Aspirin Spray for Tomatoes

[TomatoDon]

I thought I'd heard it all until this. I was doing some surfing and found an article, and then more, that two aspirins in a quart of water, sprayed on foliage, helps tomatoes fight many diseases, especially mold.

Have any of you tried it? Is this just some crazy notion? I've heard of spraying plants with seaweed solution, Daconil, etc., but never aspirin.

Any thoughts?

Don

[Mantis]

It would certainly take the headache out of having to spray

[TomatoDon]

Well, you've sure got a point there! lol



Don

[geol]

My family always had used it for watering the X-mas tree every year as well as for cut flowers to help them keep longer. I have tried willow bark/chamomile tea on tomatos to ease transplant shock - seems to help. Aspirin I think would be much stonger.

Here's a link I found
http://www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm

[TomatoDon]

Yes, and a good link, and I had seen that one, but it was tied with another forum, so I didn't post it here.

I've always heard you can preserve Christmas trees and, as you say, cut flowers, with aspirin water. I had first heard it was two tabs per quart of water, but seems the real researcher found 1.5 81mg tabs in two gallons did the best, sprayed every three weeks. I was amazed to read what they said it did for germination.

I think the Indians used to chew the bark of certain willows (the study said White Willow, but I never heard of that), to relieve pain. Must be something magic in the acid, because it sure seems to work for a variety of things. Christmas trees, cut flowers, seed germination, preventing/curing disease and mold in plants, pain relief, guarding against heart attacks, and on an on.

Now...all I need is one more thing to do nurturing tomatoes! This is gonna be a full time job! I'm up to 19 varieties now! Just added Aunt Ginny's Gold, Lucky Cross, and Earl's Faux. I'm out of room for the beds in town!

Don

[TomatoDon]

Some articles say to mix the water with yucca plant extract (boy, we really are getting specialized here now!), or diluted soap. I wonder how well it would work mixing in insecticidal soap?

I think I'm on my way to having the most treated tomatos in the land!

Don

[MsCowpea]

Don, I would not mix it with insecticidal soap unless you actually have insects that you have ID'd and want to control. Soap can kill beneficials too--it is just not as persistent as synthetic insecticides which makes it a better choice. It would be an interesting experiment to see how aspirin works compared to fungicide. farkee

[travis]

Don,

I had a little white, furry, mildew lookin' stuff that grew right at the emerging stems of my pepper sprouts last week. It actually killed some of the more slowly emerging sprouts like Trifetti. It didn't bother the really vigourous sprouts at all. But most of my sprouts seemed a little lazy this year to me.

By the way, Chris Chapman (cmpman), if you're around, your pepper seeds ALL sprouted like champs. The Fish is the Bomb! 100% germination and way above the others in vigourous growth.

So, I mixed up an empty Windex bottle full of warm water and a shot of Chlorox and misted the flats. That eliminated the mildew.

Yesterday, I noticed some blue mold growing on the outside of a few peat pots that I'm using for germinating cells on heat pads as an experiment vs. plastic (I mixed up some really porous starter mix and I thought I would need additional water retention and insulation factors). I used the mild bleach spray on that too. (I don't think I'm gonna be using peat pots again on top of a 85% heating pad ... too much mold.)

I guess the asprin idea would be worth a try. I'll do it and let you know if it helps with mildew and dampening off problems.

PV

[creister]

Salacilix acid is what is found in asprin. Genus for willows is Salix. I had good luck last year spraying a product called Garrett Juice + garlic juice to combat mildew. I have also used potassium bicarbonate and baking soda with success.

[geol]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yes, and a good link, and I had seen that one, but it was tied with another forum, so I didn't post it here."

Is this a faux pas? I assumed thats why they were called links.
I am new on the forums and would appreciate a heads up. Thank you anyone.

[travis]

I have also used potassium bicarbonate and baking soda with success. [creister]

Warning: Don't use baking soda on pepper sprouts! Least ways, don't use it in concentrations like
1 tsp. per quart of water as it left a residue after the mist dried that wilted several of my seedlings ... the most rare and hardest to germinate being the ones hardest hit.

Lesson learned: Don't take untested advice ... and ask for dilution rates before assuming a mild solution won't hurt your plants.

By the way, the Clorox solution I sprayed on the seedlings killed the mildew and never seemed to have any side effects (at about one ounce per quart).

PV

[creister]

Good idea to list the mix, but I can't remeber it for the baking soda and the potassium bicarbonate is on the canister. I believe it is one TBSP per gallon for both. I'll check on it. I know it is, and you add about a tsp of liquid soap for a sticker. I found some that didn't have the anti-bacterial chemical in it for that.