I make my own yogurt which is very easy to do. I also let it drain until it is thicker even than Greek yogurt. The result is using 2 gals of whole milk results in about 1 gal of yogurt and 1 gal of whey. One gal of whey would be plenty for me to spray most of my garden plants.
I'm in a country where no cheese is made. But I'm making yoghurt. Not draining it. So you are saying if I make a gallon of yoghurt I can drain half a gallon of whey? How much whey would I need for a single tree? Can I make more whey in another way?
@@BertSonnenschein if you boil milk with a little vinegar in it, you get ricotta cheese and a lot of whey. Drain it and use it. Stephan said that you is effective even at 4 percent so I'd start with 50-50.
GREAT trick this whey spray. My wife makes home cheese so home whey as well. Enough for my small garden. One minor correction : cheese is more or less 50% protein + 50% fat + lactic acid + minerals + residual lactose. Whey contains little fat but a lot of protein and a lot of lactose and lactic acid (especially in acid whey). More than half the milk protein remains in the whey. Whey spray adds lactose, a sugar that lactic acid bacteria love (and convert into lactic acid) but that fungies are not so keen on. Bacteria outgrow the fungies, the not so fun guys.
Very informative! I see someone in the comments had way more fun than just weigh-ing his whey. I haven't tried it but getting a few little fruit trees started and my squash family crops always get covered with powdery mildew so whey it is! Or yogurt. Or whey protein powder if I can't find real whey close by. Or time for another cheese making experiment. Long time since I tried that and never got consistent results but now I can even put the "wa-ste" to work it may be time to have another go at it!
Thank you for passing this information on, you really do care about people & their health! Will give this a try on "a plant" since we do not have a dairy cow yet, only commercial yogurt to drain the whey from. Wishing you great health as well Stephan, from B.C.
I've been making milk kefir for a while now. Sometimes I make kefir cheese and have a bunch of whey left over. Now I know what I can do with it! Thank you.
Milk or whey from making cheese is an amazing organic fertilizer to build natural fertility! In your orchard, pasture and garden it is a completely natural, holistic and organic option. When your goats or cow is giving you an overabundant supply of milk this is one great way to put it to use without wasting it. Take care Stefan.
I have a small garden in my back yard, and every year I struggle with that nasty white fungus. Would it be ok to spray my roses with milk then? Will that kill it.
@@agb0012000 Powdery mildew ? Powdery mildew is a fungus and it will thrive when the suitable weather condition will be there. Many garden plants develop mildew which damages the plant. You have to try, and I hope you get a good roses!
Where do you get your whey? Also im curious is it possible to mKe some whey in the same way as making lacto bacillus with rice and milk. I have seen this techniwue used with some other bacterial slurry that was put on peaches and it stopped peach leaf curl with no chemicals just microbes. Now imcurious if compost tea or some kind of imo slurry works the same as the whey? Have you used any other bacteria soup recipes for this.
If you can make a Lactobacillus slurry from rice and milk, then yes, I would say that would work the same. Try it and let us know! I looked up the most common bacteria in whey, and found a paper (www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002008000233) that cited the following as present (in the abstract): Streptococcus thermophilus CRL 804, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus CRL 454 and L. acidophilus CRL 636.
Hi Stefan, I made some cottage cheese the other day with sour milk just so that I could spray my young apple tree with the whey. It had recently developed a fluffy, white infestation. After the 2nd application it's all gone. Thank you for such an excellent tip. I live in the highveld of South Africa where people typically don't grow apple trees. We get most of our apples from the Western Cape, mostly pesticide sprayed etc. I planted an apple tree as I heard that there's nothing quite like a home grown apple. Gotta wait a couple of years, but definitely looking forward to the experience.
This was 'way' more interesting than I thought it would be (not that U make boring vids Stefan LOL). I 'weigh' this vid as VERY interesting! By faaaaar the better 'way' to spray. I'd say...the way to spray is 'whey,' as hey...we 'weigh' results by the less we damage nature. We need it (nature)...why abuse it? Sometimes, you are VERY fast...have you noticed? How cute...you and your contraption spraying and 'Beau' licking up your path. This was both informative and fun. Thanks for taking us along with this teaching. Health and God's blessing on you n' yours! Whey works soOOoo well...why not 'stick' with it? LOL!
