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Old July 4, 2010   #1
CLETUS
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Default Recipe for tomato blight buster

Mix 3 cups compost, 1/2 cup powdered nonfat milk, 1/2 cup Epsom salts, 1 Tbs. baking soda. Sprinkle a handful into each planting hole, and put some powdered milk on the soil every few weeks throughout the growing season.
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Old July 4, 2010   #2
rugerman1
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Early or late blight?
My old family recipe for early blight is:
1 cup of clorox to 5 gal water.Sprinkle around plant.I've been using 2oz per gal water in my sprayer this summer.Douse the ground around the base of the plants(early blight).
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Old July 4, 2010   #3
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Mix 3 cups compost, 1/2 cup powdered nonfat milk, 1/2 cup Epsom salts, 1 Tbs. baking soda. Sprinkle a handful into each planting hole, and put some powdered milk on the soil every few weeks throughout the growing season.
Will put this recipe in my box! I am very fortunate this year......no blight in sight. Now if we could be rid of this heat wave with no rain.....I'm getting weary carrying water to my plants in the lower field.... We need some rain
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Old July 4, 2010   #4
CLETUS
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This was my grandpas receipe. I believe its for early blight.
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Old July 5, 2010   #5
fourpinkmonkeys
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Can this recipe be used as a preventative as well? We just got a late blight disease alert. I don't have anything yet and I'd like to keep it this way.
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Old July 6, 2010   #6
CLETUS
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Can this recipe be used as a preventative as well? We just got a late blight disease alert. I don't have anything yet and I'd like to keep it this way.
You know sometime you hear about things to good to be true! I would try it on one or two plants to see if it works for you. Work it in around the plant. This is a cheaper way to protect. I think it will work for you. But alway run your own test plant to have proof for yourself
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Old July 6, 2010   #7
carolyn137
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I'm curious.

Why sprinkle milk on the soil or in the planting hole when Early Blight is transmitted initially by air and in raindrops? So the spores land on the leaf surface.

And any spores that fall to the soil from infected plants won't be destroyed by powdered milk.

For sure folks can try it if they wish, as long as they do controls as I think was mentioned above.

But when it comes to Late Blight ( P. infestans) I want to use a product that I know has been tested in challenge experiments and known to help prevent it. And that's b'c LB is almost always lethal while EB ( A. solani) is the most common fungal foliage pathogen in the world and I think almost all of us have had that plus Septoria Leaf Spot, the other major fungal foliage pathogen as well. And the same product I'm referring to that can help prevent LB can also help prevent EB and Septoria.

And you'll find it discussed in the thread here about Daconil.
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Old July 6, 2010   #8
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I'm curious.

Why sprinkle milk on the soil or in the planting hole when Early Blight is transmitted initially by air and in raindrops? So the spores land on the leaf surface.

And any spores that fall to the soil from infected plants won't be destroyed by powdered milk.

For sure folks can try it if they wish, as long as they do controls as I think was mentioned above.

But when it comes to Late Blight ( P. infestans) I want to use a product that I know has been tested in challenge experiments and known to help prevent it. And that's b'c LB is almost always lethal while EB ( A. solani) is the most common fungal foliage pathogen in the world and I think almost all of us have had that plus Septoria Leaf Spot, the other major fungal foliage pathogen as well. And the same product I'm referring to that can help prevent LB can also help prevent EB and Septoria.

And you'll find it discussed in the thread here about Daconil.
Well the reason for the milk would be the calicum factors in the milk powder. I believe calicum will make plants less vulnerable. That was Grandads reason.
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Old July 6, 2010   #9
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Well the reason for the milk would be the calicum factors in the milk powder. I believe calicum will make plants less vulnerable. That was Grandads reason.
In post #4 you said the recipe was for Early Blight and Ca++ doesn't ave anything to do with EB infection.

perhaps your grandad was thinking of BER ( blossom end rot) which for years was thought to be due to a Ca++ deficiency but the last 20 yers oaf research have shown that that's not true/

There's no problrm with uptake of Ca++ thru the roots, the problem is the bad distribution of Ca++ with in the plant itself and that occurs to the many stresses that a plant canhave such as uneven water delivery, too much N, growing in too rich soils, too hot, too cold, too wet and too dry.

