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Old July 1, 2010   #22
b54red
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
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I have not lost plants to purely folige diseases in years, since I started spraying with a mild solution of Clorox and water when the diseases make their presence known. Daconil is somewhat effective at preventing diseases from getting a foothold on your plants but is not very effective when the rainy periods come and it is washed off daily. During those times it is futile trying to apply Daconil to the wet plants only to have it washed off again within hours. I applied it day before yesterday and it has rained off and on constantly since then.
The Clorox doesn't give you any preventative because it does it's work in a matter of minutes and is oxidized very quickly; but what it does seem to do is stop or at least slow the disease present on the plant at the time you apply it. At the very least it should stop further spore development from occurring because of its disinfecting power. If you have Late Blight present I don't see what harm it would do to try it.


I use a mix of between 7 and 8 ounces of regular strength Clorox added to one gallon of water to give me a solution that is between 5% and 6%. A stronger mix will sometimes damage healthy plant growth. Make sure you spray the undersides of the leaves as well with a very fine misting spray. Spray late in the day or very early because bright sunshine during or right after the spraying will cause some leaf burn on healthy leaves. Within a couple of days after using it the diseased leaves will usually dry up and die while uninfected healthy leaves seem to be unaffected. Make sure to rinse your sprayer out because Clorox is a highly reactive substance.
It was a life saver or rather a garden saver last summer when we had rains almost daily for over a month. Every week I would go out and spray it between rain showers and was able to fend off the worst of the foliage diseases. Sometimes when there wasn't a chance for the leaves to even start to dry off I would increase the strength of the solution to compensate for the already wet plant diluting it further.
It will not help with systemic diseases like fusarium but I always spray those plants too because they are even more susceptible to other foliage diseases.
I know this is too easy a solution to be taken seriously but I have found it as useful for foliage diseases as the dishwashing soap is in pest control.
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