Diluted Bleach as Spray?

[digsdirt]

Can I mix Serenade and excel lg? Can I also mix with Spinosad or perhaps BT?

There was a good discussion here just a couple days back about mixing just 2 things and the general recommendation is no. Some cases may be ok but it is not recommended by manufacturers. Different things can interact and neutralize each other and can also lead to what is called "complexing molecules" (different molecular binding patterns) that invalidates your application rates.

And mixing multiples I would think would be a double no. ;

Dave

[JamesL]

What Dave said. Don't mix Serenade and Excel lg.
Excel is a systemic. Spray that first. Wait 12 to 24 hours and spray Serenade.
FYI - I do mix Actinovate with Excel. It was determined a few years back that they do play nice with each other.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I mixed 8 oz of 6% bleach in 1 gallon of water and sprayed. That was way too strong. I burnt my plants pretty badly. They look worse than before I sprayed.

Plants always look worse after spraying because diseased leaves that are not showing symptoms to the naked eye will also be damaged by the bleach spray.

If you got damaged healthy leaves there are a few things that could have caused it.

1. It was not cool and shady enough when you sprayed or the plant were still hot from the sun.
2. I always advise starting out with the lowest concentration to start with and with the older bleach you can use between 6 and 8 ounces to the gallon. I never start out with the maximum concentration with a new bottle of bleach because I worry that the solution may be stronger than stated on the label which has actually happened to me three or four times over the years resulting in some healthy leaf damage.
3. The spray was applied so heavily that puddles formed on the leaves which will sometimes damage leaves that are otherwise healthy. I use a high pressure sprayer that forms a very fine mist which many sprayers can't do. Before I got the good back pack sprayer now in use, I tended to use a weaker mix because of the coarser spray my old sprayers produced. If that didn't take care of the issues then I would up the concentration gradually until I got better results.
4. The diseases were much more extensive than you thought. This is frequently the case as I found out this past week.

I sprayed my plants for the second time this week because of the extent of gray mold damage I was experiencing this year. The first time I sprayed I lost most of the leaves on the lower half of the plants that were badly infected. I latter clipped all of that off and resprayed the worst plants and lost a few more leaves. I used the new Clorox bleach and at the rate of between 5 and 5 1/2 oz. to the gallon. I sprayed all of my tomatoes the first time and all of my cucumbers and squash. I was also surprised at the amount of disease that was present but after 6 days of rain in a row and 100 degree temps and humidity to match for nearly a week I shouldn't have been.


Bill

[per2012]

So, the bleach spray does not affect healthy plant growth and has no long term environmental impact to the plant or the fruit. The spray kills diseased growth even if the disease is unseen by the naked eye. What's the harm in spraying my plants (let's say every 4 or 5 days) even though they show no signs of disease?

[Bruinwar]

IMO this thread needs a sticky. But I am a newb here! =)

[sjamesNorway]

Originally Posted by sjamesNorway

My greenhouse plants have what is apparently a fungus infection. (see my thread: "Diagnosis: yellow spots with dark specks") I'd like to try the bleach solution, but the bleach here has 0.1-1% sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). I'm leery of trying it. Any advice?

I've also seen that someone has used a hydrogen peroxide solution. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Steve

Just a follow-up on my post 38. I did some research, and found a "Material Safety Data Sheet" for Clorox Regular-Bleach. It turns out that Clorox also has "< 1% sodium hydroxide", which is also known as caustic soda or lye. So I guess this is not harmful to plants in the dilutions and applications refered to in this thread.

[Cole_Robbie]

It did kill the hell out of that black mold. The areas that were black are now brown. The vine is scarred where the mold grew, but looks to be healing.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

It did kill the hell out of that black mold. The areas that were black are now brown. The vine is scarred where the mold grew, but looks to be healing.

It is kinda scary the first time you use it especially on gray mold. You mentioning it being on the stems could be a bad sign as Gray Mold can get inside the plant and then it is almost always too late to stop it. Gray Mold is always much more spread on the plant than it appears before you spray. The best results with the bleach spray are achieved when it is used very soon after the first appearance of the diseases and often so that it doesn't have time to spread so much. Sometimes that isn't possible and when you do finally get around to using it you will lose far more leaves than if it had been done just a few days earlier.