As plants mature they can better handle those stresses which is why it's usually only the first fruits that are affected.

The only time that adding Ca++ migh help is if a soil analysis shows that there's NO Ca++ in the soil or if the soil is so acidic that Ca++ is bound in the soil and both of those conditions are quite rare.

Hope that helps. And not editing b'c it's too darn hot in this room right now.
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Old July 6, 2010   #10
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I agree with you carolyn137! I missed the answer in #4 post. You are quit accurate with all your facts. But I do not claim to know all the factors. I just tried to pass on a old idea, from my mentor. I hope I didn't confuss or mislead anyone. I just want people to think before they use harsh products on our enviroment. God Bless this Land! Cletus
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Old July 7, 2010   #11
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I agree with you carolyn137! I missed the answer in #4 post. You are quit accurate with all your facts. But I do not claim to know all the factors. I just tried to pass on a old idea, from my mentor. I hope I didn't confuss or mislead anyone. I just want people to think before they use harsh products on our enviroment. God Bless this Land! Cletus
Cletus, no one knows all the factors when it comes to tomato growing and diseases, but I do think that your mentor really was using it for BER prevention. But as I said above, so much new information has been discovered in the last 20 years or so that about the only time that adding the milk to the planting hole would be if someone had a soil with NO Ca++ or soil that was very acidic and both of the situations are rare.

I think it's great that you have kept that recipe going b'c it's part of your family legacy.
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Old July 7, 2010   #12
dice
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Baking soda probably represses some fungi. That was a folk
remedy for powdery mildew (baking soda in water), for example.

What would eat powdered milk? Lactobacilli, for one thing.
Maybe it outcompetes some disease-causing organisms
if it has an ample supply of food?

Late Blight is pretty virulent, though. Lactobacilli would have
to be abundant on the foliage to even have a chance against
it. Abundant lactobacilli on/in the soil will not prevent it. Will
lactobacilli also eat fungal spores that land on the foliage
(as well as milk) if it is there? I don't know.
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Old July 26, 2010   #13
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Default Fungus fighters

I am interested in the different remedies for foliage fungal infections. Do any of the remedies help against Botrytis. I have several questions!
Is Clorox a full strength bleach? Here in theUK I have not seen Clorox. We just get straight bleach. I am wondering whether I should use that at the same dilution as suggested for Clorox.
What would be the dilution rate for Baking Soda?
We can only get Dithane which is effective against LB. Does anyone know if that is similar to Daconil?
Finally Has anyone any idea whether use of Trichoderma and/or Mycorrizae as root preparations would affect the flavour of the tomatoes?
Thanks in advance for any help!
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Old July 26, 2010   #14
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Finally Has anyone any idea whether use of Trichoderma and/or Mycorrizae as root preparations would affect the flavour of the tomatoes?
Thanks in advance for any help!Gill
The only bit of your post I can answer.
I am using both of these this year without any taste difference that I can determine.
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Old July 26, 2010   #15
dice
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While the Clorox company has scads of different bleach products
for specialized uses ("hard surface", etc), standard Clorox is
laundry bleach, 5-6% sodium hypochlorite.

Baking Soda as a fungicide (research summary):
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/bakingsoda.html

The active ingredient in Dithane is mancozeb (not a
Daconil product). This site suggests that some
uses of mancozeb can be replaced by Oxidate,
including control of botrytis:
http://www.enviroselects.com/mancoze...e-alternative/

Search the disease forum here for threads on late blight.
There are some good summaries, particularly from Cornell
University.
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