How to dilute lime for whitewashing a cellar, greenhouse, trees - step-by-step instructions

Despite the abundance of modern means, lime is still in demand among summer residents. It is used to deoxidize the soil, to disinfect premises, and to protect trees. How to dilute lime correctly for each case?

Lime comes in different forms. Most often, summer residents use three types of whitewashing:

• quicklime (lumpy) lime is a white substance that is obtained by the decomposition of limestone; it contains calcium and magnesium;
• slaked (hydrated) lime, or fluff, is a white powder that is obtained by dissolving quicklime in a small amount of water;
• bleach (bleach) is a powder containing chlorine and slaked lime.

Lime is used on the farm not only for whitewashing, but also for other purposes:

• Why do you need slaked lime in the country house and garden?

  Lime is used in the country to improve soil properties, increase productivity and during construction work. What is her secret?

Treating wood with lime: a folk method of protection

Living in a wooden house filled with special light and clean air is a pleasure.
But such housing is not without its drawbacks. The most important of them are the likelihood of fire in wood structures, the danger of rotting and damage by fungi and insects. There are many ways to protect a wooden house or wooden elements from negative influences. Today we will look at the simplest, most environmentally friendly and, as forum members assure, healthy – lime. It has always been considered a good antiseptic that protected walls from various problems, and at the same time disinfected the air. However, if previously almost the entire room was whitewashed, now mostly hidden wooden parts of the house are covered with lime: rafters, floor beams, floor joists, etc. Summer residents assure that the treated boards remain as good as new, even after several decades .

Lime and salt for wood processing

The simplest “recipe” for whitewashing boards is lime mixed with salt and water. Forumhouse.ru member Temra does not recommend treating the walls of your house with purchased slaked dry lime - the walls will get dirty. Use quicklime: it is extinguished, salt is added (salt, as an antiseptic for wood, strengthens its composition and gives shine), and the walls are whitened with this solution.

The lime is slaked in a container that will withstand the high temperatures from the lime reaction - in a metal bucket. It is not tightly closed to allow steam to escape. Please note that when slaked, the lime will increase in volume by 2-3 times. Therefore, do not add a lot of lime at once, approximately 2-3 kg. Water is taken 3-4 times more than the volume of slaked lime. It’s okay if there is a little more – it will boil away. After you have filled in the entire amount of water, cover the container with a lid and do not approach it until the reaction is complete (determine by ear). After the lime has cooled, dilute it with water to the consistency of very liquid sour cream and add color, maybe “blueing” - 1 tbsp. l. for 1-2 liters of water. Everything can be whitewashed! According to Temra, treating the boards with lime of this composition ensures that the walls do not shine or leave marks after a light touch.

When diluted with water, lime can be stored for a very long time; the main thing is to prevent it from drying out by constantly adding water. If the slaked lime has dried out and all the moisture has evaporated, then you will have to throw it away.

To whitewash walls made of lumber, lime-clay-salt coating (IGSO) is also used. To process 1 sq. m surface you will need the following materials:

• Lime dough – 74% (or 1 kg 36 g);
• Clay – 4% (56 g);
• Table salt – 11% (154 g);
• Water – 11% (154 g).

In total you will get 1.4 kg of solution.

To obtain the desired consistency of the solution, the amount of water can be increased or decreased.

IGSO is prepared in wooden or metal containers with an anti-corrosion coating. The lime is crushed and sifted through a sieve, mixed with water into the dough in a 1:1 ratio. To obtain a more plastic dough, knead 1-2 days before the coating is completely prepared. Table salt is crushed and also sifted, mixed with water and clay is added. The clay dough is thoroughly mixed with lime dough - IGSO is ready for use. Store the solution in a closed container.

To increase the fire-resistant properties, forum members advise adding a mixture of borax and boric acid to the lime-salt coating (they are also antiseptics). You will need 45g/l borax and 30g/l boric acid.

Copper sulfate as an antiseptic for wood

Member forumhouse.ru Cactus did this: diluted 2 kg of lime in 5-6 liters of water, separately diluted 50 g of copper sulfate in 0.5 liters of water, added 300 g of salt and about half a kilo of soaked clay. The forum member covered the mauerlat and floor beams with this composition (the latter had previously been burned with an oxygen torch). The wood treated with this product did not get wet even after two torrential rains.

Lime and copper sulfate as an antiseptic for wood.

How to whiten correctly

The coating is applied with a brush in several layers. Each layer of whitewash must dry completely (for IGSO - this is at least 12 hours). The solution finally dries after a day.

