Diluted Bleach as Spray?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

Thanks Bill. I think I'm going to give the bleach solution a try, especially in rainy periods, when I don't want to be spraying other things that will just wash away. My plants have exceptionally good airflow this year because I've been pruning like a madman anytime a see a couple spots on leaves.

Does anyone know at what point does Septoria send out spores? This might be a naive question because I don't know much about fungal life cycles. Is only after the spots look like this or that? Or is once you can see spots they are pouring out more spores? etc.

It was several years after I started using the bleach solution to fight existing diseases that I learned the hard way to use it during rainy weather. We had a whole month of rainy weather one August and I tried putting on fungicides and they were just washed away and Septoria just destroyed my plants while I waited for the rain to stop. When it did stop I had to spray and respray over and over and clip off most of my leaves before it was under control and I ended up with those palm tree tomatoes. The next season was the one of the wettest we ever had during the summer so I decided to see what happened if I sprayed between rains. I found that if I did it every two to three days depending on how much rain and if I was seeing any disease that it really made a huge difference in how sick my plants would be when the rain finally let up. I also realized that spraying very wet plants sometimes meant boosting the strength of the mix especially if spraying while it was drizzling. Generally when I spray between rains I use the higher end of the mix.

Bill

[Slg Garden]

Originally Posted by Slg Garden

I bleach sprayed last night but just realized I did 5 tablespoons/gallon rather than 5 ounces. Will that strength help at all or should I do it at the right concentration again tonight?

Update: I sprayed the proper dilution the next day and it didn't seem to hurt...whew!

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Slg Garden

Update: I sprayed the proper dilution the next day and it didn't seem to hurt...whew!

Have you had any diseased leaves start shriveling up or diseased spots changing appearance due to the bleach spray? The changes are most obvious with Gray Mold where the diseased leaves react more quickly and more drastically to the bleach solution.

Bill

[Slg Garden]

Some shriveled and died, and I removed everything that looked diseased. I went to the garden today (community plot) after being out of town for a few days and had to remove a bunch more leaves which means the various problems are spreading. Some plants are practically bald. I'll go back and spray with bleach tonight and then try copper spray tomorrow morning. The thing that stinks is that we've had virtually no rain this summer. I can't imagine how bad it would be in a typical Seattle summer.

Have you ever used the diluted bleach to disinfect the soil? It seems that the worst of the problems are affecting all the plants in one area. It could be that the problems are spreading from plant to plant, but it could also be that there's something living in the soil. It's the same area that got hit hardest last summer too.

[jbond007]

Originally Posted by Slg Garden

Some shriveled and died, and I removed everything that looked diseased. I went to the garden today (community plot) after being out of town for a few days and had to remove a bunch more leaves which means the various problems are spreading. Some plants are practically bald. I'll go back and spray with bleach tonight and then try copper spray tomorrow morning. The thing that stinks is that we've had virtually no rain this summer. I can't imagine how bad it would be in a typical Seattle summer.

I'm in the exact same boat. Thought this was the perfect summer for growing tomatoes here in Puget Sound and have been fighting mold/late blight most of the summer. The bleach spray has been a life saver but the disease crawls on... I think mold on my peas may have started the whole chain of events.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Slg Garden

Some shriveled and died, and I removed everything that looked diseased. I went to the garden today (community plot) after being out of town for a few days and had to remove a bunch more leaves which means the various problems are spreading. Some plants are practically bald. I'll go back and spray with bleach tonight and then try copper spray tomorrow morning. The thing that stinks is that we've had virtually no rain this summer. I can't imagine how bad it would be in a typical Seattle summer.

Have you ever used the diluted bleach to disinfect the soil? It seems that the worst of the problems are affecting all the plants in one area. It could be that the problems are spreading from plant to plant, but it could also be that there's something living in the soil. It's the same area that got hit hardest last summer too.

I have used the bleach spray to disinfect soil where a plant had died from something like bacterial wilt and I wanted to stop it from spreading into the surrounding soil. I only used it as a spot treatment because the solution strong enough to kill a disease will likely kill most or all of the good things in the soil also. I didn't worry too much about using it in a spot because it reacts quickly and in a few days worms and other things start moving back into the treated spot. Another reason not to use it wholesale on soil would be the salts left behind from all the reactions with various chemical compounds in the soil.

I seriously doubt that your problems are from a soil borne disease unless there is some kind of pollution that is present in the soil. I've heard that area is pretty wet so it may just be high humidity and allowing plants to grow too densely creating the perfect storm for foliage diseases. Air flow is critical as well as sunlight in preventing the spread of foliage diseases and some years when the humidity is very low you can get away with very dense plants for a while. Using fungicides like Daconil and copper sprays as preventative measures as soon as the plants are outside and then every week after that is also critical if disease pressure increases. Waiting to treat diseases until after they have gotten really bad is another thing that makes getting them under control far more difficult.

