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

[amideutch]

Alex, very interesting theory. Copper is used as a fungicide. Just don't know if there would be an exchange of copper ions between the wire and the plant. I've experimented making colloidal copper with low voltage DC but this Idea with the wire through the stem may have some merit. I still have a few extra seedlings left over from my plant out, maybe a test is in order. I'll let you know. Ami

[velikipop]

Hi Ami,

Yes it does sound intriguing and if it works it would be a bit labour intensive but economical and no need to spray. The bit of research I've done suggests that there is no difference between plants using this method and those without it, but each case had some peculiarities to it. I think a bit more evidence might be needed before it is dismissed as an old wives tale.

Alex

[amideutch]

Here's a link to GW concerning this subject.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...425503018.html

another

http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/o...eetomato01.pdf

And another

http://www.ag.iastate.edu/farms/2000...tionGarden.pdf

[hdrider]

I just read an article in my local newspaper written by a lead instructor in horticulture at our community Technical College.

"The other essential task for tomatoes is to do a bit of disease prevention with copper wire. Tomatoes are naturally prone to fungal disease, with the worst in our area being early blight. I insert a 1- to 2-inch piece of 18-gauge copper wire through the stem at the base when it is about pencil diameter. This gives the plant a constant feed of the natural fungicide copper, and has given me almost complete control of early blight. If it does appear, I simply pick off the leaves and discard them away from the garden. And, voila! Terrific tomatoes."

I read the links above but wonder what the combined genius here think. Most of the (official) research I have read is 10 years old or older, although 05 was the last post at GW and of course this thread.

Is this worth pursuing?

HD

[fortyonenorth]

Curzio from Kenosha, Wisconsin practices this technique. Never asked him about his success, but he has a Facebook page that includes this as well as some other tomato info:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gi...30049&v=photos

I planned to try it this year, but I'm curious about the "ends turned down..." I have some copper nails from a roofing project and assume they would work similarly.

[hdrider]

Originally Posted by fortyonenorth

I have some copper nails from a roofing project and assume they would work similarly.

Be careful using the nails they might be too large in diameter, everything I have seen says 18ga wire which is quite thin.

18ga = 0.0403in = 1.024mm = thinner than a US dime (about 3/4's as thick).

I have been to Curzio's site ( http://www.curzio.com/N/KenoshaPasteTomato.htm )
about the Kenosha Tomato, but did not know about his facebook page. Caught my attention because it's where I'm from.

Thanks
HD

[coloken]

Are you sure he is growing tomatoes?
I have heard of the nail in pot plants to increase the potency.
Not me , mind you.

[carolyn137]

YEs Alex, I have heard of the copper wire info and many many years ago at that.

It was Chuck Wyatt who was pushing it and back when I was at the AOL Forum and he and others were at Compuserve, so that gives you an idea of how long ago.

Several folks tried it, two plants mimium of the same vartiety, half with the wire and half without.

I can't say that there was any noticeable difference between the control and wired plants that I remember from feedback.

And think as I might I could not figure out why the copper wire. Still today there are those two footed humans who swear that wearing copper bracelets keeps them more healthy.

For me it's eating chocolate and cashews, not copper bracelets that seems to work.

[Sun City Linda]

I'm with you on the chocolates and cashews Carolyn!

[tam91]

Chocolate and cashews - me too please! Yumm!

[Sun City Linda]

Yay!!! Party at Carolyns. All the cashews and chocolate we can eat No carbs, no calories What was this post about, anyway lol Linda

[b54red]

I wonder if it would have any effect on fusarium wilt since the copper is being taken up internally? Maybe I'll try it. I've tried just about everything else.

[slugworth]

I tried it 3 years ago but the tomato plant heals the wound around where the wire penetrates,so the copper is only in fresh contact with the plant interior for a short amount of time.
As a goof you can also inset a galvanized wire to set up a simple 1 cell "tomato battery"but that experiment was just a conversation piece.In that case the copper is + and the zinc is -