You should not make the consistency of the solution thicker in order to reduce the number of layers of whitewash. This can lead to the lime layer leaving the surface after a while.

To even out the streaks from the brush stroke, after one layer has dried, apply the next one in the opposite direction. Further, the direction of the brush also alternates. The last layer is applied away from the window so that strokes are not visible. The walls on the outside of the house are whitewashed in the same way.

The walls need to be whitened every year, one layer is enough. This is necessary in order to renew the walls and so that the lime does not crystallize and lose its appearance and its antiseptic properties.

That's all the secrets of whitewashing. In one of our next articles we will talk about other ways to protect a wooden house: painting and coating, oil-wax impregnations and much more.

Based on materials from the forum “House and Dacha”

Antiseptics for treatment

Treating bed boards with antiseptic agents gives good results. They can be used even when the process of rotting has already begun, and mold may have appeared. Antiseptics will stop this process, remove mold and restore the surface structure of the wood, which has begun to deteriorate.

The following types of antiseptics are distinguished:

• water soluble;
• water-repellent;
• oil;
• combined.

Water-soluble antiseptics

Before processing, the wood surface is cleaned of dirt and traces of old paint. The solution is applied in two layers with an interval of 2–4 hours. The treated surface is dried for 10–12 hours. Antiseptics are environmentally friendly and do not have a strong odor.

It is not advisable to use them for boards that spend most of their time in water. The most well-known drugs: sodium fluoride, drug BB-32, ammonium silicofluoride.

Water-repellent antiseptics

When processed, they penetrate deeply into the pores of the wood, but have a pungent odor that fades over time. Examples of water-repellent preparations: antiseptics Vlagastop, Neomid, economical and difficult to wash out preparation “Gold”.

Oil antiseptics

When applied to a board, they form a durable film and do not dissolve in water, so they are well suited for places with high humidity levels. The wood must be dried before processing. This antiseptic well protects boards for beds from rotting in the ground and the penetration of harmful microbes and beetles.

Oil antiseptics are toxic; they have a strong pungent odor that does not disappear for a long time. Although they are often used by gardeners, such fencing should not be used for vegetable crops.

The most popular brands are Tikkurila antiseptics and Vesna oil impregnation. More detailed information about Tikkurila antiseptics can be seen in the video below.

How to dilute whitewash for trees?

Fruit trees in the garden are whitened , as a rule, in autumn or spring . We prefer to do this in May - at the very beginning of the summer season. As a matter of fact, this is the first big thing after a long winter of doing nothing. Whiten the trees and it’s beautiful. Our apple, plum and pear trees stand well-groomed and elegant. The garden is transformed, and you want to live, work, and enjoy the sun. Trees are whitened not only for aesthetic reasons. In spring and summer, whitewashing protects the bark from sunburn, and in winter - from frost and rodents.

According to science, in the spring you need to whiten trees before the buds open , on a dry day with an air temperature of no more than +5 degrees. Before bleaching, the trunk is cleared of old bark. The trunk and the lower part of the skeletal branches are painted (they are covered 30 cm from their base). There is no need to paint the entire tree.

The layer thickness must be at least 0.3 mm. Is it difficult to measure this in country conditions? We always paint quite thickly, but in one layer.

Why is lime good for trees?

1. Whitening the bark with lime helps protect trees from temperature changes. In winter, the contrast between day and night temperatures can lead to icing of the bark and the appearance of frost holes. This happens much less often with whitewashed trees.
2. Lime, which is part of whitewash for trees, saves garden crops from the penetration of various pathogens and pests under their bark.
3. Lime helps protect the bark from sunburn. In winter, the sun is quite aggressive, especially during thaws. White lime reflects the sun's rays well, the bark does not overheat and does not crack.

• Whitewashing trees: when, how and is it necessary at all?

  It is believed that autumn is the most suitable time for whitewashing trees. Is this true and why?

How to whiten fruit trees?

1. Garden whitewash. For whitewashing we traditionally use garden whitewash. The composition contains lime and binding components. It is sold in stores in 1 kg packaging. The price of such a package is about 40 rubles. We usually need 7-9 packages for the entire garden. This means that we spend about 350 rubles per appointment. Is it a bit expensive?
2. Slaked lime fluff. We asked the price for ordinary lime. Slaked fluffy lime costs half as much in a garden store as special garden whitewash.
3. Quicklime-boiler. But first you need to pay it off. At the same time, should it seethe and “boil”?
4. Water-based paint (facade, for exterior use). Many summer residents doubt whether it is possible to use water-based emulsion to whitewash trees? Nevertheless, the authors of many reference books write that fruit trees can be whitened with lime or paint (water-based emulsion). Others express the opinion that the paint clogs the bark and does not allow the tree to fully “breathe.” Therefore, lime-based solutions are often used for whitewashing.

