How I fought foliage disease and won

[dipchip2000]

This is part of a previous post that I made in another thread. I thought I would repost it here so more members can read it. While it may not be earth shattering info, but I do think others might benefit from the results of my experiment. YMMV

Just an added bit of something I have learned this year.I grow in raised beds and do not till ever. Last year after season was over and all plants and cages pulled, I sprayed the beds with 10 percent bleach water very thoroughly. I let them set all winter and added manure compost in spring on top and still no tilling. I sprayed once more with Bills bleach spray formula and covered each bed with weed cloth.
I planted 4 plants per 12 foot bed by cutting small X where the plant goes into ground. After planting mulching entire bed with wheat straw.
The four plants have filled up the 12 foot bed and are well over 6 feet tall and very productive.
It is mid July and daily temps at 100 degrees and still NO SIGN OF DISEASE OF ANY KIND. a first for me. Luck or my extra effort , I don't know but definitely worth trying again.

ron

[kath]

Wow, that's terrific, Ron! Hope it was your efforts so that they can be repeated.

kath

[Gardeneer]

Good to hear some solution for a change, rather than problems. I drink to that.

[peppero]

Ron, that is almost a miracle. I was thinking not long ago if such a thing was actually possible. I offer a cautious congratulations. I just may incorporate your process next year
Please keep us informed.

Jon

[Patihum]

From University of California Pest Management

Sodium hypochlorite (the active ingredient in bleach) is effective in killing some types of fungal spores and bacteria. It penetrates soil and plant material very poorly. It is effective only as a surface disinfectant.

[xellos99]

I found that you don't need to have very good soil for toms so it is not all that expensive to simply replace every year.
I mixed common garden / field soil with about $25 worth of multipurpose and have grown 21 plants and must be 1000+ regular size toms total so well worth $25 and some hard work.

[TigrikT]

I found out that disease pressure mostly depends on the weather including how cold was winter.

[b54red]

Ron I really like your idea because I know how effective the bleach spray can be at killing off spores. I have advised using it early and often rather than waiting but many people fear damaging their plants. Your method might really be helpful for those who can use it. I myself have not tried using it before planting and will definitely give it a try next year and see if it will help with early blight which is usually the first disease I see each season. My beds are usually in use all winter so I will have to wait til I clean them out and get ready for spring planting.

When I have used the diluted bleach spray to fight Late Blight I spray every surface in the garden with the stronger mix but would not go so far as to use 10% on any living plant as the leaf burn would be devastating; but used this way it might very well be helpful. When fighting LB which is the most virulent disease that I have had any luck controlling with the bleach spray I found that I would start with the 5 1/2 oz to 6 oz Clorox bleach added to a gallon of water and have gone slightly higher and used it every day for a few days. It is a lot of work but it has been effective a couple of times even despite a little leaf burn but it must be started immediately upon suspecting the cause because just a day or two can make all the difference in whether you lose a few plants or all of them.

Ron I really like your idea because I know how effective the bleach spray can be at killing off spores. I have advised using it early and often rather than waiting but many people fear damaging their plants. Your method might really be helpful for those who can use it. I myself have not tried using it before planting and will definitely give it a try next year and see if it will help with early blight which is usually the first disease I see each season.

I have used it for spot treatments of the soil where bacterial wilt or fusarium wilt killed a plant and found it helpful but not foolproof. I would only use the soil soaking for very small spots not large areas because it will kill almost all living things in the soil if applied heavily and in enough strength.

Bill

[b54red]

Sorry for the repeat of the paragraph. I moved it up and forgot to delete it in its original spot. Duh.

