It has been some time since I came to this forum. It has totally changed and I am trying to learn my way around. Nice, Someone has really done a great job here.
I once had a recipe for preparing natural gourds so that they would last a lot longer. I can't find it. Does anyone have it and would you post a copy of it here?
We have plastic gourds and a martin house. When we first started we used natural gourds and replaced them with plastic and they broke. We noticed that as long as natural gourds were hanging the martins would choose them first. My husband wants to put up another pole and plans to use natural gourds on it.
A fungicide called "Copper sulfate" is often recommended to keep the gourds from decaying. It comes in a powdery form, locally it is available at a feed store, that sells chemicals for insects, etc..It can be purchased in small amounts, like 1 lb, etc.
If you use copper sulfate, mix it with water, and soak the gourds in it for 5 to 15 minutes, and then let the gourds dry real well..I use about a pound in 10 gallons of water. Someone else may know the mixture required to be effective, it is posted in some places..
There's also a link on the PMCA "link page" to "Chuck Abare's" purple martin page that has information on turning natural gourds into purple martin houses. The steps can be varied and improved on, but this page has lots of good information.
Thanks to all of you who replied. I went to bed thinking that I wasn't going to find out. I had told my husband that I knew just the place to get this info. Thanks to you, I was right. I had remembered this was the most friendly forum and had members that had been eager to help me, in the past. I see you haven't changed that part of the forum. Wonderful, wonderful.
The recipe that I had was useing "copper suflate". I'm going to tell him about the one for root killer, also.
I have to go now to look at the sites you mentioned.
the 77 root killer you can purchase from wally world (wal-mart) is in 1 # containers and is to be mixed with 5 gal. water to make a fine copper sulfate for natural gourds. soak for about 30 min. and hang to dry.I am about 30 min.s from Chuck Abare and I have learned tons of stuff from him. By all means visit him. you will be happy you did.
You're back posting again. You're "the glue" that holds all this together? Al
I had remembered this was the most friendly forum and had members that had been eager to help me, in the past. I see you haven't changed that part of the forum. Wonderful, wonderful. 