servatusprime

Anyone have any miracle cures for canna leaf rust? I am having a hard time getting rid of it. I have them spaced out in some raised beds and growing well. I'm not sure if its just the humidity or what. I've tried cutting them all down and tried an organic spray, but so far nothing. I would like to keep the treatment organic since I they are all around my bananas.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Are there any nice looking resistent varieties? I have noticed that out of what I have there are some that do seem to resist it longer than others and I was wondering what other people's experience has been.

I can't stand the thought of replacing them all with something else just because of the rust. I have some many and my garden would look almost naked without them. And I cant think of anything else that would be as nice. Thanks.

flaflowerfloozie

Copper works on the plants and as a drench for the spores that stay in the dirt, also if you use hydrogen peroxide as a ground drench and foliar spray, but you have to use that at night it's photosensitive...I use the H.P. on my plumeria in a spray bottle, but that is small and in a pot. As of yet this year I have not had a bout of it on cannas or plumeria but I was real aggressive about it last year with both the copper and the H.P. alternating. Hope not to have that issue again this year...

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servatusprime

Did you apply the copper with a spray bottle and take the time to get both sides of the leaves? If I can get away with it I rather use my hose sprayer for efficiency sake. Did use any oils to help "stick" the copper to the leaves? Thanks.

flaflowerfloozie

I too have lots of cannas so yea I put the copper into an end sprayer, over and under leaves and drench the ground...it's cheap as well I think it was around $5.00 or so for the bottle (? 3 tablespoons per gallon or something?) The H.P. I also used in the end sprayer for cannas 1/2 N 1/2 but that was tricky in the dark all I could hear was noise when I hit the leaves and the gurrgle of when the container was empty.
No I don't use a sticker, but a few drops of dish detergent works fine as a sticker, I find oil has a tendency to fry things and stop the leaves from breathing.
There again the later in the day you use these things... sticker, oil and soap the better.
I use the dish detergent method at night on my snail vines when they get aphids.
The soapy water stays wetter longer and there is no burn, if I want I can always rinse early in the morning.
Hope this helps :-)

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servatusprime

Wow thanks. I will give that a try. I just hope it works. I didn't think about the soap. Sounds good to me. The only thing that I think I need to consider is the effect on the soil. I'm guessing that this method would kill off a lot of the good fungi and bacteria. I'll have to reintroduce them afterward I would think unless I am over thinking this. Thanks.

flaflowerfloozie

As far as the fungi and bacteria go I don't soak it all the way threw my mulch I just get the mulch good and wet not soppy wet. so I have had no issue with the good guys living under the mulch. I use a heaping layer of oak leaves, it starts out 6 inches thick and of coarse breaks down and collapses in short order, but weeds are slim and few.
That nasty red rust stuff you and I suffer with is on the top...reintroduce if you think it may be an issue, but these are better than using a commercial toxic, poisonous chemical that may or may not work and of coarse you have no idea where it goes or stays and the effects there of...I have pets and I butterfly garden so toxins are not in my yard...good luck with the rust

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servatusprime

Thank you so much I'll give it a whirl!