combined the lot … and by George! It worked! Not only on the hollyhocks, but my dahlias, the neighbour’s roses and honeysuckle and a couple of my annuals that also looked a bit suspect.
Here’s the rough proportions (with thanks to the good folk on the gardening t’internet for the base ingredients):
In a 1 litre spray bottle, a quarter filled with boiled water, cooled to warm:
One soluble Asprin tablet
A good glug of vinegar – half a wine glassful
A teaspoon of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
A shot of washing up liquid or soap (I used Fairy antibacterial to cover m’ass)
A shot of olive oil (helps the mixture stick to the leaves)
One garlic clove, crushed to mush (I chucked this for the fun – it does me good, so … )
A few drops of clove oil (I put this in as I understand it is a mild anti-fungal)
Top up with warm, boiled water, and shake to blend.
Apply once a week for three weeks, or whenever you spot symptoms. Shake vigorously as you spray to blend the oil.
This rescued my hollyhocks, and they are now back in play. The one most badly affected, Alcea Halo Apricot, I don’t think will flower this year, but it is now throwing up new, clean leaves, so it’s obvious I got it before the root system was trashed.
(As an aside, in my hunt to solve the rust on my hollyhocks, I discovered that they really prefer poor soil, and my feeding them along with the rest of my plants probably caused the problem. As Monty Don says regarding lavender; keep them watered, but don’t feed – treat ‘em rough, and they’ll reward you by blooming their wee socks off.)
Cru x
