Daconil spraying, how often?

[Bruinwar]

Hi all,

What I've heard over & over from the old timers at my comminity garden is Daconil should be sprayed once a week plus every time it rains.

Well, it's been raining nearly every day. Do I spray every morning? Skip the rare mornings when it didn't rain the day before? We got .7" last night.

edit: From what I understand, the Daconil washes off & to keep the spores from attaching, you have to re-apply. But every other day? Is there a point where it's too much?

Thanks,
Joe S.

[wildcat62]

I'm curious if you can overdo it also. I'm having signs of Septoria and/or EB and sprayed the Daconil last night for the 1st time. Sprayed the copper solution last week & I'm planning on alternating between the two. I'd appreciate any tips or guidance. Can a person apply too much or too frequently ?

[Bruinwar]

Unfortunately, I didn't get to the garden this morning to spray. Lots of rain yesterday. More likely this afternoon & even more tomorrow. More predicted on Saturday morning. It could be worse, I know, as it is in many parts of the country & the world.

If it's not raining after work, I plan to spray today. Then again on Saturday evening maybe.

Michigan is certainly not alone in this rainy June. What are others doing? Am I spraying too much?

Thanks in advance!
Joe S.

[clkeiper]

read the label. There are directions on how often to apply and if you don't find the answer there call your local county extension service and ask if there is a limit for the spray for your area.
Every year I think I am going to experiment with an anti-transiprant on the plants. This is a spray that coats the leaf and keeps the plant from expiring more moisture than it is able to take up. I have used it to keep my plants from wilting down during the transplant, but I would also think it would keep the spores from attaching at the same time.

[Bruinwar]

Label says 7 apps a season however the same label says every 7 days & it also says when conditions favor disease. Kina confusing.

Edit: hit post before completing.

Thanks a for your reply. I could/should contact the Michigan State Extension office & see what they say.

Regards,
Joe S.

[Worth1]

I dont think it will hurt how many times you spray as long as rain is washing it off.
It would be like us and bug spray.
Apply after every shower.

Worth

[Bipetual]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I dont think it will hurt how many times you spray as long as rain is washing it off.
It would be like us and bug spray.
Apply after every shower.

Worth

Great analogy!

[b54red]

If it is raining that often then Daconil is nearly useless. A copper spray would be better because it doesn't wash off as easily. I myself like to use a dilute bleach spray which can be applied as often as necessary during rainy weather and then when the rain lets up a bit use a copper spray and then when it dries out a little use Daconil.

Bill

[clkeiper]

If the label reads every 7 days or as needed for conditions it is every 7 days for up to 7 applications. We also add a spreader sticker to the application to keep it on the plant longer.That gives you almost two months of growing season to apply it. we use a rotation of sprays when we start our spray program so we aren't hamstringed by the number of applications needed vs. how many are legal if there is a fungal issue going on. I am selling my tomatoes so I have to be compliant with the label. Can you send me some of that rain? we are crying here for some.

[Bruinwar]

First off, thanks everyone for all the replies.

Last night I sprayed. There was still some residue on some leaves that I could clearly see from the last application so maybe I am overly concerned.

Last year I used copper soap & was not happy with the results. B54red...! I've read your posts about using bleach. Scary! You really use it truely 8oz per gallon? Even after fruit is on the vine? I thinking about trying it if/when I see some trouble. But maybe half that strength.

Again, thanks everyone!

Regards,
Joe S.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Bruinwar

First off, thanks everyone for all the replies.

Last night I sprayed. There was still some residue on some leaves that I could clearly see from the last application so maybe I am overly concerned.

Last year I used copper soap & was not happy with the results. B54red...! I've read your posts about using bleach. Scary! You really use it truely 8oz per gallon? Even after fruit is on the vine? I thinking about trying it if/when I see some trouble. But maybe half that strength.

Again, thanks everyone!

Regards,
Joe S.

I don't know where you got the 8 oz per gallon from. The new formulation of Clorox is 8% sodium hypochloride and I use between 4 1/2 oz to 5 1/2 oz depending on the conditions and the severity of the problem. I might even go all the way up to 6 oz if I was dealing with Late Blight; because what do you have to lose.

I only use the copper spray intermittently between sprayings of Daconil. I tend to use the bleach spray and copper more when it is raining very frequently and the Daconil is getting washed off. I use the Southern Ag brand of copper spray at one Tablespoon to the gallon. Below is a link to the discussion of the dilute bleach spray I posted to clear up confusion. I sprayed all my tomatoes, squash and cucumbers at daylight this morning with the bleach spray because we have had a shower or heavy rain every day for five days. If it dries up today with no rain I will use Daconil as a preventative tomorrow if the forecast is good.

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.ph...t=bleach+spray

Bill

[b54red]

It rained again this afternoon and fairly hard so it is a good thing I used the bleach this morning.

Bill

[Bruinwar]

Thanks for the link Bill. Actually I got the 8oz per gallon from you! It was posted Aug 4 2010 in the "Septoria (?) Trouble..." thread that's sticky'd in this forum. I'm sure it was the weaker strength Clorox. Regardless, I really appreciate you going to the trouble & posting the info.

My plants are a few weeks old & so far show no real signs of disease. But I trying to avoid the disasters of the last two years. It's the War on Disease we are talking about here & I intend to use every weapon at my disposal!

It rained last night & again this morning. I plan to drive out to the plot tomorrow & re-apply the Daconil. But I already have some bleach I plan to use, just a little gun shy. Everyone thinks I'm crazy but after reading your thread, I am convinced that it is an excellent tool & the stuff evaporates in minutes anyhow.

So far I've prepped the soil with TomatoTone & composted chicken manure. Sprayed the Daconil as I said, plus one application of aspirin water. Bleach is coming soon.

Thanks again!
-joe

[b54red]

Joe the bleach spray is a tool for removing actual diseases that are present on the plants and not a preventative. Like you said it is gone so fast there is no residual disease prevention just the killing of some of the spores and stuff it hits.

I may very well have used 8 ounces of the weaker 5% sodium hypochloride bleach that was often around way back in 2010 but that would have been the maximum strength. I was probably using it during very rainy weather when the foliage was wet and I had a bad outbreak of Septoria. I also use the maximum strength on gray mold occasionally and on Late Blight but it is done with the full knowledge that I will probably get some leaf burn on healthy growth but it is a chance I am willing to take when desperate. Clorox has changed their formulation three times in the last 5 years so the mix has to be adapted. That is the reason I will not use a no name bleach because they are not always exact in their formulations and sometimes it is too strong and sometimes too weak.

Other than don't spray when the sun can hit the foliage, don't breath the mist and wash your sprayer well there is one other precaution with using the bleach spray. This is not often a problem but sometimes with really severe weather it happens so watch for it. When the plants are beat up by heavy rain and wind the waterlogged and damaged leaves can be killed by the bleach spray. I figure this is because the bleach gets inside the leaves too much when they are like this. This condition usually only happens with young tender plants that haven't been in the garden long. I find the same thing sometimes happens when using a copper spray on beat up young plants.

Bill