Has the GOOD lime/sulfur been banned in California?

Deep Sea Diver

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Good question!

It all depends on how good a painter you are! Seriously though, the above photo merely shows a set shot taken after the job, showing the final touch up stage of the application.

This is the complete process.

Before starting a large job one must first secure the appropriate protective gear, a proper respirator and cartridge to match the hazard. Heavy guage nitrite gloves, long sleeves, long pants, full shoes, chemical splash goggles, charged hose on standby and apply in open air.

(In my experience it’s actually safer and easier to use a tyvek overall and rubber boots to cover the lower extremities - note I’m former Chemical Hygiene Officer. One can just slip theseon and jump in a pair of rubber boots, glove and mask up and get to work.)

One can see in the photo I’m not wearing chemical splash googles. During the job I wore chemical splash googles, but for the photo, which actually was a set shot, not the operation, regretfully I only wore wraparound safety glasses… not good form!

First all deadwood was cleaned, removing all algae and past layers of lime sulfur with a toothbrush/stiffer bristle small narrow shaped brush using a spray bottle of water and flushing with a hose. During this time the media is covered. This part is very time intensive and can be somewhat grueling work on a large museum quality tree. Especially considering deadwood which has been in existence for a long period of time can be fragile. Finally one lets the the deadwood dry.

Next one works the lowest sections of the Deadwood. At this point usually use moister paper towels where the deadwood meets the media.

In the following stage one cuts up plastic bags and completely covers all the foliage and the media is covered. One uses assorted paint brushes to apply the product, wait for it to dry, then remove the plastic shield once the. Job is inspected for “windows”.

Some sections may need more then one coat.

Finally touch up. One has to be careful to avoid drips! Usually one has a moist paper towel in one hand and a paint brush in the other.

One always should be aware of hazards that would accidentally knock over the lime sulfur container. In the end one washes up all PPE, gear and hands and face, store product PPE etc and carefully dispose the plastic etc properly.

This job took at least four hours if I recall correctly.

More then you asked for?

cheers
DSD sends
 
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No, I’m just careful to clean up the pots after applying. A little on the soil hasn’t seemed to cause any problems.
Thanks @Brian Van Fleet,
I sprayed last year and tried to cover all the bonsai and its painful, theres so much work lol (but if you think about it even I cover it with newspaper some of it still going to the soil) :) .

Will try this season to spray without cover, and save me some time.

Thanks
Chris
 
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