Diluted Bleach as Spray?
 

I just heard that diluted bleach works as a treatmeant for foliage disease in tomatoes. Is this true? If so what is the % of bleach? what diseases is it effective in treating?

if you have tried this, pls share your results.


thanks,

strax

You can go to [URL="http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=15113"]this thread [/URL]to read more, and hopefully b54red will "drop in" too. But, I use it and it seems to work great for leaf mold. And personally, I'd much rather have dilute Clorox on my tomatoes than even the organic stuff.

As to %, between 6 and 7%.

I have been using a dilute solution of Clorox for over 5 years and have found it the most effective treatment for foliage diseases. I have tried most of the commercial fungicides over the years and found that for diseases that are already established none have been very good. The Clorox spray will not help with systemic diseases but I have found it very effective on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, squash,onions and roses for most foliar diseases.
I mix 8 ounces of regular strength into one full gallon of water which gives approximately a 6% solution. Make sure to spray late in the day to reduce the chance of leaf burn. Make sure to use a fine spray and get the undersides of the leaves and the stems. I have used a stronger solution of between 7 and 8 percent during those rare times when it rains nearly every day for weeks but this increases the risk of some leaf burn; but I am usually desperate to slow the diseases down during those times.
If you spray this on plants with extensive disease you may be alarmed at the number of leaves that will wither and die within a couple of days; but your healthy growth should show no damage and will actually improve and if the plant doesn't have some kind of systemic disease it will continue to grow and produce. I use daconil as a preventative but eventually the Clorox becomes necessary and I occaisionaly use the daconil a few days after the Clorox spray if there isn't too much rain.

Thanks so much for this thread! I will try the solution this evening on the tomatoes and a patch of summer squash :-)) kd

thank you for the info

I hope it works for you. Let me know of your results.
Remember, if you have fusarium or any other systemic disease it will not work on them.

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.

p.s.

B54red- thanks!!

I also used bleach yesterday due to having seen post by B54red, what I have done is I pretty much heartlessly and relentlessly pruned the effected lower stems. Then applied the bleach treatment, then this morning I applied Neem to what is left and so far they are looking ok with no yellowing or anything so with luck they will pull through. I did that to 3 of the 5 effected plants to see how it goes and if it helps then will repeat on the last 2. I did spray the last two as above just did not heartlessly and relentlessly prune them LOL

Would be interested in hearing from other folks that have used Reds regimen and results. Ami

Ami, if you have a plant that is afflicted with a foliage disease that you are having difficulty controlling why not just mix up a small batch and spray one or two plants as a test. Put 2 oz in a quart of water with a drop of soap and use a fine misting spray being sure to get the undersides of the leaves as well as the tops.

I started out by testing it on the worst diseased plants that were near death and some managed to survive when I got the mix right. Then I started using it on more and more plants of all kinds when foliage diseases started getting bad. It is not a perfect solution but it is the most effective one I have found once the diseases take hold of a plant.

I haven't sprayed in over 3 weeks and just went out and saw early blight has taken hold in the rainy weather we've been having with heat index over 100 every day for a month. My bell peppers need spraying too because they are getting that stuff where spots form on the fruit. I haven't been spraying them this year and now I'm regretting it. I had to throw away dozens of peppers today.

red, I believe you. The more info and results we get from other folks using bleach the better. Especially the type of plant and variety so we can get a data base together. Ami

Ami, below is a list of plants I have used it on with varying success.

Tomatoes: most foliage diseases; but doesn't help with fusarium or bacterial wilt.

Peppers: helps with foliage and fruit diseases but not systemic diseases

Cucumbers, Melons and Squash: it helps with the various mildews but the affected leaves will usually die and it usually takes at least two treatments.

Onions and Garlic: I've had some success with various onion diseases but not root diseases.

Roses: helps a lot with those leaf spots

These are the things I have used it on in the last few years. It just seems to help with many kinds of fungus, bacteria, or mold but does little if anything for systemic diseases like fusarium or TSWV. Two of the best things about it is the cost and no waiting time til harvest. I don't use it indiscriminately but rather when the diseases are starting to cause problems. It might be better if I used it sooner and more often.

Love to see before & after pics!

2 days after my first bleach spray-

I should have taken before and after pics. What I am seeing is expedited death of infected foliage, and healthier new growth. I am going to be alternating bleach and daconil, which by itself was helpful but not a solution.

Hey heirloomdaddy, did you have a little scare when you saw the newly dead foliage after the spraying? It really gave me a fright the first time I used it on sqaush with powdery mildew and I saw those big leaves shriveling up. It just seems to speed up the dying of the diseased leaves on tomatoes while slowing or stopping the spread to the healthy tissue.

Ami: (and anyone else not living in the U.S.)

I should point out that household bleach sold in the US is usually a 5-6% solution, while in much of Europe, it is quite a bit stronger(sometimes double that). Take that into consideration before doing your dilutions, and read the label to see what solution you are using. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.

[QUOTE=RinTinTin;182418]Ami: (and anyone else not living in the U.S.)

I should point out that household bleach sold in the US is usually a 5-6% solution, while in much of Europe, it is quite a bit stronger(sometimes double that). Take that into consideration before doing your dilutions, and read the label to see what solution you are using. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.[/QUOTE]

I was not aware that the solutions were different. I figured Clorox would be the same the world over. I don't use any other brand because I worry the solution might be too weak or too strong. I've seen some cheap brands with only a little over 3% sodium hypochlorite and that is way too weak once you add it to water to do anything for your disease problems. The bleach I use is between 5% and 6% sodium hypochlorite. A little variation doesn't hurt but I try to never get my final solution too strong. It's not that hard to spray again if neccessary.

