bleach spray

[b54red]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

Just hit my tomatoes and squash with bleach . . . as I was rinsing the sprayer . . . it started to sprinkle. Guess I'm just out 7 ounces of bleach!

The rain doesn't matter because unlike fungicides the bleach has already done what it is going to do by the time you get your sprayer rinsed. It is not a preventive spray other than it kills back much of the disease on your plant at the time of spraying. It will not however keep any new diseases from showing up other than the fact that it kills the spread of the ones already there. Over the next day or so many diseased leaves will shrivel up from the bleach spray so you might want to remove them and spray the plants with a copper spray or Daconil depending on what diseases you are having a problem with.

Bill

[jtjmartin]

I believe you are right - the squash look great today!

[b54red]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

I believe you are right - the squash look great today!

Keep an eye on squash because if you let one of the mildews get bad before you spray then you will lose too many leaves and it takes them some time to recover their foliage. I try to spray squash at least every two weeks with the bleach spray at a slightly weaker concentration than on tomatoes unless I am already spraying tomatoes then I just use the regular mix or if I see any mildew growing on the leaves. I have been removing older leaves for the past few years and it has also helped keep diseases down on squash. I did the same thing on my cucumbers this year and they lasted far longer than they ever have before. I also try to spray a fungicide on them every time I am spraying my tomatoes and that too has helped.

Bill

[HoustonHeat]

I sprayed all of my tomatoes Friday morning about 12 hours before the Hurricane rains started.
So I hope it did its work before the rain. I did not spray cucumbers or melons but will after the storm. I am bot sure if all the water will kill my garden but since most of my garden are in boxes with very good draining soil I may be ok.

I moved 8 healthy fall plants in 5 gallon buckets out of the rain and plan to bleach them again today or tomorrow..

[b54red]

Originally Posted by HoustonHeat

I sprayed all of my tomatoes Friday morning about 12 hours before the Hurricane rains started.
So I hope it did its work before the rain. I did not spray cucumbers or melons but will after the storm. I am bot sure if all the water will kill my garden but since most of my garden are in boxes with very good draining soil I may be ok.

I moved 8 healthy fall plants in 5 gallon buckets out of the rain and plan to bleach them again today or tomorrow..

How much rain have you gotten at your place?

Bill

[HoustonHeat]

Originally Posted by b54red

How much rain have you gotten at your place?

Bill

Not certain but from 25-30 inches since Friday afternoon. I am in 500 year flood zone Northwest of Houston so am very fortunate to have good property drainage. It's really bad for so many others and unless the rain stops it will get much worse. I am amazed that 97% of area still has utility services.

[b54red]

Sorry to hear about all that rain because it can be disastrous for those in low lying areas. At least you are fortunate not to be in that situation like so many others. Good luck.

Bill

[HoustonHeat]

Well I lost about half of my plants.. my bucket plants are ok since I moved them under cover.
The ones I lost the leaves just wilted down or the stems absorbed so much water they burst and bent over. I protected my new fall pots and just transplanted them to the beds today. The weather is perfect for fruit set (70 degree nights) but I have no blooms. No signs of pests but they may return. I will bleach spray my established plants this weekend..

[b54red]

Not that we have had anywhere near the rain you have had; but I went out this morning after three days of steady rains to find a disaster. It almost looked like I had Late Blight but it wasn't LB just the effects of too much water for far too long. My ground has been saturated since the end of June and this past weeks rain was just too much.

I went out this morning around dawn and sprayed everything with the bleach spray and I am sure most of my tomatoes and peppers will have little if any foliage left in a day or two. I am going to review my situation in a day or two and decide which plants to just pull and see if any left are viable. My plants I set out in the first week of August don't look quite as bad as the older plants but some of them are just a mess with almost no healthy leaves left. My older plants are in much worse shape. The idea of pruning all that dead and dying foliage off all those plants is just a bit more than I am willing to undertake right now. It is just too close to fall planting time and with the weather seemingly cooling down a bit I am ready to start some greens. I have been using the sorry looking tomatoes I have been getting the past few weeks for salsa and relish and I just don't know if any more good looking tomatoes are in the cards for me this year, especially if this daily rain continues.

