Garlic oil as a fungicide and insecticide experiment

[Palmy_palm]

All of my windmills have been battling fungal infections for almost three months.  I have been using peroxide but it doesn't seem to work and now none of my palms are growing new spears.  Peroxide boils everytime I pour it..  

So the other day I decided to experiment with garlic oil.  I used to take very potent garlicky pills to help with my cholesterol and had few left.  I decided to experiment with one of the trees. Tossed one pill into the canal of the tree. i squeezed oil out of the two pills, mixed it with little bit of peroxide and poured in. So today i took plain peroxide and poured it into the canal of the trunk, to my surprise no boiling.  For once, i think the infection is killed by using garlic oil.

I will continue to monitor this to determine its effectiveness.  If the tree grows a new spear, then it is possible garlic oil may be another effective treatment for fungal infections (and most likely insects too).

Edited May 5, 2016 by Palmy_palm

[Alicehunter2000]

Interesting. I know garlic and onion both have anti-biotic properties. Maybe they have anti fungal properties as well. Where are you located and do you have Sandy nematodes soil....this is the big problem for trachyocarpus in my yard and leads to many of the secondary problems you mentioned....maybe something going on down in your root zone.

[Palmy_palm]

I live in York sc. Im not sure what you mean by Sandy nematodes soil.  I added sand to the soil when planted. 

An update to my experiment. I did the same to all of my windmills this morning. Came home just couple minutes ago and poured peroxide into the trees to see if it'll boil, and none boiled. So this is encouraging!

[Alicehunter2000]

Florida is a very sandy place especially near the coasts. Sand around my area is known for having a nematodes which are highly detrimental to several species of palms, including Trachyocarpus species. Some of the symptoms you mentioned can be caused by nematodes and I thought you might live in Florida. Evidently if your adding sand you ain't got that problem......will be interesting to see if your garlic experiment succeeds.