Colloidial Silver has been promoted, by people that want to sell it, as an effective pesticide but it is expensive and there are other much less expensive products that do the same job better. The EPA is currently looking into whether to classify this stuff as a pesticide and therefore allow the EPA to regulate it.

As an organic grower I am not all that sure it is acceptable for us.

kimmq is kimmsr

Thank You kimmq for your reply. I can see what you are saying about people promoting it because they are selling it. When I first considered the use of colloidal silver in the garden. I googled it and almost all the results were companies that sell colloidal silver who were promoting it. However I did find some gardeners saying it worked very well. As far as the cost. Colloidal silver can be easily made for pennies a gallon. All one needs is a few silver coins or bars, 9v batteries, wire and distilled water. More info on the production of colloidal silver can be found here http://forum.cgcsforum.com/

I just wonder if it would mess with the beneficial soil microbes. However colloidal silver is only about 10 parts per billion. Maybe as a foliage spray it could work. And it may save plants hit by late blight? I think I will need to do some experimentation.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has used it in the garden. But it seems there has not been much experimentation in the garden. We could be missing something huge here. I would definitely consider colloidal silver as organic if it works. It is all natural and it is non toxic. I know some people will say it is dangerous to take internally because it turns your skin blue. But this is propaganda from the pharmaceutical companies. Properly made colloidal silver will not turn your skin blue. This only occurs when salt is added during electrolysis which creates silver chloride. Properly made colloidal silver does not contain any silver chloride. I have used silver externally with excellent results as an antibiotic. And I do use quality colloidal silver (no more than 10ppm) internally if I feel sickness coming on with great success. I have not been sick with the flu or a cold for 20 years. And I have never had a flu shot. My history with colloidal silver is what has raised my curiosity for use in the garden. Silver does kill many types of Bacteria, Virus, Fungus and Mold.

Thank You all and Best Regards

Tom

Your idea of experimenting on late blight, especially if your tomatoes are well mulched so the soil is protected, sounds worth doing. Yes, I would think CS would mess with the SFW, so even though they tend to bounce back, why not protect the soil just in case. ( I just checked our bottle of CS and it actually recommends taking a source of flora along with it, so they're expecting it to kill intestinal flora.)

Personally I like the idea of using the least dramatic agent to fight what's ailing my plants -- for example, a milk/water solution on powdery mildew rather than copper soap. I'm thinking of silver as akin to copper -- use only if there is nothing else that will work, because it's a major knock down.

If you do the experiment, please report back!

Thank You Elisa_z5 for the reply. I find it interesting that there is not much info on this. No research papers that I could find. I think of copper as being more harsh than silver. And more toxic. I could be wrong. I do not use copper in my garden. I have used it on ornamentals though. Someone needs to research this in a University setting or something.

Found something interesting http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2015/05/ufifas-researchers-find-a-silver-bullet-to-kill-a-fungus-that-affects-more-than-400-plants-and-trees/

Wondering how things are coming along with the CS use.

I used 10ppm colloidal silver as a foliar spray for Tomatoes and on some Melting Sugar Peas that were looking rough. They were wilting and the leaves dying from the ground up. I think it saved the Peas. It certainly did not hurt as I had a very good harvest of peas. And the peas definitely perked up after application. This fall I will amend the soil with worm castings before planting some more peas. I think I am going to have to fence my garden in though as a rabbit or something ate my spring planted peas to the ground.

Oh and I am going to try Silver as a foliar spray on a fig I have with rust.

My wife and I just began using CS on house plants. Wow, what an amazing growth spurt in several of them. Noticeably different. However, still wondering how to determine how much to use. No, I didn't document ratio of CS to water. Altho, i know I didn't use all that much . . .

FYI, studies show that plants 'know' how much silver to use and will only absorb what they need.

see attached article about 3-4 paragraphs down the page unless you want to read the whole article:

http://www.thesilveredge.com/gardeners-colloidal-silver-kills-plant-fungus-produces-larger-and-healthier-crops.shtml#.WkrXeFQ-eRt

Sincerely Blessed by The Best (Yahweh)

Keith and Mary

Hi Keith:) If nothing else it will keep the Fungus Gnats out of your (soil) Pots. I don't think it will hurt your plants at all. Oh and I did not water my Colloidal silver down. I used straight 10 ppm from wal-mart I think. I found a small sprayer from another bottle that fit the threads on the bottle and used that to spray on the leaves and soil surface. Probably would not hurt to water down 50/50 though.

@kimmq @kimmsr Colloidal Silver can cost next to nothing once you purchase the machine to make your own, which runs anywhere from $35-100 depending on what you want. I make ours because we use it so often and it is very easy and I've never had an issue. I stumbled across this conversation while searching to see if I could find any info on using CS on my houseplants but so far I've not had much luck. I am going to give it a try!

I’m using CS on some avocado seeds I bought which seem to smell and have some white fungal or Bacterial slime etc On the seeds. I make it at home with my silver well machine So it’s not costing me a fortune and so far so good it’s killed the slime mould or bacteria that it was covered in. I will see how it goes. the seeds would have surely died if I did nothing. But now I think they may be able to sprout. Fingers crossed 🤞

Wow, this is kind of exciting! As someone above mentioned, you can make colloidal silver for pennies with 3 - 9Volt batteries, some connectors and a couple of pieces of .999 silver. You can buy silver wire or cut a 1 oz bar in half. If I can do it, anyone can, and it's fun! https://thesurvivalmom.com/march-skill-of-the-month-make-your-own-colloidal-silver/ 

I make it by the half gallon jar. We use it for many things but I had not heard of garden use. It makes sense, being antifungal, antibacterial, etc. I'm surely going to try it on my tomatoes this summer.