How often do you spray?

[Greatgardens]

This applies to those who do spray. I don't want to, but I really don't have much choice any more. And do you spray with dilute bleach or Daconil? Bleach is certainly more cost effective, if people are having success that way. I'd like to be able to spray only a few times each season, but others here have probably figured out what works best for them.

-GG

[brownrexx]

Why do you feel the need to spray? I would think that different diseases would need different sprays and you do not say what the problem is.

I garden organically and only spray Actinovate as a preventative for blights and it seems to work well.

I don't feel the need for anything else and I get plenty of beautiful tomatoes. I had a problem with stinkbugs this year and I don't know if people have a spray for them but I plant 15 plants so if something happens to some of them then I still have enough for our needs. The stinkbugs damaged a lot of fruits but the chickens got to eat them and I still had enough for us. I do not sell tomatoes so it's just for family use.

[mamaboog]

Praying mantis eat stinkbugs. I put one in my garden that I found chilling on my car.

I'm sorry. I'm derailing this thread. I just wanted to swoon over praying mantis and, in general, carnivorous bugs.

[brownrexx]

That's a great idea mamaboog. I have lots of praying mantis in my flower gardens. I will relocate a few next year.

[bower]

My answer to the original question is "never".

Sanitation pruning is part of my daily routine along with opening the greenhouse and watering if necessary. If fungal disease is removed at the first sign it doesn't take long to do the job and it doesn't spread early in the season. If cold stress is an issue, I'll water them with a warm kelp drink instead of foliar spray which (I think) would tend to increase the humidity burden more than watering the roots.

I think the best remedy for foliar disease when the fruit are beginning to ripen is to generously feed the plants. If I started out with a good soil, this seems to be enough to stop the disease that follows ripening, when the plants start to take the nutrients out of their lower leaves.

In cool and wet weather later in the season the pruning is more work but it's better to be ruthless and take out whole stems or plants, improve air circulation and access to nutrients, and let the healthy ones live on without moldy company as long as they can.

I dip my pruners in bleach if I have to remove anything bigger than a leaf, especially if conditions are ripe for disease. The pruning cuts don't get infected if the pruners are bleached.

Afaik people who do spray still have to prune as well and take away moldy or diseased plant parts. I don't think spraying reduces the need to do that, so to my mind it is just another job and unnecessary cost - for me.

[Cole_Robbie]

From what I gather on here, it's easier to get away without spraying at all when you live in a climate with a short season. The longer the plants are alive, the more time they have to get disease.

I tried the no-spray approach the past few years, but my disease pressure gets worse every year. I am going to spray as much as possible next year. If I don't, I'll get one good crop, and then the plant dies, typically of fungal issues.

[maxjohnson]

Originally Posted by mamaboog

Praying mantis eat stinkbugs. I put one in my garden that I found chilling on my car.

I'm sorry. I'm derailing this thread. I just wanted to swoon over praying mantis and, in general, carnivorous bugs.

I bought those praying mantis eggs before and let them hatch. When I put them out in the garden I see all the ants ganged up and kill them and drag them to their nests. I hate ants.

[Barbee]

I spray weekly and alternate products. It is easier to prevent issues than to treat them.

[berryman]

I never spray.

[bower]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

From what I gather on here, it's easier to get away without spraying at all when you live in a climate with a short season. The longer the plants are alive, the more time they have to get disease.

I tried the no-spray approach the past few years, but my disease pressure gets worse every year. I am going to spray as much as possible next year. If I don't, I'll get one good crop, and then the plant dies, typically of fungal issues.

Over half dozen years, I found that pest pressure increased rather than disease. Disease pressure dropped overall when I adopted the pruning strategy, but otherwise follows the weather. But pests can spread disease (fungus gnats for example) so that might be an issue here too as pests build up and are hard to get rid of. I think gnats played a role in my late season here this year.

You're right about short season too, I'm ready to cut the plants down for the year when someone south is just getting started.

[bower]

On the other hand, I know another grower here who decided to spray this year, I think it was Actinovate. There was a lot of disease early on, and I heard that the spray helped. But when I saw the plants in August they were pretty much dead of disease. Only some seedlings I grew for them were full grown plants and later I saw them still looking healthy into October. I think something happened at the seedling stage and weakened those poor plants that were so troubled by disease.

My Mom grows some tomatoes outdoors every year and they are normally very ratty looking with disease every time I come around in the summer, and I try to give them a bit of a grooming. This year though they looked fantastic all year. I must ask her what she did differently.

We do have it cool and wet chronically, it's perfect for fungal pathogens off and on throughout the short season.

[Gardeneer]

I spray every 7 to 15 days , depending on the weather. If it is going to rain there no point spraying. So if forecast calls for about 3 or more rain free days then I spray,

I use Daconile,copper formula, Neem and bleach. I have never have had any disease issues in the past 3 years.

[korney19]

Originally Posted by Greatgardens

This applies to those who do spray. I don't want to, but I really don't have much choice any more. And do you spray with dilute bleach or Daconil? Bleach is certainly more cost effective, if people are having success that way. I'd like to be able to spray only a few times each season, but others here have probably figured out what works best for them.

-GG

If you are inquiring about fungicides like Daconil, you should spray every 7-10 days or so, as a preventative, even more if frequent rain. Even commercial fungicides for most diseases except Late Blight need to be applied on a regular basis.

Some commercial strengths are limited to a certain number of applications or ounces or pounds per season. Some you should alternate with a different class so pathogens do not develop a resistance. Some Late Blight fungicides/preventatives/curatives advise to use in combination with fungicides intended for other diseases like Early Blight. (most consumer-grade fungicides don't work on Late Blight)

If you're looking for something that only needs to be applied just a few times all year---let me know when you find it! The nicer the weather, the less presence of most diseases so it seems...

[Gerardo]

Neem, Daconil, DE are powerful and won't fry your plants.

Copper comes in handy too, as does the bleach.

Try 'em out, see what works best in your garden at different times of the year.

[korney19]

Originally Posted by bower

My answer to the original question is "never".

Sanitation pruning is part of my daily routine along with opening the greenhouse and watering if necessary. If fungal disease is removed at the first sign it doesn't take long to do the job and it doesn't spread early in the season. If cold stress is an issue, I'll water them with a warm kelp drink instead of foliar spray which (I think) would tend to increase the humidity burden more than watering the roots.

I think the best remedy for foliar disease when the fruit are beginning to ripen is to generously feed the plants. If I started out with a good soil, this seems to be enough to stop the disease that follows ripening, when the plants start to take the nutrients out of their lower leaves.

In cool and wet weather later in the season the pruning is more work but it's better to be ruthless and take out whole stems or plants, improve air circulation and access to nutrients, and let the healthy ones live on without moldy company as long as they can.

I dip my pruners in bleach if I have to remove anything bigger than a leaf, especially if conditions are ripe for disease. The pruning cuts don't get infected if the pruners are bleached.

Afaik people who do spray still have to prune as well and take away moldy or diseased plant parts. I don't think spraying reduces the need to do that, so to my mind it is just another job and unnecessary cost - for me.

It depends on the disease. By the time you see the symptoms of Late Blight, it's usually too late.