Really enjoyed your video on whey, makes a lot of sense. My grandfather would spray raw milk, natural yogurt, buttermilk (with water) on his fruit trees and grape vines so suppress mildew and other fungus. Be well!
I just learned about using whole unpasteurized milk for powdery mildew and now this revelation!! I love all your tips. Thank you! A question though, I live in the Pacific Northwest. We have more rainy days in a row than sun. I was so excited to hear you say a couple spray applications of whey per season is enough. Then I read your response to a question about applying before every rain. Did I miss something? Which is it? Every time before a rain? Or on a few sunny days during the season? Thanks ever so much for clarifying. Gonna make some yogurt so I can have some whey.
Thank you so much for this. I've had blight issues with my tomatoes and native carnation flowers for a few years now. I've heard of watering or spraying with "milk water", but l somehow presumed it had to do with calcium. Now it actually makes sense enough to put in the effort and try it.
Fantastic info...whatta ya think about using whey on cucumbers, tomatoes, etc? I already make a vermicompost tea, could I (really should I) add whey to that?
Hi, I have tried a long time ago but it was made by the recipe. Mix rice starch with water and let it ferment after a week or so add same amount of milk then let it ferment until the cheese stiffens up. I have used it in pollytunnel for a tomato crop because I've had problems with diseases. Works the best. Same as stinging nettle brew 👍 love the content, great work to spread that knowledge around .
WOW!!!! thankyou for this info. So, should I spray/or use hudson fogger on my squash and cucumber and strawberry plant leaves with whey in order to prevent / keep powdery mildew away??this is great info. And I wonder if the sticky stuff attracts ants?
@Stefan Sobkowiak Fantastic, Im going to get 10 gallons today...few questions... #1. can I use this tomorrow morning even though theres no rain till at least saturday or sunday? #2. The new leaves are forming almost daily on the squash etc..is it wise to spray weekly? #3. if so, should I dilute it? #4. if the PH is brought to around 6 using dolomite lime..., I understand it's best for plant leaves and if the PH is 4.5 - 5, is that best for grass? #5. any idea an approximate amount of dolomitic lime to use for a 5 gallon pail of 100% liquid whey? Thank you again
Your channel is very addictive. Yesterday I went and volunteered to help prune the local garden club orchard. They happily took my name and said they'd give me a call in late March.😊
Wonderful! I’m Developing and homestead orchard. Is there additional information about this method? We also use Neem oil. Any problems using both whey and Neem oil you’re familiar with?
I just sprayed a 50/50 sweet whey/water cover on my 2 Gala apple trees. I sure hope this works. I'm surrounded by cedar apple rust in every direction. Started with chemicals, but just didn't feel good about it and the results were mixed. Thankfully I found this video and someone that makes cheese in my town here in East Tennessee! Thanks for the info.
Thank you, once again learning more and more. I'm very excited as I get some whey tomorrow and can't wait to try it out, not only on my trees but my grape vines as well.
As mentioned last fall during my visit at your orchard, I'll use whey my way this summer in the vineyard. I'll let you know how it goes. Il faut juste que je me trouve une fromagerie fiable pour me fournir. Si ça ne fonctionne pas, je commencerai à faire mon fromage si il faut!
If you cannot find a cheese maker, perhaps make yogurt/Crème Fraîche or a simple cheese at home and use the resulting whey on one tree as an experiment? Making small batches of cheese is easy and relatively inexpensive.
Funny and informative video as always 😁 I love this approach, my honeysuckle always succumb to powdery mildew, and I'm only ever using organic methods on my allotments and garden.. thinking of making a small batch of mozerella and using that whey. Thankyou👍💚
Thanks for another great video! This is the first time I’ve heard of whey as a fungicide. If I can find some I will give it a try. I have black spot on my roses, c.a.r., and frogseye leaf spot on my apples.
Great Info Stefan. I am in the process of =starting a permaculture orchard in Eastern Ontario and am wondering if spraying whey on the berry bushes and under growth vegetables would be alright as well? I assume it is but just wanted to hear your thoughts on that.
