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nafex - [nafex] Dear repellent

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  • From: Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [nafex] Dear repellent
  • Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 06:50:23 -0400

I cannot provide a more interesting repellent formula than what sounds to
be burnt bone juice- although I expect by using a pressure cooker and a
cast iron pan you could create something similar more easily if you don't
mind having to use a powered wire brush to get the remains off the pan
after burning the concentrated broth. A little vinegar in the water
might free up more of the calcium and phosphorus if advice I've been given
about making a more nutritious broth is correct. This might increase the
repellency.

I would like to see the multi-year effectiveness of the given formula
backed by some kind of research, it does sound too good to be true and it
doesn't sound so simple to make to me (and soup bones have become expensive
if you don't happen to slaughter your own animals). If it is that long
lasting, someone should create a specific recipe, patent it and make a
fortune replacing fences in commercial orchards throughout the country with
their miracle product. There is a pretty big market for deer repellents.

What I used for years in my nursery is mostly whipped eggs mixed with water
at about 2 eggs per gallon sprayed on the trees. I'd often include bars of
Ivory soap, shredded and boiled in water then blended with the eggs. Now
I'm using the eggs combined with Plantskyd- an expensive but long lasting
product made out of the blood of slaughtered animals. The eggs allow me to
use a third the recommended concentration of the expensive commercial
product.

Dried blood can also be used- I used to hang it from plastic bottles from
trees fermenting in water, but it was just too stinky and if you bumped a
bottle and got the stuff on you it was truly rank. It did work all season
though and I only needed a bottle about every 10 feet or so. People
sometimes just sprinkle it out of the package onto foliage. Eventually I
will probably replace Plantskyd with powdered blood in my formula, adding a
spreader-sticker for good measure. I just don't see it in garden centers
any more.

I always mix more of any repellent than I can possibly use quickly and let
the stuff ferment into a toxic and foul smelling mixture, which also
allows me to stretch the mixture longer. I've been sizing up fruit trees
in my nursery for over two decades in major deer territory without fencing
by using fencing and can vouch for their efficacy.

Millorganite in cloth satchels can also work reasonably well.

Ultimately, I recommend growing the trees above the browse line. Deer are
helpful at eating drops and reducing insect and disease pressure. Real
fruit should grow on real trees in my book.




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