I can't imagine how bad it is in those areas where the hurricane dumped so much water.

Bill

[HoustonHeat]

Sorry to hear that Bill.. At least nature offers some rewards. I now have about 6 hummingbirds and it's a pleasure to watch them in the morning over a cup of coffee. I underestimated the insect world. For the past couple days my wife and I have been noticing swarms of tiny tiny white gnats but it never hit me they are white flies. I now have white flies on everything but it's early because when I shake a plant I only see 5-6 fly out.

HELP? Anyone have any advice on managing whitefly? I plan to DE Mix everything Sunday morning but am hoping someone has a solid solution. I do have Seven dust if that will do it..

[ginger2778]

Soapy water kills white flies. Yellow sticky traps are almost irresistible to them, they are strongly attracted to the yellow. I put them out every 5 feet, haven't had whitefly trouble since.
Caution, please only buy the Seabright labs brand, as other brands are so sticky that birds and small animals will stick to them, very cruel.
They last a whole season, here's a link.https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Sticky...w+sticky+traps

[HoustonHeat]

Thanks Ginger. I will order some..

[b54red]

Originally Posted by HoustonHeat

Sorry to hear that Bill.. At least nature offers some rewards. I now have about 6 hummingbirds and it's a pleasure to watch them in the morning over a cup of coffee. I underestimated the insect world. For the past couple days my wife and I have been noticing swarms of tiny tiny white gnats but it never hit me they are white flies. I now have white flies on everything but it's early because when I shake a plant I only see 5-6 fly out.

HELP? Anyone have any advice on managing whitefly? I plan to DE Mix everything Sunday morning but am hoping someone has a solid solution. I do have Seven dust if that will do it..

The DE and Permethrin and soap will kill a lot of them but it doesn't get nearly all of them and they come back in just a few days. They are everywhere down here right now. I talked to a lady at one of the produce stands the other day and she was laughing about wearing a bright light green shirt out in the garden and getting totally swarmed by whiteflies.

I am going to try an oil, Permethrin and soap mix next and see if that will help. I even thought about using Malathion but when I saw how strong they recommend using it for good effect on whiteflies I knew I wouldn't use it and the wait times are too long before harvest with my peppers still producing a few fruits. It will also damage my already severely damaged leaves too much. I have even thought about getting one of those mosquito foggers and using it with a poison that is okay for the garden. I don't know if that is feasible or not. My son has one but the poison he uses in his is not okay for vegetable gardens but it does a fantastic job in his yard Mobile keeping the mosquitoes at bay for a few weeks.

Bill

[HoustonHeat]

I mixed Organicide 3 in 1 (Tbsp), Garden Safe Neem Oil (2 Tbsp), Permethrin (Tbsp)and Dawn dishwashing soap (2 Tbsp) into gallon of water. I figured it would help both the whitefly and mold at same time. It definitely helped as I am only seeing a couple whitefly when shaking plants. I sprayed it on tomatoes, cucumbers, and cantaloupes. No ill effects on plants except for 2 new tomato transplants from day before about 6 inches tall wilted and died. I am thinking it was not the spray but rather I put some triple 13 and Epsom salt in the hole before transplant and probably used to much. Unfortunately I will need to spray weekly as I have read whitefly can remain all year round. I have ordered some yellow sticky traps to help also. I am going to alternate this spray with just a mixture of Clorox and dawn for better mold support..

[HoustonHeat]

Bill

Have you seen any issues with bleach spray preventing bloom set?
I am asking because I have a few fall plants that are covered in blooms (TTF helped).
It's now time to bleach spray but I am worried the bleach will have a negative effect on the pollin?
Any advice?