ROOT 'SPIRALLING'
Plants, kept for too long in a pot, tend to go root "spiralling" or "balling".
Oliver Carter from Toowoomba claims that he has discovered a way to prevent this happening. He uses a copper compound added to the paint which he applies on the inside of the plant pots.
"This really does totally prevent root "spiralling" or "balling" and results in a very good root system," says Oliver.
With the help of Peter Brauns of Gatton College and Ian Ingleton from Laidley, an improved recipe for mixing the paint is as follows:
Ingredients for 1 litre of mix
100 gram Kocide
600 ml white acrylite full gloss paint
250 ml water
6 ml detergent
Method
Put Kocide, 125 ml water and detergent into container and mix.
Use remaining water to rinse paint measuring container, then add this to the main mix and mix thoroughly.
Paint can be used as a spray or applied with a brush.
"I paint nearly all my pots, thousands of them. Gatton College use tens of thousands of painted tubes and it works every time," Oliver added.
DATE: July 1994
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