It is strictly not recommended to use bleach for whitewashing. Recommendations are in favor of freshly slaked lime (prepared from quicklime).

How to slak lime correctly

Pieces (lumps, powder) of limestone are quicklime. In order for it to be used to whiten trees, it must be extinguished. The procedure is called this for a reason: when water is added, a violent reaction occurs, which generates heat. Therefore, it is necessary to extinguish lime strictly following the rules to avoid burns.

Place lime in a clean, deep container (for example, a bucket) and fill it with cold water. To obtain fluff, the components are mixed in a 1:1 ratio. A reaction will immediately begin in which the mixture “fizzes,” splashes, and heats up. This is a boiling process that can continue for up to an hour.

You need to wait until the procedure is over and after that you can gently stir the contents with a wooden stick. The lime for whitewashing trees is ready.

Important! During the interaction of water and lime, the quenching temperature can reach 150°C. Therefore, you should work with lime very carefully. It is advisable to do this with gloves and safety glasses.

To prepare lime paste, 1 part lime should contain 1-1.5 parts water. Lime milk is obtained by mixing 1 part lime and 3 parts water.

How to dilute lime for whitewashing trees in spring?

So, most often the basis for preparing solutions for whitewashing fruit trees is lime . In gardening it is used:

1. Garden whitewash.
2. Slaked lime (fluff).
3. Quicklime (boiling liquid).

It is important to dilute the lime correctly before use. We dilute garden whitewash according to the instructions on the package: pour 1 bag (1 kg) of whitewash into a bucket and add 1 liter of hot water, and then mix well.

In the reference manual, M. Zhmakin gives two recipes for preparing a solution for whitewashing trees: lime and milk.

To prepare a lime mortar, you will need 2.5 kg of lime, 500 g of copper sulfate, 200 g of wood glue or casein glue per 10 liters of water. All ingredients need to be mixed and stirred. It is also recommended to add 1-2 shovels of cow manure per 1 bucket to the solution. This recipe does not say what kind of lime is used: slaked or not. I think it’s still not extinguished.

Milk solution: 2-3 kg of freshly slaked lime, 500 g of copper sulfate, 2 liters of skim milk are combined in a 10-liter bucket of water and mixed. For better adhesion of the solution, you can add clay or mullein to it.

Recipe with quicklime and glue (source unknown). Dissolve 500 g of copper sulfate, 3 kg of quicklime, and 200 g of casein glue in 10 liters of water.

Recipe with clay (source: textbook “Fruit Growing”): take 3 kg of freshly slaked lime for 10 liters of water and add 2-3 kg of clay to give the solution viscosity. The mixture is mixed well and brought to a creamy consistency.

How to dilute quicklime?

Quicklime must be quenched before use. We watched how to do this in one of the videos, because we have never done this ourselves. A package of lime weighing 3 kg is poured into a bucket (metal or enameled) and filled with 8-10 liters of water and mixed. The lime will begin to “boil” and the bucket will heat up. You need to wait 40 minutes to an hour for the heating and extinguishing process to stop. As soon as the bucket has cooled, you can use lime for whitewashing, and also add various additives to it: vitriol, mullein, clay or glue, as stated in the recipes above.

The slaking method is sometimes indicated on the quicklime package, but if you are unlucky and the manufacturer did not give you information, here are two instructions from the packages:

• Pour lime into a clean enamel container and add the required amount of water. Wait until the lime is completely slaked (2-3 hours). It is important to take precautions and work using personal protective equipment.
• According to another instruction, you need to pour 3 kg of quicklime into a 10-liter metal bucket and fill it with 4 liters of water. Extinguishing time: 24 hours. Then the prepared lime dough is diluted with water until the desired consistency is obtained.

How to dilute slaked lime?

We look at the instructions on the packaging: 1 kg of slaked lime is poured with 2 liters of water. According to another recipe, slaked lime is mixed with water in a ratio of 1:1 or 1:2.

What kind of lime is suitable for whitewashing trees?

People have long realized that mountain limestone can be very useful on the farm. Previously, it was used primarily as a material for creating cement mortar; later, lime began to be used in agriculture. Lime can be slaked or quicklime. Each of them has its own purpose.