If you want to just spray for foliar fertilizer sure. It could help with any disease as well. Be aware there has been one undocumented account of someone who was sensitive to lactose eating a fruit with it on. I would be sure to stop the spray a month or more before harvest of anything that would be eaten raw.
@@StefanSobkowiak I was thinking of the over spray when spraying the larger fruit trees as there is smaller bushes and vegetables planted under them. But good to know that for the most part it would be ok.
Thank u very Much. i was trying neem with non chemical dish soap and water. idk. the oder of Neem is really difficult to handle to me and Neem is not cost effective at all.
Hello, Stefan! I'm so thankful for your knowledge. Thank you very much for offering so much skill for growing your own food. I have a question about the whey you use. Is the cows that the whey comes from raised with organic means? I'm sure you know the dangers of using/drinking cow milk from a cow that eats corn/feed that's sprayed with glyphosate. Just thought it deserves a mention. So many have no clue conventional food has so much poison in it.
@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you for the reply! I've been soaking up all your knowledge with plans to start my permaculture food forrest in northeast Texas. I'm in the middle of the land acquisition now. I can't wait to use all your insight and save so much time with getting right to what's tried and true. ❤️
If you don't make cheese how can you make whey? Is their a formula? Can I use whey that you can buy in the store for weight gain in powder form? If so what ratio? Love the channel! I have 5 apple trees which I grew rootstock for 4 years and recently did the modified cleft graft on all of them with Honeycrisp Scion
I just got 10 gallons of whey from my local creamery. I’m really hoping that it prevents or reduces my cedar apple rust this year. There are so many cedar trees on all sides of me in town just full of cedar apple rust.
Whoa, you may have just solved a mystery for me. My son is very allergic to milk protein and reacts badly to whey. Occasionally he has had a severe allergic reaction and we haven't been able to pinpoint what he reacted to because he hadn't eaten any of his known allergins but had eaten fruit and veggies he normally is fine with. I don't know if this is the reason for his reactions but this is a totally new potential source of allergins that we need to watch out for. So glad our own mini orchard is producing more and more each year to avoid this problem.
so don't spray it on the flowers . They didn't like it but more are coming. Leaves look great. I found a local cheese maker he was happy to give me the Whey.
Hi Stefan, Can you freeze whey when it is available in Autumn from our local dairy farm and then thaw it to spray later during the season? Thanks for the video.
What's the minimum number of times you'd recommend? And I'd imagine we'd want to avoid spraying during flowering, so as not to mess with the pollination & pollinators?
It’s based on the number of spring rains until the primary infection season for scab ends, about 2 months here. So if one rain per week, then 8 times, if 3 rains then 3. You should find when the primary infection season lasts from your extension service.
@@StefanSobkowiakgreat info, thanks - we're about the same climate as you, so we will use that as a rule of thumb, and see how it goes. Now... to beg the local cheesemakers for some whey...
This is so hopeful! Stefan, I've heard you say that you grow pears. I have two that suffer from "stony pit" and I was wondering if whey would help with that. Thanks; I'm so appreciative of all the information that you share!
QUESTION: For someone who only has a few trees or cannot get whey, would it be just as effective to use whole milk (or 2% or skim) instead of whey? After all, it would still have all the constituents of whey PLUS the fat, right? This also reminds me of when I've seen videos of orchardists using milk to disinfect their pruning tools in between trees. Same principle?
Huh I never heard of using milk to disinfect pruning tools. Love the idea, thanks. Problem with any milk or skim milk from a store is it’s pasteurized to KILL the bacteria. It will do something but it can’t grow on the leaf. Best to use raw. Maybe cultured yogurt diluted would work since it has live bacteria culture.
You can make whey from milk yourself .warm the milk as your finger can bear ,get a cup kefir or buttermilk mix with into milk , let it mature 2 days. Then put the sour milk on heat let it bubble and pick out all the curd with strainer,,there you have a great cottage cheese and whey!!
I'M Hear it kills bugs because they can't handle the milk in their stomach if they absorb it. And Also that to much can cause other types of bacteria to grow on your plants. But I will try again because there's rain in the forecast for the next 2 days. Thank you
U just taught me sumn, then one of commenters taught me about usn it in ur compost pile. Iv been takn whey protien for yrs, gota big jug on my counter, never considered it for gardening. Far out man!