Bill

[dipchip2000]

Bill

I have nothing growing in my beds when I use the 10percent spray. While I do spray heavily, I do not saturate the soil for fear of killing off all my earthworms. As has been said the bleach is only a surface remedy and I make sure all surfaces are covered but not drenched. My earthworm population is still very good and have suffered no ill effects. Any spores left after spraying are sealed off somewhat by the weedcloth and then further by wheat straw mulch. I still prune off lower branches that might contact ground underneath the plants. This method might not eliminate all diseases but definitely slows down early blight. When septoria, bacterial, fungus, or late blight appear I immediately spray with the 7 oz per gallon spray and so far I have no disease apparent in my tomato beds. Hope this explains my method a little better.

ron

[b54red]

Originally Posted by dipchip2000

Bill

I have nothing growing in my beds when I use the 10percent spray. While I do spray heavily, I do not saturate the soil for fear of killing off all my earthworms. As has been said the bleach is only a surface remedy and I make sure all surfaces are covered but not drenched. My earthworm population is still very good and have suffered no ill effects. Any spores left after spraying are sealed off somewhat by the weedcloth and then further by wheat straw mulch. I still prune off lower branches that might contact ground underneath the plants. This method might not eliminate all diseases but definitely slows down early blight. When septoria, bacterial, fungus, or late blight appear I immediately spray with the 7 oz per gallon spray and so far I have no disease apparent in my tomato beds. Hope this explains my method a little better.

ron

Ron have you had luck stopping or limiting the damage of Late Blight by using the bleach spray? I have used it several times and had some good results two of the four times it hit my garden. The key was spraying as soon as I saw the first symptoms on the first plant and spraying everything. The first time I had some luck stopping it on some plants but I waited far too long to start using the bleach spray and lost most of them. The second time I started earlier but still didn't start soon enough and it also kept raining and bringing in more every few days. That is when I learned to spray between rains; but still I lost nearly half my plants. The other two times I dealt with it I started as soon as I saw the first signs on the first plant and only lost a couple of plants. Fighting Late Blight is like trying to control some type of fast spreading gray mold that hits higher up on the plant and kills so much faster. I found that to control it quickly it was better to err on the side of using a mix that was a little too strong and suffer some minor leaf burn than to have Late Blight take over. I just wanted to hear what your experience with it was.

Bill

[Gardeneer]

I don't know if treating soil with bleach solution could make a difference. That is because most , if not all , foliage diseases are air borne that can come from somewhere else, by the rain and wind.

On the effectiveness of bleach spray I think probably it is more effective than commercial fungicides on Gray Mold. This stuff kills the fungi and the infested leave also dies.

BTW: Today I will do a round of spraying. ( a reminder to myself )

Gardeneer

[JerryHaskins]

Question: Are youall spraying the tomatoes themselves with the bleach solution as they approach ripeness?

(Dodging the tomatoes themselves while spraying the foliage seems impossible.)

How close to picking time do you spray?

If so, do your tomatoes taste like bleach?

Or do you peel them or just rinse them---and that eliminates any bleach taste?

I will try the bleach spray technique next year or maybe on my fall tomatoes.

Thanks for the great info!

[dipchip2000]

Originally Posted by JerryHaskins

Question: Are youall spraying the tomatoes themselves with the bleach solution as they approach ripeness?

(Dodging the tomatoes themselves while spraying the foliage seems impossible.)

How close to picking time do you spray?

If so, do your tomatoes taste like bleach?

Or do you peel them or just rinse them---and that eliminates any bleach taste?

I will try the bleach spray technique next year or maybe on my fall tomatoes.

Thanks for the great info!

I spray whenever needed, whole plant top to bottom,soil, red tomatoes,green tomatoes and blossoms if there are any.
I have picked tomatoes 10 minutes later with no ill effects
I have never had a bleach taste on any tomato
I generally rinse after taking into house but have eaten cherries in the garden after spraying and no bleach tasted at all
Totally safe when used as per Bills dilution rate
Bleach evaporates quickly in sunlight thus the white containers it comes in.

[ScottinAtlanta]

I wonder if it is worth spraying the top soil of containers with the 10% bleach solution at the end of each season to kill any spores? Good thread, folks.