Quicklime is in demand in the construction industry . It is used in the production of plaster materials, slag concrete, sand-lime bricks, and paints. Quicklime is also included in some food products. Its task is to bind substances that cannot mix (for example, oil and water).

Slaked lime is produced by the interaction of quicklime and water. At the same time, the amount of water determines what kind of mixture will come out in the end:

• fluffy,
• lime dough,
• lime milk.

It is this lime that is used in agriculture. Slaked lime is added to the soil to reduce its acidity and to increase soil fertility. Another popular use is whitewashing trees .

What is added to tree whitening?

So, copper sulfate, wood glue, clay or mullein are usually added to whitewash for trees

• Copper sulfate is effective against insect pests and pathogens.
• Glue and clay increase the stickiness of the solution and promote better adhesion to the bark.
• One of the recipes recommends adding milk - it serves as an alternative to wood glue and is safer.
• We love watching videos on yuotube. One gardener advises adding 500 ml or 1 liter of water-based paint to 10 liters of lime mortar to make it stick better.

And for the second year now we have been adding copper sulfate and green soap to the solution with garden whitewash:

Whitewash trees with water-based paint

M. Zhmakin in the book “Preparing the site for spring” not only includes water emulsion in the list of means for whitewashing trees, but also recommends adding 5% copper sulfate or 10% iron sulfate to it. This improved composition will protect trees from pests.

On YouTube we also managed to find several videos where amateur gardeners show how they whitewash trees with water-based paint . In one of the videos, they advise adding 500 ml or 1 liter of water-based paint to 10 liters of lime mortar to make it stick better.

How to whitewash trees correctly

Who doesn’t love to take a walk in a beautiful garden, sit in its shade, admire the blooming apple and cherry trees, and enjoy the sweet gifts of fruit trees. But all this fragrant beauty requires close attention and painstaking care.

One of the rules for caring for fruit-bearing trees is painting their trunks. For some reason, modern gardeners do not all support this tradition, although these days, ready-to-use paint can be bought at any gardening store.

But many don’t even know why to do this and when. This article will tell you why you need to whiten the trunks and how to do this work.

Why are the trunks of fruit-bearing trees whitened?

Whitewashing of trees is carried out in late autumn (November) and early spring (March). Gardeners do this not for beauty. Bark is a protective barrier for trees: it protects them from environmental influences. Therefore, it is the material that is primarily exposed to temperature changes: it dries out, flakes, cracks from the heat, freezes in the cold, and is damaged by bark beetles.

If it is not strengthened and taken care of, the wood becomes exposed and begins to deteriorate and rot. This greatly weakens the plants, which ultimately leads to their death. What does the whitewash layer protect against?

1. White color has reflective properties, so it does not allow the sun's rays to overheat and burn the shell of the plant and its branches.
2. Autumn whitewashing protects the trunk shell in winter from the formation of ice during the period of alternating thaws and frosts.
3. The smell of lime repels animals gnawing on the bark of the trunk.
4. A layer of white will protect the plant from insect pests crawling out of the soil and destroy those that have hidden in the cracks of the shell for the winter.

It is obvious that whitewashing plays the role of strong protection of the plant from external destructive factors.

After drying, the lime layer will become more resistant to precipitation; some gardeners sometimes even add glue to the solution to make the paint more moisture-resistant.

Four stages of whitewashing

Stage one: manual cleaning of branches and trunks

You will need cloth gardening gloves to complete this step. Under no circumstances should metal brushes or scrapers be used to clean bark. These tools will only damage it further, causing destruction instead of cleaning.

You can use a sharp sliver to clean cracks. It is necessary to remove wintering pests and carriers of tree diseases, and clear the trunk and lower branches of overgrown lichen and moss. All this must be burned.

Stage two: disinfectant treatment of bark

For disinfection, use 0.3 kg of copper sulfate powder diluted in 10 liters of water,

or iron sulfate (0.6 kg per 10 liters of water) You can use other copper-containing compounds, for example, “HOM”, “OXY-HOM”, “ABIGA-PIK”.

Spray the trunk and branches in such a way that the disinfectant composition does not flow down in streams. Usually a finely dispersed method , in which tiny drops of a disinfectant composition envelop the tree trunk, settling evenly on it. Such disinfection cannot be done often: the accumulated metal will adversely affect the condition of the plant.

