Salt,
I will post this here as opposed to the other twin thread where you said you valued my input.
First I would like to thank you.
But I have to tell you that some of the conversations that go on here totally baffle me.
Trying to figure out what kind of disease something has or the goings on about genes and so forth I have no interest in.
Since I have no interest I have no desire to learn.
This is a horrible trait to have but it is just the way I am.
This trait has caused me to have a rather eclectic knowledge about things.
A hodgepodge would be more like it.
What I am is an observer and experimenter.
Some of our greatest discovery's were made by people that have no taught knowledge about things.
Therefore they weren't told it wouldn't work or in another term no pre- conceived notions.
Loosely these are called paradigms.
What they cause is called a paradigm shift.
That is where I am coming in with my advice I give.
It is simply years of doing and thinking things on my own and mentally recording the outcome.
I even experiment on people at work without them knowing it.
I have to do this because it is in my nature; (as mentioned by someone else here) to fix things.
I make comments and record their actions.
By knowing what their reaction is I can pick up on their personality.
By knowing their personality I can get along with them better and get them to do things they wouldn't otherwise do for other people.
What does this have to do with here and this thread?
When I give advice I sometimes cant explain why it works it simply works.
When I told you in another thread to mix in some decomposed granite it is because of an observation.
Granite is made up of many different types of minerals, as it breaks down these minerals are made available to the plants.
The term mix was used so it would be mixed in the soil.
If it is applied in a layer it will become like concrete.
My observation was when I used some along my driveway for my agave and cacti.
Everything else exploded with growth.
The observation on the amputation is this.
Much of this stuff that infects plants is basically not curable.
To stop the spread the only choice is to amputate or segregate.
The sooner the better.
You see a little leaf with something on it pick it off.
You see a gall on a bush or tree cut it off dont wait as there is nothing you can do.
Here is my advice for a healthy plant.
Put out seedlings.
Cut off all lower leaves and branches that hit the ground.
As the plant grows keep cutting these troublesome leaves and branches.
Never and I mean never allow water to splash dirt on the leaves.
Always water from a trench soaker hose or drip system.
If leaves do get soil on them water from above and wash it off in the morning before the sun gets too strong.
If the leaves as said above get spots or something on them cut away.
By doing this I haven't used anything on my plants in a very long time.
My next experiment will be to use natural toxins repellants to run off insects I dont want.
What I wont do is use oleander juice.
If I were to use this stuff it would kill anyone who ate the tomato.
My idea is to make the insect think it is a plant they dont like.
I never see a stink bug on my rosemary so maybe I could spray my tomato plants with an extract of it.
I honestly think that nature provides us with a brain and the animals and plants to utilize for our needs.
We dont need chemical plants to do it for us with poisons that kill off everything including us.
We dont even need them to kill anything we just need something to repel them.
Bugs and plants do it to each other all of the time.
Bugs and other pests are attracted by sight and smell.
We could work it both ways.
We could repel the pests and attract them to something else.
Just a few thoughts and explanations.
Worth