Remember the newest version of Clorox is much stronger than the one mentioned earlier in this thread. I use between 4.5 oz and 5.5 oz of Clorox added to a gallon of water with a little soap as a wetting agent. If I am dealing with a really bad case of gray mold or Late Blight I will use an even stronger mix.

Bill

Thanks. I have some old bleach sitting around. I will have to read the label.

I will add a few drops of soap. I have always had bad luck with soap in the past, but I was probably mixing it too strong.

Cole... I think I used 3 small drops of the dish soap to my gallon of bleach spray and it was plenty.

We're in the triple digits here now and they are here to stay and the humidity even at 8 am is so terrible you can hardly breath, but the tomatoes are looking good and thriving thanks to the bleach spray method.

It is a bit of a shock the first time you spray and see some dead leaves or leaves with white patches, but don't worry, the new foliage comes out looking pretty and it hasn't hurt fruit set or killed off any of the pests or beneficials either.

I have been waiting til the shade is over the plants for several hours to let the foliage cool down some before I spray.

Bleach spray method works great on other plants too. Not only veggies but on flowering plants as well.

So glad Bill shared his method. Sure beats a bunch of chems and wondering whether you will poisoning yourself or your beneficials.

I sprayed the diluted bleach solution today for the first time. Lots of black spots on leaves from all this excessive rain. Thanks for sharing this with us Bill.

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.

I plan on spraying my squash plants soon, they are showing signs of Black Rot. I guess I will start with a weaker mix and go from there.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;481546]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.[/QUOTE]


Sorry to hear that. I used 5 oz. of 8.25% to a gallon. My plants are looking better now. The diseased leaves were the only affected on mine.

Bleach with sodium hydroxide?
 

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

[QUOTE=sjamesNorway;481918]
I've also seen that someone has used a hydrogen peroxide solution. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Steve[/QUOTE]

Steve,
I have used and continue to use h2o2. It is an eradicator of course, not a preventative. I like it better as a spot spray. It works for mold and mildew and I have had success using it for EB/septoria as well.
Bills bleach spray is definitely more effective for mold.

I prefer the food grade version as it does not contain any stabilizers.

Start with a 1% solution and increase from there. Depending on the concentration available, dilute with plain tap water and spray immediately.
It breaks down very quickly.

Reds solution works, you just need to play with the ratios of bleach! Please, be careful of the bleach used. I use ultra concentrated clorox bleach from bj's wholesale. To start, I use less than an half ounce, a touch of soap, to a gallon of water. This usually is enough to slow, if not stop any fungal issues. If not, I slowly increase my bleach ratio..Always use less than increase slowly if needed.

[QUOTE=JamesL;482030]Steve,
I have used and continue to use h2o2. It is an eradicator of course, not a preventative. I like it better as a spot spray. It works for mold and mildew and I have had success using it for EB/septoria as well.
Bills bleach spray is definitely more effective for mold.

I prefer the food grade version as it does not contain any stabilizers.

Start with a 1% solution and increase from there. Depending on the concentration available, dilute with plain tap water and spray immediately.
It breaks down very quickly.[/QUOTE]
Thought I sent a reply earlier today, but can't see it here. Thanks, James, for the info. I tried H2O2 today, so we'll see...

Steve

I personally think this thread should be a sticky so people can find it.:yes:

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;481546]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.[/QUOTE]

Is it possible that it's diseased tissue dying off like bill described?

I really hope they recover. After several seasons of seeing my plants dying from the bottom up (you know it's bad when a container gardener shuns most determinates because if they don't keep growing there will be nothing left!) I think/hope you will be better off getting the disease off your plants to the extent that you can.

Those whiteflies are just nasty little ba$tards. I think I will tie some yellow sticky traps to my cages today.

Good luck, Cole Robbie.:|

A little off topic, but related as far as reason for spraying. Can I mix Serenade and excel lg? I just noticed a bit of mold and also, some yellowing bottom leaves. This is my first time growing in hot,humid climate with actual rain.
Can I also mix with Spinosad or perhaps BT? I'm getting a few tomato and army worms.
Is there anything besides vacuuming or hand picking that works on stink bugs? They are making my tomatoes ripen with ugly spots. I've tried DE and it may have helped a little but still seeing quite a few baby stink bugs.
I always worry with bleach that the normal, protective bacterias and yeasts will get killed, leaving an opening for bad stuff to grow. Sort of like taking antibiotics and then getting a yeast infection or killing all your bugs and getting a spider mite infestation.

[QUOTE=heirloomdaddy;181985]I just did my first application of 6% bleach. I'm anxious to see the results.

So far, Serenade, my starting point, did very little to curb powdery mildew. I moved up to Daconil, a major improvement, but as mentioned does very little to kill the fungus which is already present. It has, however, allowed the plants unaffected new growth.

I am certain that my lawn sprinkler watering of my garden has been 99% to blame, and will be installing a drip system before the season is up. I am certain that with my new chemical arsenal, mulch, and drip irrigation, next season should be much much better.[/QUOTE]

Did you try milk spray? That seems to work on my squash and peas when they get PM.