There is another version of the disinfection solution, prepared from 2 kg of ash and a piece of laundry soap, which are diluted in 10 liters of hot water. This composition, when warm, is applied with a rag or a bunch of grass to the standard. Ash is a disinfectant for the plant and feeds it at the same time.

Stage three: sealing cracks in the bark

For this, special putties are used, which can be found in gardening stores or prepared independently. Here are some recipes:

1. The mash is prepared from pure clay or mixed with lime, copper sulfate and manure. Dilute the mixture with water until the consistency of sour cream.
2. You can prepare garden varnish yourself. To do this, melt 100 g of rosin and 200 g of real beeswax in turn; then they are mixed, 100 g of melted fat is added, poured into a container with cold water; taken out of the water and rolled into a ball. This putty can be stored for a very long time, slightly warming it up before application to ensure elasticity.
3. “RANNET” putty already contains copper sulfate, so additional disinfection is not required. This paste perfectly treats wounds on wood; it can also be used to treat cut areas. Ready-made paste is available for sale.

Flowers are also susceptible to pests, and lavender is no exception. Read about insect pests of lavender in this article.

Most often, greenhouse thrips attacks plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplants. Read about measures to combat this pest at https://stopvreditel.ru/rastenij/selxoz/teplichnyj-trips.html link.

Preparation of whitewash solution

Let's take a look at several recipes for preparing whitewash.

The first recipe. Take:

• 1 kg of cow manure, slaked lime;
• 200 g of copper sulfate powder.

Dilute in 8 liters of water.

• 1 kg of fatty clay, cow dung;
• 2 kg of slaked lime;
• 250 g of copper sulfate powder.

Dilute in 10 liters of water.

• 2 kg slaked lime,
• 400 g copper sulfate powder,
• 400 g casein glue.

Dilute in 10 liters of water.

To avoid burning the wood shell, the proportions of the ingredients must be strictly observed. For young seedlings, dilute the mixture in double the volume of water (20 liters).

When diluting the composition, you should achieve the consistency of sour cream without lumps (pours easily, but not too liquid). Before use, the finished mixture must be kept for 2–3 hours.

All recipes are suitable for fruit-bearing trees, and a non-fruit-bearing garden can be treated with white acrylic paint. This coating can withstand all precipitation and does not require repainting.

How to dilute lime for whitewashing trees - a guide

Lime is a very popular material used to protect trees. Whitewashing should be done to protect the bark. The entire whitewashing process can be divided into 4 stages:

• barrel cleaning;
• bark disinfection;
• cover up wounds;
• whitewashing of trees.

Stage 1 - cleaning the barrel

Most mature trunks have lichens and mosses. The bark is cracked and peeling. To remove all this, cleaning is needed. You can use special devices or make do with improvised means.

Home remedies for cleaning include cloth gloves and a homemade washcloth. The washcloth is made from plastic twine, which is rolled into several layers.

It is recommended to clean the barrel in wet weather. Also use a wooden knife to work out all the cracks and indentations, so you can help the trunk without first injuring it.

In addition, do not forget to take any oilcloth or fabric to spread in front of the tree. Remember that lichens, moss, the contents of cracks and the bark itself will fall on it. When you finish cleaning, take everything that fell away and burn it.

Stage 2 - bark disinfection

At this stage, you need to disinfect the entire cleaned surface. Also don't forget about cracks and wounds. Why do all this need to be done?

1. Such work helps get rid of pathogens, as well as various pests.
2. This helps disinfect any new injuries you may have accidentally caused to the tree while cleaning the trunks.

Disinfectants and mixtures

Ash lye

You need to thoroughly mix 2-3 kilograms of sifted ash in 10 liters of water. Bring all this to a boil and wait until it cools down. The ash liquor is all the liquid that is above the sediment. The proportion for spraying branches and trunks is 1:1 or 1:2.

Ash infusion

You need to thoroughly mix 2-3 kilograms of sifted ash in 10 liters of hot water. Also add 40-70 g of laundry soap to create a sticking effect. It is recommended to wash branches and trunks at a good temperature of the liquid - +35 degrees and above.

Iron sulfate solution

Iron sulfate is used in a concentration of 3-5% or 6-8%. You need to dilute 300-500 g of iron sulfate for 3-5% or 600-800 g for 6-8% in 10 liters of water.

Copper-containing products

Oksikhom - concentration 20 g per 10 liters of water; Hom - concentration 35-40 g per 10 liters of water; Borodsky mixture - add 450 g of quicklime and 300 g of copper sulfate to 10 liters of solution.

