Copper Wire

[velikipop]

I had a conversation this evening with a fellow gardener about growing tomatoes and problems with diseases. He is Russian and uses a three inch piece of copper wire that he inserts through the stem of the tomato about six inches from the ground. After the wire is inserted through the stem he turns the ends of the wire down towards the ground. He was emphatic that the ends had to face downwards and that this little trick works great to protect the plant from foliar disease. According to him this is an old method practiced in Russia by gardeners. He also only uses water from a barrel to water his plants believing that tomato plants don't like cold water from a hose.

I can attest to the second bit of advice, because my mother grew some of the largest and most prolific plants and she always used water from a barrel that was warmed by the sun. But, I found the wire trick intriguing and wonder if anyone has heard of this method and whether it works?

Alex