Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Effective 1-2 Punch for blight and insect control

Ricefarmer05 · April 6, 2012

The Texas gulf coast area provides a prime environment for insects and fungi to thrive. I plant my garden every year knowing that I am in for a long (ultimately losing) battle against blight and leaf-footed bugs.

To prevent/control blight I generally start spraying my tomatoes on a weekly basis with Daconil once they begin setting fruit. The leaf-footed bugs usually don't show up until May when the fruit starts ripening and the temperatures start getting really warm. Leaf-footed bugs laugh in the face of any organic pesticides so I rely on chemical pesticides - generally Sevin or Spectracide Triazicide.

This spring has been unusually warm/wet so I've had to start the weekly Daconil routine as soon as I set out my plants and re-apply after every rain. The moisture has also released an early onslaught of insects including aphids, thrips and cutworms. As such, I've already had to spray a round of pesticide (Spectracide Triazicide) much earlier than normal.

Because the pesticide wets the leaves of the tomatoes, just to be safe, I also reapplied a round of Daconil after giving the pesticide 24 hours to dry. The pesticide label states that it is effective for "up to 2 months" and indicates that you would not need to reapply after a rain as long as the pesticide has had 24 hours to dry. Even so, it's been my experience that rain reduces the effectiveness of the pesticide even if it has fully dried so I'm sure the application of Daconil probably limits the effectiveness of the pesticide (at least to some degree).

So, I find myself in somewhat of a endless circle of fungicide/pesticide applications:

1. Application of pesticide causes re-application of fungicide -->
2. Re-application of the fungide potentially reduces the effective period of the pesticide thereby requiring more frequent pesticide application -->
3. More frequent pesticide application causes more frequent fungicide application. gosh darnoodleyit.

Given my predicament, I began an online search to see if I could buy Daconil in bulk. In performing that seach, I ran across a couple of Spectracide products that caught my attention:

1. Spectracide Immunox - Supposedly is effective for 2 weeks and is not washed off by rain http://www.spectracide.com/Products-...Fungicide.aspx

2. Spectracide Immunox Plus - Fungicide/Pesticide combined, also effective for 2 weeks and not washed off by rain. http://www.spectracide.com/Products-...l-Aerosol.aspx

Both of these products indicate that they prevent/control blight; however, I'm not sure how effective they are. I know that most everyone recommends Daconil and it has worked for me in the past so I'm hesitant to try something else. As such, I wanted to check and see if anyone here has used either of these products and, if so, were they effective?

Thanks,
Blake

April 6, 2012	#1
Ricefarmer05 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 23	Effective 1-2 Punch for blight and insect control The Texas gulf coast area provides a prime environment for insects and fungi to thrive. I plant my garden every year knowing that I am in for a long (ultimately losing) battle against blight and leaf-footed bugs. To prevent/control blight I generally start spraying my tomatoes on a weekly basis with Daconil once they begin setting fruit. The leaf-footed bugs usually don't show up until May when the fruit starts ripening and the temperatures start getting really warm. Leaf-footed bugs laugh in the face of any organic pesticides so I rely on chemical pesticides - generally Sevin or Spectracide Triazicide. This spring has been unusually warm/wet so I've had to start the weekly Daconil routine as soon as I set out my plants and re-apply after every rain. The moisture has also released an early onslaught of insects including aphids, thrips and cutworms. As such, I've already had to spray a round of pesticide (Spectracide Triazicide) much earlier than normal. Because the pesticide wets the leaves of the tomatoes, just to be safe, I also reapplied a round of Daconil after giving the pesticide 24 hours to dry. The pesticide label states that it is effective for "up to 2 months" and indicates that you would not need to reapply after a rain as long as the pesticide has had 24 hours to dry. Even so, it's been my experience that rain reduces the effectiveness of the pesticide even if it has fully dried so I'm sure the application of Daconil probably limits the effectiveness of the pesticide (at least to some degree). So, I find myself in somewhat of a endless circle of fungicide/pesticide applications: 1. Application of pesticide causes re-application of fungicide --> 2. Re-application of the fungide potentially reduces the effective period of the pesticide thereby requiring more frequent pesticide application --> 3. More frequent pesticide application causes more frequent fungicide application. gosh darnoodleyit. Given my predicament, I began an online search to see if I could buy Daconil in bulk. In performing that seach, I ran across a couple of Spectracide products that caught my attention: 1. Spectracide Immunox - Supposedly is effective for 2 weeks and is not washed off by rain http://www.spectracide.com/Products-...Fungicide.aspx 2. Spectracide Immunox Plus - Fungicide/Pesticide combined, also effective for 2 weeks and not washed off by rain. http://www.spectracide.com/Products-...l-Aerosol.aspx Both of these products indicate that they prevent/control blight; however, I'm not sure how effective they are. I know that most everyone recommends Daconil and it has worked for me in the past so I'm hesitant to try something else. As such, I wanted to check and see if anyone here has used either of these products and, if so, were they effective? Thanks, Blake