See how to save a tree trunk:

Stage 3 - cover up the wounds

After disinfection, each wound on a branch or trunk must be covered with a special ointment.

Means for closing wounds

In specialized stores you can buy garden pitch, biomasks, pastes, clay mash and many other means for covering wounds. There are also folk remedies.

Garden var

Most often used to quickly heal and protect the tree from drying out. Protects the tree from infection and precipitation.

Garden putties "BlagoSad" and "RanNet"

Pastes are very popular as they heal wood wounds and also disinfect it. They have a fairly useful composition and are also able to stay on the trunk for a long time.

Stage 4 - whitewashing trees

To whitewash trees, you need to prepare special tools to make the job much faster and easier. In addition, we must not forget that whitewashing trees should only occur in dry weather. This way it can dry quickly and become much more resistant to precipitation.

How can you whiten?

Loofah brushes. Very often used for whitewashing large types of trees. Summer residents buy artificial brushes, either paint brushes or paint brushes. These brushes are very convenient; they are able to whiten all smooth and rough surfaces of trunks well and quickly.

Flute brush. Very good for young trees. Such a brush can go through difficult places, and the consumption of whitewash will be significantly less.

Paint roller. It copes well with uneven surfaces, the speed of whitewashing increases quite significantly and you have to spend less effort.

Whitewashing a greenhouse with lime

Not only the cellar, but also the greenhouse is whitewashed with lime, and this can be done both outside and inside.

Why whitewash the greenhouse

In a greenhouse, painting with lime helps to cope with two problems:

1. As in the cellar, fungi and pathogenic bacteria accumulate on the walls of the greenhouse, harmful insects hide, and mold forms. At the end of the gardening season, be sure to wash all surfaces with soap and water to get rid of pathogens. To enhance the disinfecting properties of the solution, add copper sulfate to it. After washing and drying, paint all wooden parts with bleach, which has powerful antiseptic properties. It will protect the structure from rotting and fungi.
2. On hot summer days, even the most heat-loving plants suffer from excessively high temperatures in the greenhouse. Neither draft nor watering help reduce it. Summer residents are trying to save plants from overheating in various ways, one of which is lime. Apply a layer of lime to the walls of the greenhouse and the white color will begin to reflect the sun's rays. As a result, the temperature inside the structure will decrease.

How to dilute lime for whitewashing a greenhouse

The composition of the lime mortar depends on the purpose of whitewashing.

After harvesting, the greenhouse must be cleaned not only of plant debris, but also of pests and pathogenic microorganisms. To do this, after cleaning and washing, treat all wooden surfaces with the following solution:

1. Pour 400 g of bleach into a metal bucket and add 10 liters of water.
2. Leave the solution for about 4 hours.
3. Whitewash all wood surfaces of the greenhouse. Pay special attention to joints, joints, cracks, etc. – places where pathogens and insect larvae most often hide.

To protect the greenhouse from the scorching sun, take about 1-1.5 kg of slaked lime (fluff) and dilute it in 10 liters of water. After extinguishing, strain the solution and spray the outside of the greenhouse with a spray bottle. This method has one significant drawback: after each rain, the lime ends up not on the walls, but on the ground. As a result, the soil gradually becomes alkalized, and the protective layer must be constantly reapplied.

These problems can be avoided if the inside of the greenhouse is whitewashed with lime. However, this must be done in the spring, before planting. This way the lime will last longer on the walls, and the acid-base balance of the soil will not be disturbed.

There are other ways to shade a greenhouse from the scorching rays of the sun:

• How and with what to shade polycarbonate from the sun - advice from tomato growers

  The sun is good, but a lot of sun is bad. How to protect a greenhouse and its contents from scorching sun rays?

Why whiten trees in spring?

Spring whitewashing of trees growing in the garden protects them from some adverse environmental influences. For example, from bright spring sun rays, from low temperatures and from harmful insects living in the soil. In this regard, experts advise whitewashing trees a couple of times a year.

Whitened apple and cherry trees can withstand wintering relatively easily. Whitewashing is carried out in the fall, after there are no leaves left on the trees. However, you must be in time before frost. This will provide protection to the plants in spring from harmful insects and the scorching rays of the sun.

How to dilute lime for whitewashing trees

The most common one is prepared from slaked lime, copper sulfate and glue. The last component acts as a fixative and instead of it you can use clay or laundry soap. Then the solution will not wash off after the first rain. It is advisable to use casein glue - it holds better. Copper sulfate has an antiseptic effect. It is permissible to use another fungicide: Bordeaux mixture, iron sulfate, “Hom”, etc.