Each spray lasts the whole season on the leaves that we’re out when you spray. Any new leaves need a spray before the next rain. So if you get 4 spring rains until the tree stops actively growing then use 4, each applied 1-2 days before the rain. Your extension service should have an alert service to notify you when to apply for fungal diseases.
@@StefanSobkowiak thank you, that helps alot. Now i just need to figure out what Ontario uses for an alert service because I don't think we have extension offices.
Wow , I've watched all your videos now. What a great education I have from you . I have 25 varied fruit trees. I have peach tree borer. I hang fly strips for a week or two just before flowering and then again at the end of summer and I have saved my trees . They are vigorous and heathy. I had worms in my cherry tree and hung the fly strips and this year not one worm. I checked everyone before eating. I also put small white rocks painted bright red around my strawberries in the weeks just before ripening and fooled the crows. I didn't lose one berry to birds and you can see where the paint has been stripped off the rocks. Now I have persimmon trees. I was thinking of hanging those small ornamental pumpkins in the weeks before the fruit ripen. I dont' have room under my trees for confuser plants because the trees provide shade for my 100 + Hydrangeas but maybe large pots of herbs like sage placed on the paths thru the trees. I;m planning on use Whey as well. I have the containers with molasses and the cards with red on them. You are my gardening hero!!!
I only have 2 apple trees and I can't get a decent apple. Plum curculio, apple rust fly, fireblight, codling moth you name it. I'd love to try whey. Do I need to add anything other than whey to a little 5 gallon sprayer? Does it need to be liquid whey or can I mix up whey powder?
I've heard that you can also get milk at the store (raw or pasteurized--but not ultra pasteurized) make a quick cottage cheese (lots of videos on line) and when draining, collect the liquid, which is whey. With just two trees, one gallon of milk should be ample. This is my plan, anyway!
So I discovered the liquid that separates in my yogurt is whey. I sprayed a couple of trees with 1tablespoon of whey to 1 cup of water. I'm testing it on my Pear trees that get Rust each year. My yogurt is organic which I'm happy to share with my trees.
I have not tried this on trees, but milk spray will prevent and even clear up black spot on roses and save rose gardens in the south...I am guessing that whey would be even more effective. I am going to try milk keifer (what I have) on the powdery mildew on my roses, then off to figure out how to spray it on my apple trees.
@@StefanSobkowiak thanks I saw that right at the end of your video looks like I jumped the gun. thanks tho I've never known what to do with my whey other than drink it.
I realize this video is 2 years old, but hey I only discovered how to make lactobacilli last year using rice wash water and adding it to milk to make a lactobacillus serum (and ending up with some delicious homemade “farmhouse cheese” as a by product.). This serum actually worked on my plants (not only trees) to prevent different kinds of mold and fungi on my annuals as well as perennial's. Whey has lactobacilli I presume? So it is basically competitive inhibition over the fungi? I need to find a local cheese maker and convince them not to throw out their whey and sell it to me instead!
Hey Roverino, Sounds like you were doing the KNF method of L.A.B. You said it did not seem effective on your fruit trees? Curious if you are doing the other inputs of the KNF maintenance formulas. KNF uses only 1:1000 L.A.B. which sounds pretty low. I'm giving it a go on my little backyard plot this year. So I a, curious what you think, if you don't mind. Also if you don' know what i'm talking about check out Chris Trump has a couple simple videos, or Drake at PureKNF offers much more free information. Thanks man, good luck this growing season ! Thanks Stefan for all the great information you provide. You're a wealth of knowledge! Thanks guys, good luck this growing season and God bless
@@PrintrBear Yes I only learned of KNF and Jadam in the last couple of years. LABs work great on trees, vegetables and herbs (but only two years experience so far). Well worth learning how to do it, and remember that less is more in nature. Yesterday I saw dense mats of mycelium growing through the 50 cubic yards of wood chips I had applied all around my trees and berry shrubs in the last couple of years. Much of the wood chip material I spread last year has already been turned to soil- (amazingly fast compared to the 5 to 6 years before). The goal is to have zero inputs and create all of my own fertility locally through the stuff I grow. I’m not an expert, but so far the Jadam stuff seems much easier to make and apply. The KNF stuff (especially the IMO) is more difficult to get right, and so far I have only made 2 good IMO cultures from my local forests. The Jadam leaf mold culture is fast and easy and will inoculate your compost and soil with indigenous microbes and fungi but make sure you have some organic matter on top of your soil so that they have something to eat. Get the Jadam book and follow the recipes there. The JWA really works well and is worth doing. For the base leaf mold cultures, I sometimes alternate using blackstrap molasses rather than potato/starch foods for the cultures. The worry is that you will make alcohol in the ferments which obviously I don’t want, so be careful to terminate culture at the right time, and only use enough sugar or starch to initiate the cultures (bacterial bloom), not to ferment too far. I bought an old microscope and am learning how to use it.
