Disease concern turning to panic. Help appreciated!

[sfmathews]

I don't have an exact amount Raybo. I just put in a few drops to the water when mixing up a gallon. I have to be careful, because I've burned plants before by adding too much soap. Especially when it gets really hot in June, July and August. I hope someone has a more precise method than I do about how much to add.

[DogsandDirt]

Originally Posted by babice

Hey! This is good to know (although am sad about the butterfly). Been having a Daddy cardinal out there scolding me every day for about a week. I think his lady friend and his children are in one of the bushes. Hey you don't have your blooming dill close the the toms in the ground do you? I've read mature dill will attract tomato hornworm!

The tomatoes planted closest to the dill don't seem to have any more hornworms than the ones in containers planted further away. They're also surrounded by onions and leeks so maybe that helps. I do notice wasps on the parsely and dill flowers so hopefully some of them are parasitic to hornworms. I once watched two yellow jackets tear apart a cabbage looper. Totally fascinating!

[Dewayne mater]

Raybo - I am a neophyte at the whole surfactant thing, but, I would think you wouldn't need any with Daconil as it seems to be made to stick/coat leaves of its own accord. I confess that I haven't been using surfactants at all and maybe that contributed to my problem. You can bet I'm going to try it now.

Dewayne Mater

[DogsandDirt]

I sprayed 5 affected plants with B54red's bleach solution. Today I can't really tell that there's much of a differences in the plants' appearances. Some yellow parts are crispy brown, but not significantly more than yesterday. My question is, do you add 8 oz of bleach to a full gallon of water (makes a 5.88% solution) or do you add 8 oz bleach, then fill it up so the total volume is 1 gallon (6.25% solution), or does it even matter? I didn't add any soap - mixing soap and bleach freaked me out too much.

I also noticed not all bleaches are created equal. I bought a bottle of Clorox "splashless" bleach. As I was about to make the solution I noticed the label said not for sanitizing/disinfecting. WTH? The Clorox clean linen scent bottle said the same thing. They both smelled like bleach. So, back to the store to find just plain regular Clorox. This bottle said it's used for sanitizing and disinfection. Geez, even bleach isn't simple any more....

[Dewayne mater]

How long ago did you spray? It takes at least 2 days to start seeing the effects and for me about 4 days worth of going down hill. Now things look to have stabilized. So far, it appears that even the worst affected plants have at least a few green leaves, so they are still alive. Hopefully, I can nurse them all back and do so quickly while we have good tomato weather.

I don't know the answer your question, but I did one gallon of water plus 8 oz of bleach figuring that the weaker of the two ways to look at it would be the way to go. Good luck!

Dewayne mater

[DogsandDirt]

Dewayne, I sprayed yesterday morning, so a little more than 24 hours ago. It sounded from your post that it happened pretty fast, so I thought I would see something already. I'll keep watching. I also used the weaker solution (2 oz bleach + 32 oz water since it was only a few plants).

How long should I wait before I hit them with anything else? I need to spray for mites.

[Crandrew]

Are you using neem for mites?

[b54red]

Dogs, you will have go give it a few days to see the full effect of the bleach. The reason I say regular Clorox bleach when I give the description is the variables with bleaches on the market now. Up until recently when you bought bleach it was pretty standard but not anymore. You can spray pretty much anything within a few hours after using the bleach because it oxidizes so fast. I usually wait a little over an hour and if there is still enough light I will apply Daconil. You will get better results by adding the little bit of dish washing liquid so you get better coverage. Just use something plain like Ivory and not one of the exotic things with disinfectants or bleach in them. As I stated I add 8 ounces to a full gallon unless I am dealing with something very hard to kill or spraying onto wet plants right after a rain in which case I add the 8 ounces and add water to make a gallon. The stronger solution can sometimes give some slight leaf burn so I try to keep the mixture at the optimum level that I have found by years of trial and error. Too weak a solution and the plants will die from the disease and too strong and the plant will get burned or worse.