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The lime must be slaked 2 hours before whitewashing (mix with water 1 to 1 to obtain fluff, which is then diluted with water). During the reaction, the heating temperature reaches 150 ° C, so take precautions (wear protective gloves, goggles, use a wooden spatula with a long handle or stick to mix).

Slaked lime is already available for sale, but freshly slaked lime will protect against diseases and pests better. In any case, to prepare the working solution, 2.5 kg of slaked lime, 300 g of copper sulfate (previously diluted in warm water) and several tablespoons of glue or flour paste are diluted in 10 liters of water. When using clay, you will need 1 kg, and 10 tablespoons of laundry soap in the form of shavings. Some recommend adding fresh mullein as an astringent and antiseptic: 1-2 shovels per 10 liters of water.

You can introduce other components (chalk - as an alternative to lime, take whey or milk - this increases the tenacity of the solution, prolonging its service life, suppresses pathogenic microflora, use carboxylic acid - it is relevant for autumn whitewashing to protect against rodents) and change the proportions.

Options for whitewash solution per 10 liters of water:

2.5 kg of slaked lime, 200 g of glue and 500 g of copper sulfate;

From 2 to 2.5 kg of lime, 1 kg of clay, 300 g of copper sulfate;

2.5 kg of chalk + 10 tablespoons of flour paste;

2 kg of chalk, 100 g of casein glue and 400 g of copper sulfate;

2 kg of lime, 1-2 shovels of manure, 500 g of iron sulfate, half a bar of laundry soap and 1 tablespoon of carboxylic acid.

In 9 liters of water and 1 liter of whey or milk we dilute 2-2.5 kg of chalk, 100 ml of liquid green soap and 1 kg of clay;

Take 1 kg of lime and manure per 8 liters of water, add 200 g of copper sulfate.

Prepare the solution to a medium consistency, similar to rich sour cream. As a fixing agent, give preference to natural materials: mullein, clay. Glue can harm the tree by clogging tissue. Young trees are sensitive, so to prepare a solution for the same volume of water, take half the dose of the remaining necessary components. Also, gentle solutions without lime and special paints are recommended for whitewashing them. Lime mortar remains inexpensive and the most effective (in terms of protection against fungi, infections, and pests).

Recipes for lime-based whitewashing compositions

The garden whitewash mixture contains the following ingredients:

• 2.5 kg of slaked lime (fluff);
• 10 liters of water;
• a few spoons of flour paste.

Instead of paste, you can use other ingredients: clay (1 kg), soap (10 tablespoons of shavings), fresh mullein (0.8-1 kg).

Lime should be taken in lumps and slaked 2 hours before whitewashing. Freshly slaked lime works best in controlling pests, lichens and fungi.

Whitewashing trees with lime and copper sulfate has worked well. To prepare a suitable mixture you should take:

• 2 kg of slaked lime (fluff);
• 300 g of copper sulfate;
• 10 liters of water.

You need to mix the ingredients so that you end up with a homogeneous mass with the consistency of thick sour cream.

• How to whiten trees in the garden in autumn

  Step-by-step instructions for whitewashing trees in the garden: everything you need to know to carry out the procedure correctly.

Which trees cannot be whitewashed with lime?

Can all trees be whitewashed? Many gardeners believe that young plants should not be treated in this way, arguing that whitewashing will only harm them: it can burn the bark and prevent the trunk from “breathing” and growing in width. However, this is not quite true.

The bark of young trees is much thinner and more delicate than that of adult crops. This means that it may suffer more during the winter. But whitewashing with lime can also create certain problems. What to do in such a situation?

There are two solutions at once: firstly, you can halve the amount of lime in the whitewash solution, and secondly, the trees can be whitened with water-based or acrylic paint. Still, sunburn and frost damage will damage the young tree much more than whitewashing.

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Antiseptics for treatment

Antiseptics are also used to treat wood from rot. There are several groups of such substances. However, they cannot be used for boards that will form a bed. All these substances are unsafe for humans.

The options may be the following:

1. Water-soluble antiseptics protect wood well, but are quickly washed out. In addition, given the contact of wooden boards with the ground, harmful substances will enter the soil, and then into the plants themselves. So it is better not to use water-soluble antiseptics. This group includes sodium and ammonium silicofluorides, sodium fluorides and imported products, which include potassium borax, sodium, chlorine, zinc, etc.
2. If you are processing boards for flower beds and beds, it is better not to use products in the form of pastes.