Red, don't be so sure on the concentrations of Chlorox. The MSDS for Chlorox Regular Bleach shows the concentration of Sodium Hypochlorite to be 5-10%.
For the bleach carried here in Germany (Not Chlorox) available locally shows a concentration of 1-10% plus it also includes Sodium Carbonate at a concentration of 1-10%. So , all bleaches are not the same. So it would behoove anybody who is going to use bleach to check out the MSDS for the particular product they want to use. Ami

Ami in all the years I have been using Clorox I have only seen one version that was over 6% and that was Clorox Ultra. I'm sure they make industrial products that might be stronger; but I've never seen them on the grocery shelves.

3rd spraying
 

I am shocked at the success and simplicity that this approach creates.

My JBT was on it's DEATH BED. it was toast, with literally 1 healthy looking sprout and all dead foliage.

It is a new plant. It is making the comeback of a lifetime!

My other plants are definitely responding very positively, much more so than when i just sprayed daconil, which i will only spray now once in a while after a bleach spray. My cucurbits are happier now too.

I imagine this works as somewhat of a pest repellent as well?

I'm very glad to hear the success you had with the Clorox spray. If it weren't for finding this treatment I would have stopped or severely limited my tomato growing years ago. Another great thing about it is it can be used fairly often with no bad effects and you don't have to wait to eat your produce. It has seemed to help with all non systemic foliage disease on everything I have tried it on. So far I have seen no sign of diseases building a tolerance to it. Of course nobody is making a financial killing off it so it isn't highly touted like some products that cost a great deal and do very little.
The one thing it will do is kill the entire plant if it is totally infected with disease all the way into the new growth. I recommend using it as soon as the diseases are apparent and not wait for them to spread all over the plant.
Another good thing about it is I don't find it necessary to cut off all of the affected limbs because the spray disinfects them. I have not noticed the diseases spreading any faster when I don't remove the diseased portions of the plant. Eventually the solution does that on it's own by drying them up and they will just fall off after a while. It does look better though to get rid of them if you have the time.

red-

I'm really really glad I found your initial suggestion. I was actually getting really depressed. I know that part of the beauty of this hobby of ours, is enjoying this amazing process that is bigger than ourselves, but after being reamed by this years conditions, I was very disheartened. My yield has been very bad. It's a real bummer to put so much thought, time, and passion into something just to have it fail for the most part.

Hopefully this treatment will remain as successful for me as it has been so far....my only concern with it, is killing-off beneficials I will regularly supplement with compost tea next season, in hopes of re-introducing any friendlies that the bleach may harm. Preventative bleach sprays of lower concentration will begin long before any signs of sickness next year, and I'm no longer worried about my cucurbits!

I have not seen any lessening of beneficials or non-beneficials from the bleach. I probably have to use it far more than you will ever have to because of our extreme humidity and heat. I do wait til sundown to spray when there are no bees flying around. I know it doesn't bother whiteflies or spider mites which I soak every time I have sprayed lately.

I've been to LA a couple of times and the climate seems wonderful. Imagine what it is like trying to grow tomatoes where the temps and humidity can hover near 100 for weeks on end. Some mornings your plants are so wet from the high humidity that water is dripping off of them like right after a heavy rain. It's really hard to keep the foliage diseases at bay under those conditions and like you I became despondent about ever having a successful tomato growing season.
I was to the point where I didn't care if the treatment finished off my sickly plants or not when I first used it. Some of them did die because the plants were so thoroughly infected but the ones that survived got a new lease on life and I got a new lease on tomato growing. There are now very few days from mid June to Christmas that I can't go out and pick a fresh tomato. Now if I can just find a solution for fusarium wilt and whiteflies.

Does this also work well in cooler weather later in the season when the plants are not growing much, not expecting any further vegetative growth, just to finish off growing and ripening the tomatoes still on the plant? It is probably 65F days and 50F nights here now. I pulled my diseased plants but I would like something in reserve to try on the others if they are hit.

Another option is to use swimming pool chlorine (quat ammon chloride). It is more or less the same as Physan greenhouse disinfectant/algicide/viricide, which many use as a profilactic antifungal spray on plants.

maf, I don't think the temperature makes too much of a difference and since it doesn't seem to harm healthy plant growth as long as the concentration of the spray is kept below 7 or 8 % and not used in the heat of the day. Just remember 8 ounces of regular strength Clorox added to one full gallon of water. If you find a stronger or weaker version of bleach you will have to adjust accordingly. I did find using less than a 5% dilution did not have as much affect. I think the Sodium Hypochlorite concentration has to be high enough to stop the spore growth so if I were using it as a preventative I would add between 6 1/2 and 7 ounces to the water.

Swimming pool chlorine is usually about [b]double[/b] the chlorine content of household bleach. The swimming pool stuff is usually in the 12-17% range. Read the label before mixing!

I have whiteflies in my high tunnel, and now also have the black sooty mold that is the result of the infestation. The variety that has the whiteflies and mold the worst is a Chinese dwarf calle[SIZE=2]d Qiyanai Huang. I sprayed it with a 1.5% peroxide solution, and a day later it looks much better, like most of the most has died.

The peroxide is too expensive. I was looking for a bleach alternative. Google led me to this old thread. I think it is worthy of a bump. I am going to try the 8 oz to 1 gal mixture to try and kill the sooty mold.
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