[babice]

b54red - why wouldn't vinegar act in somewhat of a similar capacity as bleach to treat this? Is it maybe not broad spectrum enough? White vinegar is a natural antifungal and antimicrobial treatment. And baking soda is also an antifungal. I've seen recommendations for a creamy treatment (for many things ranging from athlete's foot to cleaning animal urine, etc.) made by mixing about 3 tbsp. of white vinegar to about 1/2 cup of baking soda. I'm just wondering if this wouldn't work as well as the bleach but maybe not as harsh? Or maybe it would be better in a preventative manner.

[DogsandDirt]

Crandrew, I have used Neem in the past and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference to the mites. I have some Azamax which I'll spray tomorrow morning. Take Down does seem to work pretty well.

B54red, thanks for the feedback. When I bought the bleach, the store I went to only had "splashless" for the regular Clorox. My fault for not looking at the label sooner. Good to know that small percentage difference in the solution could cause some burn, although I may need to use it one or two plants that seem to have some stubborn Septoria. I'll add a little soap to the next go round.

Babice, I've heard of both sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and potassium bicarbonate being used as anti-fungals on plants. I haven't used either one but it's certainly worth a try. I don't know about the vinegar or what concentration it needs to be. Dirt Doctor Howard Garret recommends vinegar as a natural weed killer, so it would certainly need to be more dilute than weed killer strength! He also advocates sprinking corn meal onto soil beds as a natural anti-fungal. I tried it on a cucumber bed last year and couldn't really tell if it made a difference.

[Tracydr]

Sulphur works well for mites but be very careful about leaf burn.

[lapk78]

Dewayne, now that even more time has passed, what's the situation with your plants? I'm in the same boat that you were in a few weeks ago. I've sprayed with bleach solution (not Clorox tho), Daconil, and added some calcium nitrate, but I'm having a hard time being an optimist at the moment. Give me some good news!

-Lyle

[sfmathews]

I have seen definite improvement after spraying with Bleach, then following up with Daconil. Oh and getting those dang spider mites under control as well. Lots of new green growth on all the plants. I just have to keep up the regular spraying schedule.

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by b54red

Dogs, you will have go give it a few days to see the full effect of the bleach. The reason I say regular Clorox bleach when I give the description is the variables with bleaches on the market now. Up until recently when you bought bleach it was pretty standard but not anymore. You can spray pretty much anything within a few hours after using the bleach because it oxidizes so fast. I usually wait a little over an hour and if there is still enough light I will apply Daconil. You will get better results by adding the little bit of dish washing liquid so you get better coverage. Just use something plain like Ivory and not one of the exotic things with disinfectants or bleach in them. As I stated I add 8 ounces to a full gallon unless I am dealing with something very hard to kill or spraying onto wet plants right after a rain in which case I add the 8 ounces and add water to make a gallon. The stronger solution can sometimes give some slight leaf burn so I try to keep the mixture at the optimum level that I have found by years of trial and error. Too weak a solution and the plants will die from the disease and too strong and the plant will get burned or worse.

b54red,
What do you think is the most frequent application of the bleach treatment allowable? I sprayed about 1 week ago, and again yesterday evening? However, it was not Clorox brand bleach that I used. I plan to buy Clorox later today and was hoping to spray with the bleach solution again later tonight. Is 24 hours too soon to spray? My plants look just like Dewayne's pics in the beginning of this thread. Thanks.

-Lyle

[Dewayne mater]

Lyle - I've removed a lot of dead foliage and still have diseased looking leaves too that will likely have to be removed at some point. However, I do have new, nice looking growth on every plant. Nothing died. My guess is this year the container plants aren't going to have great production because of this definite set back. However, I think I'm going to get some production from every plant and a few are producing quite well. Sun Gold has tons of fruit set.
I haven't sprayed with bleach again, but have used daconil, Excel LG, and serenade, all separately.

My other saving grace is my in ground garden has good fruit set going on several plants. I do have 3 of those plants that are wimpy and diseased looking, while others are absolutely lush, and a black and brown boar and black cherry that are loaded with fruit and lot of flowers too.

Mixed year for sure. Good luck.

Dewayne mater