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Old March 16, 2013   #1
Defiant20
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Default Blight Prevention when Planting

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to prevent blight when planting and as they grow. Every year we get big beautiful plants, and just when the larger tomatoes start to produce, blight wipes it out. I would appreciate any recommendations on how to prevent this in the future.
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Old March 16, 2013   #2
RayR
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Are we talking about Early Blight? Septoria?
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Old March 17, 2013   #3
b54red
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Start a regular weekly spraying of Daconil as soon as the plants have been set out into the garden. This will greatly reduce the incidence of blight and many other foliage diseases.
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Old March 17, 2013   #4
Cole_Robbie
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Mulch helps to keep rain from splashing dirt on your leaves, which can spread fungal disease. Overhead watering is bad for that reason, too, plus plants don't like wet leaves.
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Old March 17, 2013   #5
Defiant20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by b54red View Post
Start a regular weekly spraying of Daconil as soon as the plants have been set out into the garden. This will greatly reduce the incidence of blight and many other foliage diseases.
I started spraying Daconil when the plants got larger. I planned to spray from the very beginning this year. I know someone who puts bleach in the hole several months before planting and it seems to help him. Has anyone tried that or another soil amendment when they plant to prevent Blight.
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Old March 17, 2013   #6
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Remove the bottom leaves. They're the first to get disease and they bread it upwards.
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Old March 18, 2013   #7
Defiant20
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Thanks for the information. Would anyone recommend spraying the area, tomato cages, etc. with bleach solution or Daconyl?
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Old March 18, 2013   #8
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Have you read up on fusarium wilt? It sounds like that may be a large part of your problem. If that is what is killing your plants then the only real solution is planting varieties that will resist its destruction for longer. The problem with these varieties is they are not really good eating tomatoes most of the time. The one variety that I have found that is both a decent tasting tomato and also has half way good resistance to fusarium is Big Beef.

I have been dealing with an extremely high rate of fusarium wilt in my soil since I started gardening here 35 years ago. Most of the heirloom varieties have very little resistance to fusarium but some are better than others. In order to grow a decent amount of heirloom tomatoes in my ground I have for years just planted a large amount of plants and kept new ones ready to replace them as they die. It is a lot of work and extremely frustrating.

I have had my best luck with the following varieties producing a decent crop most of the time despite fusarium: Indian Stripe, Cherokee Purple, Neves Azorean Red, Spudakee, Dana's Dusky Rose, Lumpy Red, Zogola, Black Krim, Eva Purple Ball, Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red, Berkley Tie Dye Pink, Dr. Wyches Yellow, JD's Special C Tex, Kosovo, and Stump of the World. The hybrids that have produced the best are Big Beef, Jetsetter, Floralina, and Celebrity.

I am getting too old and having too many health issues to do the amount of work required when constantly replacing plants so this year I am experimenting with grafting some of my favorite heirlooms onto more fusarium resistant rootstock in hopes my plants will be able to withstand the disease long enough to produce a decent crop before the disease kills them. There is a long thread on fusarium wilt on this forum which might give you some help as well as a good thread on grafting tomatoes.

I suggest you find out what exactly is killing your tomatoes because there are so many things that can kill them such as fusarium wilt, root knot nematodes, bacterial wilt, TSWV, or a host of pests and foliage diseases. This year when one of your plants gets sick with what seems to be the culprit just pull it up roots and all and take it to your county agricultural agent and see if he can tell you what your problem is. Good Luck.

Bill
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Old March 18, 2013   #9
Defiant20
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I believe it it early blight
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Old March 18, 2013   #10
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http://www.settfest.com/2009/01/pests-and-diseases/

