Many thanks to all who have replied so far to my query about spoiled
liver of sulphur. I will probably divide up my can and try several
different methods to preserve it.
I heard about Lime sulphur about a year ago, but have been unable to
find it at my local nurseries and garden centers. But the
descriptions of how well it works make me determined to try again to
find it. With Marianne’s description of what is written on the
label, perhaps I’ll have better luck.
Do any Orchidians in the Chicago area have a source?
I found the lime sulfur a few years ago in the garden department of
a Lowes. I had also been looking for it for years. I think mine is
made by Ortho. A student of mine had a really old bottle of it
sitting with her garden supplies. She has carried a small bottle of
it to class for several years and it’s still going strong. It gives a
range of color although my students invariably want the black. They
warm the piece on brick that is hot and then apply the liquid
straight from the bottle to the area they want colored. They use
cotton swabs, tooth picks and paper towel twists depending on the
surface area. It’s more convenient than fishing out a chuck of LOS
assuming that the stuff is still good and getting hot water, not to
mention trying to get the lid on the container back good and tight.
I found the lime sulfur a few years ago in the garden department of
a Lowes."
Marilyn, Do you remember the name of any products containing lime
sulfur? I tried to obtain it by that name in my local Lowe’s
yesterday. No product was named “Lime Sulfur”, and the clerk and I
could not find it on the ingredients list of any product listed as
having fungicidal properties. We did find an Ortho product listed as
containing “sulfur” as its active ingredient.
In a video about PMC, Tim McCreight warns that LOS can be ruined by
exposure to light, or even by frequent opening of its container,
which I suppose is due to exposure to humid lab air and to light. He
says that when he gets a fresh supply, he divides it into very small
portions that he stores in the black plastic vials in which some
brands of film are sold. Packed this way, it can survive years on
the shelf, and only the small quantity in a single vial is at risk
during use.