Getting ahead of blights

[flying mater]

I asked this question over on the GW site and thought I would ask here as well. Hope I'm not over doing it.

Here is the question. is there anything that I can do now to my garden soil to help prevent blight for next year? I've read were adding corn meal helps and will be doing that. But is there something else i can be doing to clean up the soil from pathogens?

Also, If I save seeds from these infected plants, will the seeds be infected as well?

Thanks for any advice.

Bill

[Worth1]

Bill I will be the first to tell you I am not the disease expert BUT.
What kind/kinds of blight did you have?

The best thing you can do is to remove all plant material from your garden and let the sun shine on it. (solarize)

Turn the soil over mix up and repeat the same thing.
Some soil born diseases stay in the soil for years.
I have gone to the other place and looked at your post there and have seen that you have looked up your self on the web for help.
So I won’t go into all of that for you to read again.

Soil fumigants can be used but that is your choice.

As you have read mulching is the best prevention I can think of.
Never splash dirt on your leaves, ‘use a soaker hose.
If you have a plant that has the dreaded spot, pull the diseased branches from the plant.

At the very first sign don’t wait.

Plant more the one of each variety so if you have a prized plant that is on the way out you can pull it up and get it the devil away from the rest of your plants.
Use Daconil if you so desire.
You are far better off to get rid of the thing than to hope for the best.
I have watched bacterial spot go from a potted plant to the rest of the plants one at a time, right up the row it went.
Hard lesson learned.

The so called sacrifice of the few for the benefit of the many is the mind set to take.
Some of this stuff is air born and if you grow tomatoes it will find them, you can’t get rid of disease forever, the best action is prevention and protection.

Plant far apart, ‘Don’t be greedy and try to fit 20 plants in a hundred square foot area.

I have to walk away from my plants for 2 weeks every month(job) and it is very hard for me to grow tomatoes or anything else for that matter.

I never know what to expect when I come home.

As far as I know there is no magic bullet, ‘sorry.

Worth

[flying mater]

Thanks worth.

I mulched this year and sprayed some. For the longest time I held it at bay. But all this cool, wet weather has gotten to most of them. I'm almost sure its late blight since that is so prevalent up here. I was hoping to stack the odds in my favor by being pro-active instead of re-active. Since I need to so some major soil building, I thought I could maybe knock out two birds with one stone.

If anyones knows of something I would like to hear it.

Bill

[Worth1]

Your welcome Bill.

I have thought about bleach and Lysol

Is that your dog in the avatar ?

Worth

[flying mater]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Your welcome Bill.

I have thought about bleach and Lysol

Is that your dog in the avatar ?

Worth

Haha, bleach and lysol... don't tempt me. No, not my dog but I really like that pic so i use it all I can.

I did find this on a Canada page. Its for BC, but since I'm so close to BC it might be good to try. One of the things it says is to grow under a clear shelter. Since I'm planning on a green house for next year that just might do the trick.

Q What can I do to control late blight on my tomatoes?

A

1. Grow tomatoes in a warm, dry, sunny area. If you have had blight previously, move to a different area if possible, or replace the upper soil layer since "oospores" will carryover in soil.
2. Water only underneath the plants, not the leaves or fruit. Drip irrigation is preferable to watering with a hose, to reduce water splash. Don’t overfertilize or overwater.
3. Grow on a light sandy soil if possible or cover soil with a white plastic mulch to increase soil and air temperatures around the plants and reduce humidity.
4. Growing plants under an overhang or a clear plastic shelter will help prevent spores from being deposited on plants by wind and rain. But plants must be covered before infection has occured. Covering the plants after they are infected may raise humidity and make the disease worse.
5. Grow the tomatoes on raised beds with well-spaced trellises or in containers off the ground. Tomatoes grown on balconies or roof-tops rarely develop late blight, probably because the environment is warmer and drier.
6. Remove all of last year’s tomato or potato debris to prevent carry over of disease.
7. Remove diseased leaves or shoots immediately and all plants that are severely diseased. Bury them, or seal them in a plastic bag and take to a landfill. Do not compost diseased plants. If "oospores" are present, they will survive in compost.
8. Destroy any volunteer potato or tomato plants in the garden.
9. Destroy any nightshade weeds along fencerows. Nightshade is related to tomato and potato and is also a good host for late blight.
10. Apply copper sprays or other home garden fungicides recommended for late blight at least once a week when weather is favourable for disease. READ THE LABEL. Copper, which is accepted by most organic producers, should be applied for prevention more than cure, that is, before the disease has become established.

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Your welcome Bill.
---------------Is that your dog in the avatar ?
Worth

That picture kind of gives an interesting meaning to "Aerial dogfight"

dcarch

[flying mater]

My other passion is hang gliding. I got that avatar over on the HG forum. So it fits over there and my handle here. But ya know, Halloween is coming up and I do have an Australian Terrier.......

[RonnyWil]

I've posted this somewhere before, but I believe hydrogen peroxide is the best solution. There is a commercial product on the market called Oxidate. It is hydrogen dioxide which is hydrogen peroxide. The only thing different about this product is that it has something to keep it from breaking down in light. Ever notice that peroxide is in light safe brown bottles. The typical ag sprayer is white and light can pass through it which would allow the chemicals to break down if left in it for any period of time. From what I can tell, you would have to mix one bottle of 3% peroxide to 10 bottles of water to get the suggested rate of 1 part Oxidate to 100 parts water. If you do a web search you will find information about peroxide and its uses in gardening.
After spraying my plants weekly with Daconil, I still had problems with early blight and wilt even after taking the usual precautions. I started spraying with the peroxide mix and the progression slowed considerably.
The Oxidate label says it's good for soil sterilization and plant dip too. I'm going to try it for that next season.

[amideutch]

flying mater, I used a product called "Actinovate" for the first time this year and had spectacular results. My plants were virtually disease free through a less that ideal growing season. When you set out your plants you sprinkle a little in the hole prior to planting. Then you use it as a foliar spray during the growing season. I added it to my compost tea while brewing and applied as a foliar spray and a soil drench. And a little goes along way. Heres a link. Ami
http://www.naturalindustries.com/news.html