Treating the beds with a special compound

Treating wood with a special antiseptic

How to treat boards for beds is a pressing question for gardeners. After all, boards quickly rot and collapse.

Source of the article: https://svoizabor.ru/sad/chem-obrabotat-doski-dlya-gryadok.html

Useful tips from experienced summer residents

Recommendations from experienced summer residents will not be amiss. How should the procedure of whitewashing trees be carried out and with what:

1. A wide and soft brush can be an excellent tool for this work.
2. Each summer resident chooses the height of treatment of the tree trunk individually. As a rule, it will depend on the type of crop and its age. As a rule, the height is 2 meters for mature trees. On a young tree, the trunk is colored but the lower branches
3. The layer covering the bark should be no more than 3 mm thick. This thickness is the most optimal. After the tree trunk has completely dried, it will not crack or fall off.
4. The application color must be completely white. It should not be gray or dark. Without the whitewashing procedure, the tree will be susceptible to sunburn and frostbite. In the daytime at the end of February, the sun begins to warm up the trunk so much that the tree wakes up from winter and sap begins to flow in it. New frosts begin to freeze the juices that have settled to rise. As a result, the tissues begin to tear and frost holes are obtained - elongated tears on the trunks.
5. The bright, white color, which begins to repel the sun's rays, does not allow the tree trunk to begin waking up and warming up ahead of schedule. Without the necessary protection, the bark simply begins to become rough, becomes rough, flakes and cracks. These injuries after infection and insect pests result in a significant decrease in the immune properties of the plant, diseases, and even premature death.

A little note!
Young trees should not be whitewashed. This work must begin when the smooth bark of the trunk begins to become covered with plates and cracks. The procedure of whitewashing trees is not a decorative event. This is a preventative measure to protect the crops that you grow yourself! Plants will respond to these procedures with a healthy appearance and condition. They will be able to produce a good, abundant harvest.

Folk remedies for wood processing

Many people think about how to treat boards to prevent rot. At the same time, the products must be completely safe for humans, because... If greens and vegetables are grown in the beds, then harmful substances can get into them, and the person will then be poisoned. Folk remedies are environmentally friendly, which is considered an advantage over synthetic ones. In addition, they do not cause an allergic reaction. Folk remedies are mostly very cheap. People who are looking for how to treat boards for garden beds do not even know that sunflower oil and propolis can cope with this task perfectly.

Wooden beds treated with natural oil

Sometimes they also use wax to which propolis and oil are added. But this method does not always help, although it is completely safe. This treatment will not be enough for a long time, so you will have to carry out the procedure again.

It is best not to mix the components, but to use them separately. You can use a solution of copper sulfate. It is also suitable for impregnating wood. It is best to buy a ready-made solution and then mix it thoroughly.

Then you need to apply the impregnation with a soft cloth or sponge to the wood, which has previously been dried. You can also process boards for beds differently. For example, fresh logs should be placed vertically on a trestle so that the top points down. Next, you need to attach a polyethylene bag to the butt, which is completely sealed. It contains a solution of copper sulfate. You can also just take a container with the solution.

The rag on top should be saturated with this liquid, and it will come into contact with the log. After some time, the solution will fill the fibers of the log and appear at the bottom end. This occurs due to gravity and the movement of sap within the tree. This option is considered ideal for round logs. The effectiveness of the method is high and it is quite economical. If you soak the wood thoroughly, it will last a long time. But this method also has its drawback - a long drying process.

The wood must be thoroughly dried in the open air, and the sun's rays should not fall on its surface. It is best to build a special canopy for these purposes. The wood can dry out for a week, a month or more, but in any case, the longer you wait, the better the quality of the wood will be.

You can treat boards for beds using hot bitumen. This method is also effective, and the boards will not rot. However, it must be borne in mind that this method is not entirely safe. Bitumen releases harmful substances when heated, so it cannot always be used.

Car oil also helps prevent boards from rotting. However, such a substance cannot exactly be called safe and environmentally friendly. But on the other hand, the oil will protect against mold, bark beetles and rot. Another disadvantage is that the wood is not protected from fire.

Processed wood planks

You can also use dry steam. This method is considered classic. It completely destroys fungal microorganisms, but complete sterilization is necessary. This can be achieved by heating the board over its entire thickness to 70°C. The procedure lasts 3-4 hours with a temperature of 71°C. To do this you will need a special drying chamber.