early blight

sproutie · June 22, 2012

Does anybody have a treatment that works for early blight? Thanks

kath · June 22, 2012

I think EB is best treated by faithfully picking off affected leaves and spraying every 7-10 days or after heavy rain with a fungicide. It's usually not fatal.

kath

bower · June 22, 2012

I'm with Kath, the first step is to remove the infected material and any new signs of it every day.
I had a lot of early blight last year, and also tried sprinkling powdered cinnamon on the soil after the morning cleanup. The plants seemed to like it, and the blight cleared up - which may be just by sanitation alone.
Cinnamon is reported to be antifungal for some pathogens including Alternaria (aka early blight), but the plants may have liked it after it was watered in, just because it is a rich source of salicylic acid. Still it could have also killed a few spores on the soil surface, I guess.
And I liked it because of the smell.

June 22, 2012	#1
sproutie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Fishkill, NY Posts: 8	early blight Does anybody have a treatment that works for early blight? Thanks

June 22, 2012	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I think EB is best treated by faithfully picking off affected leaves and spraying every 7-10 days or after heavy rain with a fungicide. It's usually not fatal. kath

June 22, 2012	#3
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	I'm with Kath, the first step is to remove the infected material and any new signs of it every day. I had a lot of early blight last year, and also tried sprinkling powdered cinnamon on the soil after the morning cleanup. The plants seemed to like it, and the blight cleared up - which may be just by sanitation alone. Cinnamon is reported to be antifungal for some pathogens including Alternaria (aka early blight), but the plants may have liked it after it was watered in, just because it is a rich source of salicylic acid. Still it could have also killed a few spores on the soil surface, I guess. And I liked it because of the smell.