General Disease Prevention Suggestions
  • Watering — Water plants in the morning or early afternoon whenever possible, and water the soil, not the foliage. Do not be tempted to overwater. Water deeply and infrequently from the very beginning to train your plants, as this will tend to cause them to drive their roots deep (to seek water), which will lead to healthier plants that are better able to fight off various stresses. We generally prefer to water our plants no more than once every 3-4 days or so, even during the worst drought weather and hot temps. Soaker hoses or drip tubing (Netafim, for example) are our preferred method of watering plants.
  • Location — If at all possible, site your plants where they get good early morning sun so that foliage dries out quickly from any accumulation of overnight rain or morning dew.
  • Mulch — Mulching can help in limiting splashback of fungal spores onto the foliage from the soil. It can also assist you in your efforts to water deeply and infrequently as a layer of mulch will significantly cut down on evaporation. Just be careful not to pile up too much mulch right up next to the stem — be sure to leave a gap of an inch or two to avoid stem rot.
  • Several inches of pine or wheat straw, coastal hay, shredded black-and-white newspaper, shredded leaves, and untreated pine bark are possible mulch choices. Ideally, install your soaker hoses first, then put mulch on top of them to keep any wetting of the bottom foliage to a minimum.
  • Spacing — Space plants 24″ to 36″ apart for proper airflow. This will tend to limit the chances of disease from spreading from plant-to-plant and will also avoid areas of dense foliage between plants where insects may hide.
  • Removing diseased foliage — Remove and dispose of diseased foliage on your plants periodically to minimize the possibility of fungal disease spreading to the rest of your plants. Do not add diseased foliage to compost piles.
  • Selective Pruning — There is a lot of advice out there on pruning and “suckering” to reduce the foliage on a tomato plant to a “main leader”. We do not subscribe to these approaches, however we do believe in cleanup of dense thickets of foliage, as well as any foliage which may touch the ground.
  • After 3-4 weeks of growth and plants have reached 36″ tall, we make it a habit of cleaning up the bottom 12″ inches of foliage. This can be helpful in allowing the plants to dry out more quickly after rains and morning dew. If plants become extremely cramped in their cages to the point that good airflow is inhibited, some light thinning of the foliage is recommended. Otherwise, we have found that it is wise to leave most of the foliage on for both maximum photosynthesis and protection of the fruits from sunscald.
  • Preventative spraying — From the day of planting out, and then frequently in the early season, we treat plants with Daconil (Chlorothalonil) or another fungal preventative to help the plants get off to a good start and “reach a critical mass”. Later in the season, we are less likely to continue spraying plants, especially if they look healthy after significant fruit set has been achieved. In a particularly wet year, application is more frequent compared to a year lacking in rainfall.
  • Daconil is a non-systemic fungicide that coats the foliage in order to limit fungal spore attachment.Daconil is not a cure-all, and will not reverse existing disease present on foliage. It is best used as a preventative from the get-go, applied early and regularly, if at all. Daconil can usually be found at most box stores or gardening centers labeled as either Ortho Garden Disease Control or Daconil in a 29.6% concentration. Mix up small batches following the instructions. Pre-mixed spray bottles of Daconil have poor application and are not cost effective if you are growing more than a couple of plants.
  • Actinovate is an organic alternative to Daconil for fungal disease prevention and control, and so is Exel LG. I’ve found they work fairly well if used regularly and early, but are best used in con★★★★★★★★ with each other as they have different modes of action and neither one when used alone is as broad spectrum as Daconil. Either alternate between the two products for your weekly sprayings, or you can mix them together.
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Old March 18, 2013   #11
Got Worms?
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Early blight can be controlled with regular applications of Daconil and proper care.
You only need to know a few things:

Apply Daconil according to label instructions for mixing and frequency, plus once the leaves dry after every rain.

Don't touch or work on the plants when they are wet. (In fact you shouldn't be in the garden at all when it's wet).

Keep the plants dry. Water the soil, not the plant.
When you water, water gently, close to the soil so it doesn't splash from the soil to the lower leaves.

Remove (prune off) any diseased plant material just before you apply Daconil.

As you prune, clean your pruning tools off between each plant, as not to spread the disease. I wipe them with alcohol using cotton rounds, but you should probably use water with a little bleach.

Don't compost or bury what you remove. Keep your garden clean of the debris.
Charlie

Last edited by Got Worms?; March 18, 2013 at 07:07 PM.
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Old March 20, 2013   #12
Al@NC
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I just saw this product on Amazon.com and was wandering if this might be good to jack up the Potash and if it is would this be good to add to the soil before planting out to help the tomatoes from getting disease?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._email_1p_6_ti

"Promotes plant vigor and disease-resistance" and the ratio: "
Analysis 0-0-60". Does anyone have a history of using potash?

Al
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Old March 21, 2013   #13
RayR
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Al@NC View Post
I just saw this product on Amazon.com and was wandering if this might be good to jack up the Potash and if it is would this be good to add to the soil before planting out to help the tomatoes from getting disease?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._email_1p_6_ti

"Promotes plant vigor and disease-resistance" and the ratio: "
Analysis 0-0-60". Does anyone have a history of using potash?

Al
What if you already have sufficient potassium in your soil? Adding even more with a potent product like that could cause lockout of other nutrients like magnesium and then you get nutrient deficiency symptoms.
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Old March 21, 2013   #14
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The first thing we need to do is inoculate the seedling with beneficial fungi and bacteria during plant out. Why, because we want these beneficial fungi and bacteria to establish a symbiotic relationship between the roots and the rhizophere that the plant will be growing in.
Once the relationship is established the plant growth will increase due to increased nutrient uptake and at the same time this symbiotic relationship will help the plant protect itself against disease.
How, by making a dip solution containing beneficial fungi and bacteria. I use MycoGrow soluable, Actinovate and Biota-Max. Dip the plants root ball in the dip, remove and allow to drain and plant. Couldn't be easier. Ami
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Last edited by amideutch; March 21, 2013 at 09:17 AM.
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Old March 23, 2013   #15
guruofgardens
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Thanks for this info, Ami - do you usually follow the dilution directions on the labels and then combine them together for the root ball dip?

I've had early blight for the past 3 years and really want to give the plants a better chance of staying clear of this problem.
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