Question for b54red

[Garf]

I only have about 20 plants so I examine them in great detail every day. If I see a single spot on a leaf, it comes off.

[b54red]

If I did that I wouldn't have many plants with any leaves on them. There are a lot of commercial tomato growers in this area and so we have a nice steady stream of pests and diseases. I just want to keep my plants healthy enough to produce good fruit. I gave up on pristine plants many years ago.

[Garf]

I finally got around to trying this today. 2 things. First, all I had was the Publix brand bleach, which is 6% sodium hypochlorite. Is that the same strength as Clorox? Second, How long can the diluted mix be stored for in the sprayer?

[RinTinTin]

Once bleach is exposed to air, it will 'fade' quickly. Mix no more than you plan to use NOW.

[b54red]

You also don't want to store it in your sprayer. RinTinTin is right, only mix what you can use each time.
That is the same strength bleach I usually use. If disease is mild and not spreading fast I will use only 7 ounces added to a gallon of water to start with. If disease is rampant or hard to control I use the stronger dilution of 8 ounces added to a gallon of water.
You should see the results within two or three days.

[MJACTIVIST]

I don’t know if anyone’s ever recommend it but I find the Green Cure to work the best for molds. It’s pretty much just potassium bicarbonate. It can be use up to an hour before harvest.
http://greencure.net/
Also I like to use Dr. Doright in con★★★★★★★★ with the Green Cure
http://drdorights.com/
L8
MJ

[Garf]

I don't understand not storing the mix in the sprayer. The full strength Clorox is stored in a bottle. Is it that the sprayer doesn't seal well enough? I could always remove the spray head and cap the bottle.

[b54red]

I don't know all the ins and outs of what happens to cause bleach to degrade. If it is exposed to light for very long I know it will degrade so I guess that is why the containers are opaque. It might keep for a while the way you are describing, I'm just not sure. I try to mix only what I will use at one time and if I have any left I spray my roses and some other plants.

[FilthyRich]

Not 100% sure if was caused by the bleach solution but all the rubber seals in my sprayer got very swollen and needed to be replaced a few days after spraying with the bleach. So I would recommend not leaving it in the sprayer and cleaning thoroughly after each batch. But mind you, I had been using the sprayer to spray Mancozeb and a copper solution as well so I'm not sure which one, or if it was a combination of any of the three that caused the problem.

[Garf]

It is usually some form of oil that causes rubber to degrade.

[Garf]

I wanted to add that the sprayer I use is a 1qt hand sprayer.

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by Garf

I wanted to add that the sprayer I use is a 1qt hand sprayer.

I use the same size of hand sprayer. I mix my bleach solution up in a milk jug and just carry it around with me to fill my hand sprayer.

What I don't use, I toss out right away and run clean water through my sprayer and my milk jug.

[b54red]

Starlight even rinsing those type sprayers will not stop them from being degraded by the bleach. I have used them many times but sooner or later and it is usually sooner the pump will fail when using the dilute bleach spray in it. The advantage of them is they are cheap and easy to replace and they do spray a nice fine mist which is best when spraying the diluted bleach spray.

Bill

[Starlight]

Thanks Bill. When I go to town, I'll pick up another one or two while they still have in season stock. With our heat and humidity I'm sure we'll be spraying way into late fall.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Starlight

Thanks Bill. When I go to town, I'll pick up another one or two while they still have in season stock. With our heat and humidity I'm sure we'll be spraying way into late fall.

My favorite fall tomato is Carbon and it always gets gray mold so I am always using the bleach spray from spring til winter. It is helpful with many diseases and if you have fall tomatoes and you get hit by Late Blight it is the only thing that will give you any chance at all of salvaging some of your plants. Don't forget to apply a fungicide afterwards because even though they don't help much with an existing problem they can slow the appearance of new disease problems.

Bill