ok I live in central florida thier are no cheese makers here, where would i get Whey in a city in florida, can I order it online, I have a lime tree that has multiple black spots so I need to save the tree, help,thanks
You can buy a gallon (or whatever size) of milk that is either raw or just pasteurized--not ultra pasteurized, make cottage cheese, putting a cloth in a strainer and inside another bowl to collect the whey. Lots of videos on how to make cottage cheese.
I made cheese again today ..so I just went and wet my plants..lol..no actually I have 4 varieties of tomatoes but only my Amish paste leaves are curling..I haven't looked it back up but I remember a friend having this issue and I was thinking it was a fungus. I know it can be a deficiency as well but I went ahead and sprayed them with the way as well as other things that just needed a good boost any thoughts on this would be appreciated
Hi Stefan, my name is Gerald I’m from Hanmer Ontario oui je parle français. I bought 18 apple trees 12 years ago and since I have been watching your videos for the past 2 months I have learned so much from you that I should have been doing. Shoulda coulda woulda lol. And by the way you have a good sense of humour. I have a problem with bore worms at the trunks of my apple trees. I read to use pesticides but like you I don’t like using poison so I was using a small flathead screwdriver to crush them. Have you ever encountered this problem and if so what did you do about it. We need more people like you who enjoy and appreciate nature. I myself I appreciate dandelions for my friends the bumblebees. Une gros merci for all the good information you have learned and shared over the years.
Good morning . Do you also have a video on "flying" bugs on plum trees ? We had them last year when the tree was in full bloom (hoplocampe du prunier). Have a nice day !
I started using whey last year after watching. What I did not do is start before bud break. and had heavy cedar apple rust. . I have two questions after watching this again this year I notice you make the point that the whey is from cheese making. . If I make my own whey from raw milk and a little yogurt will it be as effective as the whey from cheese? I am guessing it would. Also the main reason I am using whey is for Cedar Apple Rust, do you think it will work on CAR since it is a fungus?
It's the bacteria that do the work. Any whey like product should work, whether from cheese or yogurt. Yes timing is key, basically apply before rains from before bud break until formed fruit. Better to have disease resistant cultivars however, but we have what we have.
Dear! What is its orientation to gummosis in citrus at various points on the trunk and some branches. It appeared a short time ago. I have applied Bordeaux mixture at 3%, after cleaning these areas, but with no practical results so far; thinking of using 10% Bordeaux. Grateful for the attention
Not familiar with gummosis in citrus, here it’s either an insect or a bacterial infection. Worth trying whey anyway but a good wood chip mulch all around under the tree and ideally some basalt rock dust should help boost the trees immune system.
Ready to go get me some whey. Not sure what to say maybe something like "Hay you know the stuff you guys throw away can I have some? A more serious question,does it do anything for aphids, catapilliers and the like. Thank you again for such informative and entertaining channel.
How often am I spraying with the Whey? Like I sprayed 2 weeks ago its been dry and hot since then. But today we had a small amount of rain should I have sprayed before? Are you spraying before each rain?
Hard to tell if anybody asked this question from watching on my phone. I will be a homestead style grower. I’m wondering if the whey from goat milk cheese could also be used? I’m thinking that it will be easier for me to find a nearby goat keeper than cow dairy farm.
I sprayed my apples trees this week just before a rainy cool period . I noticed that some of the apples already have scab. Is the Whey going to give some protection to the apples?
Yes it should keep the scab from growing, but the existing spots will not disappear. If it appears that fast it was from one or two rains before. Scab grows slow in the cooler spring weather and can grow fast in hot weather.
