Use of wood vinegar

an-introduction-to-wood-vinegar

This looks interesting, has anybody used it?

I have been spraying diluted wood vinegar on fruit trees and garlic to help avoid fungal diseases. It seems to have reduced the incidence of brown rot on the stone fruit, didn't stop garlic rust but did reduce the severity.

I've used it for garlic rust as well, mixed about 1:100. Same conclusion: active rust pustules (rustules?) remain but new leaves are free of disease. Hoping that the current crop continues growing for another month, as the rust arrived super early this year.

At about 1:200 I have been using it as a germination enhancer. I often sow all my nightshades at the same time (in the same flats so I can use a heat pad), but the tomatoes always come up first. Peppers and eggplants might lag by two weeks or more. If I water with the wood vinegar solution, that stimulates the slowpokes and gets them moving.

I also use it cut 1:2 as a spot treatment for a few clumps of grass in the driveway that I really don't want (paspalum) because they survive and set seed that ends up everywhere. And I'm experimenting with it as a wood preservative...I made some gates out of heat-treated pallets and gave them a good soaking.

Phil, how does this process work?
"heat-treated pallets"

I drive around with an empty trailer and pick up the pallets that local businesses set out by the kerb. They make great firewood, superb biochar, and handy building material for small projects. They are nearly all made out of heat-treated timber, partly for the modest increase in durability, but also so that they will have an easier time clearing customs at overseas ports. It's a cheap way to get modest lengths of uniform profile, mostly 4x1, 3x2, and 4x2. Great for making garden gates, frames and stands for stuff.

I've found that heat-treated pine lasts about twice as long exposed to the elements versus untreated, which usually rots in a year or so. If I am lucky and score eucalypts, they can be durable for several years as long as they're not in contact with the ground.