Copper vitriol - what is it and how to apply it in gardening

Copper vitriol is in the range of any gardening store. This is the most common means for protecting plants against diseases. But the substance can be used not only as a fungicide. Learn how to apply a beautiful blue powder with a benefit for the garden and garden.

What is copper sulfate?

From the chemical point of view, vitriol is a sulfate copper with the formula CuSO4. The substance is formed by combining copper or its oxide with sulfuric acid.

Pure copper sulfate is a clear crystalline powder. It quickly absorbs moisture from the air and acquires the azure color typical of copper sulfate.

Benefits of copper vitriol in horticulture

Serno-acidic copper does not help in the fight against harmful insects and rodents, does not stimulate the growth of seedlings, does not protect vegetables from bad weather. It is a fungicide, that is, a substance that is used to control microscopic fungi that cause plant diseases, which are manifested in plaque and patchiness.

Copper sulfate is a contact fungicide. It is not absorbed into plants and acts only if it gets to the mycelium. Irrigated water or rain easily wash off the blue coating, after which the leaves again turn out to be unprotected.

Processing with vitriol can be any plants: vegetables, trees, flowers, berries, grapes. Having fallen on the leaves or stems on which the pathogenic fungi have settled, vitriol destroys the proteins of microorganisms and slows down the metabolism.

After that, spores of mushrooms can not sprout and die, and already overgrown mycelium slows growth. Mycelium, ingrown into the interior of plant tissues, remains intact, as vitriol is not absorbed into the plant. Because of this, copper sulfate weakly helps against powdery mildew, but still holds back its distribution.

How to use copper sulfate

In horticulture, copper sulphate is used in pure form and mixed with lime. The addition of lime makes the fungicide safer, since in its pure form vitriol can burn plant tissues. In addition, lime improves the adhesion of the solution.

Plants with green leaves during vegetation can only be sprinkled with vitriol in the composition of the Bordeaux liquid.

Garden treatment

Fruit trees are sprinkled with vitriol twice:

• early in the spring before bud blossoming - 10 gr. on 1 liter. water;
• in autumn after falling of leaves - the dosage is the same.

Kuporos in the concentration of 10 g. on 1 liter. use for the disinfection of the roots of seedlings, if they have incomprehensible growths:

1. Remove the growths with a knife.
2. Dip the roots in the vitriol solution for 3 minutes.

   3.  Rinse with water.

Foliar top dressing

Usually peat and sandy soils do not have enough copper. With pronounced signs of copper starvation, vitriol can be used for foliar dressings.

Signs of lack of copper in plants:

• chlorosis;
• deformation of leaves;
• appearance of necrotic spots.

For foliar top dressing are 0.01% solution, adding 1 gr. substance in 10 liters. water. At first the vitriol is dissolved in a small container, using a heated liquid, and then poured into the remaining volume of water. Plants are sprayed on leaves, better in cloudy weather.

For tomatoes

Spores of common disease of tomatoes - late blight - remain in the winter in the upper layer of the soil. To protect plants, beds before planting seedlings are sprayed or spilled with 0.5% vitriol solution - 25 gr. for 5 liters. water. If signs of the disease appeared on the plant itself, use Bordeaux fluid.

Against the fungus on wood

Fungicidal action of blue crystals can be used for household purposes, protecting the wooden parts of the house from fungus and mold. The affected parts of the structure are treated with the following composition:

1. Dilute 300 gr. crystals in 10 liters. water.
2. Add a tablespoon of vinegar.

The liquid is rubbed into the wood with a sponge or sprayed with a spray gun. When the surface dries, re-treat. With a strong spread of fungus, the amount of wetting can be increased to 5 times.

Sulfuric acid copper can be used as a preventive antiseptic for the treatment of wood. Soaking up, the solution of copper sulphate protects the wood from internal rotting, which can not make paint or varnish.

Preparation:

1. Mix a kilogram of copper crystals with 10 liters. water.
2. Apply to the wood with a brush or roller.