Bill

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by per2012

So, the bleach spray does not affect healthy plant growth and has no long term environmental impact to the plant or the fruit. The spray kills diseased growth even if the disease is unseen by the naked eye. What's the harm in spraying my plants (let's say every 4 or 5 days) even though they show no signs of disease?

I don't know about spraying when no signs of disease is showing, gotta ask Bill about that, but on one thread somewhere I had asked him if it was ok to spray blossoms and fruit too . He said yes, and I haven't had a single problem and still had fruit set.

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

It did kill the hell out of that black mold. The areas that were black are now brown. The vine is scarred where the mold grew, but looks to be healing.

Real shocker that first time, huh. Makes you wonder if you killed your plants off totally. I know the first time, I over did the spray. I guess I was in mild panic and since I couldn't see nor smell the bleach I sprayed mine twice. Really soaked them babies and fried them it looked like, but in a few days they had all new beautiful growth .

I agree and would like too to see the bleach spray method should be made into a sticky.

Bill... I do have a question for you too, please. I was waiting til dusk to spray, but now you know we in the 100+ and even at midnight it is still in the 80's+ with barely a degree or two lower in the early morning dawn. Is there a temp, do you happen to know off when the temps get just to hot and you shouldn't spray or do you just keep on regarless of temps?

[b54red]

I keep right on spraying even when it gets really hot; but will tend to wait til after dark sometimes or even right at daylight to get the maximum cooling. It is fine to spray with no signs of disease but on young plants I would go with a slightly milder mix until you see some disease evidence. During long rainy spells when I am having rain every day I have a time or two sprayed every day for 4 or 5 days in a row and have frequently sprayed two or three times a week if I am fighting a particularly nasty disease or during frequent rains.

Bill

[Bruinwar]

Last night we had a big storm blow through. The light show from the lighting (at 3AM) was quite impressive. 1.25" of rain.

This morning I sprayed Daconil. I saw some suspicious leaves here & there & pruned them. Not sure but I might be seeing some early blight. I'm wishing I had used a bleach spray instead & waited till tomorrow for the Daconil.

If I do decide to spray with diluted bleach tomorrow morning, I would have to re-apply the Daconil soon, correct?

Thanks,
Joe S.

[Gerardo]

I had 3 Black from Tula plants come down with some severe gray mold and I moved them to a sunnier spot, sprayed the hell out of the stems, fruit, and the few leaves that were left unaffected (x 3 days, one day on one day off, early evening applications). I sprayed 'em with Daconil once at the end of the regimen.

The new growth is as it should be and so far so good, many thanks Mr. Bill.

I've been doing aprox. 50-70 ml (depending on severity of disease) of generic bleach in 1500 ml of water. Which for you British system people, is about 2 ounces in a little over 1.5 quarts.

For reference, as per the recommendations, 5 ounces of the "new Clorox" is about 150 mL in 3,785 mL.

And for all those that forgot let me just remind you that in the REAL world the most useful formula/relation you can commit to your head is:

V1C1 = V2C2

Never fails for getting the right volume and/or concentration. Just make sure all the units agree.

Great day to everyone.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Bruinwar

Last night we had a big storm blow through. The light show from the lighting (at 3AM) was quite impressive. 1.25" of rain.

This morning I sprayed Daconil. I saw some suspicious leaves here & there & pruned them. Not sure but I might be seeing some early blight. I'm wishing I had used a bleach spray instead & waited till tomorrow for the Daconil.

If I do decide to spray with diluted bleach tomorrow morning, I would have to re-apply the Daconil soon, correct?

Thanks,
Joe S.

Since you have already applied the Daconil it might be best to wait and see if any new stuff pops up in the next few days. I try to use the bleach before using a fungicide because applying the bleach so soon after a fungicide might cause a reaction that isn't good or that renders the Daconil ineffective meaning you would need to reapply it. Bleach is highly reactive and that is why you never mix it with anything other than a little soap and water.

Bill

[clkeiper]

How often do you spray the bleach solution?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

How often do you spray the bleach solution?

I try to spray at least once every 7 to 10 days once the humid weather of summer gets here. If I am having any problems I will spray as necessary which can be every other day or if I am not having any difficulties then I may go a few weeks without spraying but that is a rare occurrence here. It may not wipe out every disease you use it on but I haven't seen a foliage disease that it didn't help with. Systemic diseases are a totally different problem and I would love it if it worked on TSWV but it doesn't.

Bill