Milk Spray for Tomatoes

Uses

• Milk sprays offer a variety of benefits to tomato plants. As tomatoes grow and develop, nutrients such as calcium are often lost from the soil. Milk is an excellent source of calcium, and spraying plants with milk replaces lost calcium. In this way, milk spray acts as a fertilizer. Certain fungal and viral diseases, such as mildew, blight, and mosaic disease, may be treated using milk spray. Milk contains enzymes and sugars that kill and repel diseases that attack tomato plants.

Usage

• Depending on the disease, different amounts of powdered or liquid milk may be combined with water and, occasionally, antitranspirants (chemical agents that prevent fungal spores from clinging to and developing on plant leaves). Once combined, the mixture is applied to tomato leaves and fruit with a garden sprayer. After spraying is complete, each piece of the sprayer must be rinsed thoroughly with water to prevent the milk from spoiling inside the sprayer and creating mold or foul odors. Spraying must be repeated each week for maximum effectiveness.

Benefits

• Use of milk spray as a fertilizer or disease treatment offers your plants an organic alternative to conventional chemical treatments. Milk spray is safe for use around humans and animals, and leaves behind no chemical residue, if only milk and water are used. Milk sprays are an inexpensive, easy-to-access alternative to store-bought treatments.

Disadvantages

• While milk sprays are safe and inexpensive, they often do not work as quickly as conventional treatments. Milk sprays often require more frequent applications than conventional sprays. As with any natural treatment, milk sprays may require more vigilance in examining plants for problems and more persistence in treatment. Milk sprays and conventional sprays both often work efficiently, however, the results with a conventional spray are often faster and easier to achieve.