At 03:38 13/07/02 +1000, you wrote: >Diane, >I've just thought of the other use I've seen for milk. >That is, if you paint a rock with milk, it grows a fungused coating (?) on >the rock which gives it that old weathered look. >So milk does have some interesting properties? Bill, I've certainly heard of Yoghurt being used for aging rocks and terracotta/stone pots. Lots of moulds appear which lead on to other funguses amnd mosses etc which rapidly discolor and "age" the surface much quicker. With the other discussion of milk for help with viruses..... how exactly DOES milk help? I would assume that all it does is help the plant recover from the virus, thereby removing the symptoms of the virus, rather than actually removing the virus from the plant. It improves the appearance of the plant but doesn't stop the virus then being transmitted by secateurs or sap-suckers etc. Have I got this interpretation right? If that IS the case then I would assume you'd only do this on very special plants that are in a quarantine situation where you know the virus cannot be spread further, otherwise you're likely to "forget" that the plant is virused and you may help spread the virus further? I thought this was worth clarifying. If the milk can actually CURE the virus that is great, but I would have thought that it is just a "cosmetic" fix? I am sorry if this was mentioned earlier. If it was then I must have missed it while I read through the other emails. Cheers. Paul Tyerman Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9 mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au Growing.... Galanthus, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Cyclamen, Crocus, Cyrtanthus, Liliums, Hellebores, Aroids, Irises plus just about anything else that doesn't move!!!!!