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  • From: bcluton AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Kaolin Clay
  • Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:10:16 -0500

Hey Breck,

Ratio is kind of a guesstimate.  It depends a bit on the volume I'm mixing and what I'm applying it to.  Because it is so light it is somewhat surprising how much you use by volume.  If I had any on hand at the moment I could probably give you a better answer but my inclination is that I'll use about 3 dry quarts in a full backpack sprayer.  I get better mixing by making a bit of a concentrated slurry in a bucket and then top up with water.  In terms of adding anything I've used it alone a lot but I've also put it on with fish emulsion, Nufilm, BT, Compost Tea, and sulfur.  This was really just a matter of needing to get these things on and trying to optimize time.  I didn't notice any major detriment to either.  Surround alone may dry a bit more uniformly.  But I've had good luck putting in on with these other things and it does seem slower to degrade with the Nufilm.(the reality is that Surround alone - if it drys good before rain or dew tends to stick around surprisingly well)  In terms of underleaf I think certainly the better the coverage the better the result, but a good top coat also seems to go along way.  I tend to use Surround only on transplants and recently transplanted crops so you can get pretty good coverage because the plants are small.  I don't run into issues with its residue on crops (vegetable crops anyway) because there isn't any overlap in the manner I use it.  I get the most efficacy out of using it on crops to get them established.  Ie. with squash and brassicas at transplanting and if necessary through 2 maybe 3 weeks.  At that point roots are usually well established and the plants are vigorous.

I bought a bunch of it a few years back from Seven Valleys or Seven Springs (I believe) in Virginia.  At the time his prices were by far the best I found even after freight.  Since then it seems to have come down in price across the board and its a lot more readily available Largely due to freight and shipping practices I think Johnny's is the best bet for me in this area anyway.  I haven't confirmed this yet for 2010 but that seemed to be the case when I looked into it quickly last season.

You getting anywhere with a plastic mulch layer?

Later,
Brian



-----Original Message-----
From: breck <bcarden AT breckinridgegroup.com>
To: 'Market Farming' <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thu, Jan 14, 2010 8:04 am
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Kaolin Clay

 
Hey Brian, I like the idea of using less row covers. Do you know what ratio of Surround to water you prefer or just guesstimate like I seem to do on most things? Do you add anything besides water to the mix? How important are you finding underleaf application to be? Who are you buying it through?
Thanks,
Farmer Breck
Breck Carden
Carden’s Garden
2400 E Hwy 22
Crestwood, KY 40014-7704
 
 

From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of bcluton AT aol.com
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:17 AM
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Kaolin Clay
 
Hi Ben,
 
Surround has been a great product for us.  I've always gone with a slurry into dilution in a backpack sprayer and applied it that way.  I've never tried the dip method so can't speak to whether putting it on in that fashion would lead to respiration problems.  I've never noticed anything by spraying on a thin coat.  You can play around with the dilutions until you get the desired coverage.  It's worked well on the crops you mention and brassicas - although it doesn't stick as well to the waxy leaves - and the only solaname we regularly use it on is Eggplant.  We apply it at transplanting and might renew coverage for the first few weeks if it seems warranted.  Anyway I'd give it two thumbs up.  It's simplified a lot of things for us and drastically reduced our need for row covers on some crops.
 
Brian
 
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