I used to just throw up my hands and let them die before I started pruning my plants for better air flow, spraying with fungicides regularly and using the bleach spray at the first sign of disease. Sometimes I still let the diseases get the best of some of my plants and it is almost always because I procrastinate in taking the steps that are necessary soon enough. Right now we are experiencing smothering heat and humidity and it is really hard to get out in that steamy mosquito swarming garden and do what needs doing so my plants will pay for it. I need to use the bleach spray and remove a lot of damaged foliage and excess foliage but it is just too hot and humid right now so I too am procrastinating again.

Bill

[luigiwu]

Originally Posted by b54red

Have you had any diseased leaves start shriveling up or diseased spots changing appearance due to the bleach spray? The changes are most obvious with Gray Mold where the diseased leaves react more quickly and more drastically to the bleach solution.

Bill

Yes, I want to say the leaves here looks healthy until I did the spray. So I imagine there was gray mold present that I couldn't see until I sprayed?? that's how the bleach works, right?

[b54red]

Yes. It won't stop it from coming back but it will slow its spread by killing off most of the problem but you need to remove the shriveled leaves to stop any spores that might remain from spreading. I have found through years of fighting Gray Mold that the first bleach treatment gets most of it but it needs a quick followup treatment within a couple of days after removing the bad stems and leaves to get it under control. If conditions are favorable for it then the spraying needs to be done more often. Like I have said before during rainy periods I go out every few days and spray just so I don't have a disaster when the rains let up.

Bill

[luigiwu]

Bill and on healthy leaves, there should be no change in appearance? The bleach spray doesn't "burn" or change the appearance of healthy leaves using your recommended recipe, right?

[Slg Garden]

Originally Posted by b54red

I have used the bleach spray to disinfect soil where a plant had died from something like bacterial wilt and I wanted to stop it from spreading into the surrounding soil. I only used it as a spot treatment because the solution strong enough to kill a disease will likely kill most or all of the good things in the soil also. I didn't worry too much about using it in a spot because it reacts quickly and in a few days worms and other things start moving back into the treated spot. Another reason not to use it wholesale on soil would be the salts left behind from all the reactions with various chemical compounds in the soil .........
.......Right now we are experiencing smothering heat and humidity and it is really hard to get out in that steamy mosquito swarming garden and do what needs doing so my plants will pay for it. I need to use the bleach spray and remove a lot of damaged foliage and excess foliage but it is just too hot and humid right now so I too am procrastinating again.

Bill

Thanks. I kind of blame you for the foliage problems. If you hadn't recommended TTF so highly, my plants wouldn't be growing so well and there would be less foliage .

I spent a few summers in Alabama during college. Our humidity doesn't come close to what you have. I have to say that the Alabama tomatoes are the best I've ever eaten.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Slg Garden

Thanks. I kind of blame you for the foliage problems. If you hadn't recommended TTF so highly, my plants wouldn't be growing so well and there would be less foliage .

I spent a few summers in Alabama during college. Our humidity doesn't come close to what you have. I have to say that the Alabama tomatoes are the best I've ever eaten.

Sorry about the TTF. I let mine get too bushy earlier this summer and paid a hefty priced once the rains set in along with the near 100 degree heat.

Tomatoes do taste good grown in the soil around here but the disease pressure makes it hard to do successfully. Most of the commercial growers down here have switched to the more bullet proof hybrids but it has cost them in the taste of their finished product.

Bill

[b54red]

Originally Posted by luigiwu

Bill and on healthy leaves, there should be no change in appearance? The bleach spray doesn't "burn" or change the appearance of healthy leaves using your recommended recipe, right?

It rarely affects healthy leaves if the mix is right and the spraying is done properly. Sometimes if it is sprayed too heavily and it puddles it will cause some burning on a healthy leaf. Usually any burning is caused by disease being present. I have sprayed everything in my garden at least a dozen times so far this season and they still look pretty good despite baking in tremendous heat the last few weeks.

Bill

[b54red]

Well I ignored my problems for a few days because it was just too darn hot to go out and do anything in the garden. Finally we got a good rain yesterday mid afternoon and it brought the heat down for a few hours in the evening. Most of my plants are now being attacked by spider mites because of the heat and dryer weather of the past few weeks so instead of just spraying with the bleach solution I also added two tablespoons of Dawn dish washing liquid for each gallon of spray I mixed up and really soaked everything good just at dark yesterday. My DE came in today so as soon as I can I am going to try it as a spray and see if it affects the spider mites. I hope it won't bother my Assassin bugs which have really done a job on the aphids this year. I wonder if the DE will affect stink bugs?

Bill

[Cole_Robbie]

This stuff killed my whiteflies:
http://www.evergreengrowers.com/met5...w-formula.html

I noticed it killed potato bugs, too. Stink bugs are notoriously hard to kill; I have been meaning to test the Met52 on them.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

This stuff killed my whiteflies:
http://www.evergreengrowers.com/met5...w-formula.html

I noticed it killed potato bugs, too. Stink bugs are notoriously hard to kill; I have been meaning to test the Met52 on them.

That is some pricey stuff.

Bill