Originally posted by Martin H
View Post
I fear it does not make a difference if you change the location. Where it rains, the mallow rust comes at its heels.
The rust is the reason why my neighbors not grow them anymore. I am nearly the only one who still has hollyhocks in the garden. There is one variety of hollyhocks who are not so much susceptive for the rust, the alcea ficifolia. They get it too, only very much milder than alcea rosea. I have the latter too in my garden but a lot of the new hybrid type too. I treat them all with brimstone.
I buy the cheap brimstone powder because the fungus treatment from the garden center I find too expensive. 1 Kilo pure brimstone costs 8 Euros, approx. 7 GBP. I throw it allover the plant and the soil. It looks a bit strange but it works. The powder is not water-soluble, therefore I have to do it this way instead of spraying. And as you can see on the pictures, they do not have noteworthy rust. A little bit but I keep it in check with the brimstone.
Maybe you know this already, but brimstone is not bad for the bees and not for the soil. At the contrary.
And it lasts forever. This 1 kilo I have already for over 4 years in use.
Good luck with your new garden.
Would be nice if more beautiful hollyhocks could be seen in other gardens too again.
Comment