In what order should sprays be applied? Spray Schedule...

[Gerardo]

Lots of great nuggets of info in this thread. No more heavy pesticides for me. I've been using:

• Neem (health and beauty grade, 100%)
• DE (food grade)
• Daconil (rarely used)
• Met52 (minimum of 4 days post fungicide).
• dilute bleach spray

Spinosad sounds like a great addition to the arsenal.

Whiteflies, aphids, tomato bugs, fungus and EB are my main enemies.

[MrSalvage]

I have a lot of plant leaves with a light dirt coating on them from the storm the other night. I want to spray Capt Jack's this morning. The ground is still really wet. However I am able to walk in the garden without mud sticking to the bottom of my shoes.

Should I wash off that dirt coating before applying the Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew™ Conc. by Bonide?

I know it sounds like a stupid question and to me it seems I should wash it off. What I wonder is if it will really matter? I am sure farmers aren't out there washing off all the plants every time it rains.

Anyway i am allowed 2 stupid questions per day and I am off to a good start. lol

[MrSalvage]

Well I took a new 1 gallon sprayer out and added just straight water. I ran through 2 gallons so far cleaning all the mud off my plants. I am not done yet, just taking a little break. Then it hit me that I should just hold up again on the spinosad.

If I am out there trying to get all the mud off first before spraying. Then I should just go ahead and use bleach, soap & water. Then come back with a insecticide and or fungicide after sundown or vise versa.

Maybe this is one of the main reasons the bleach works so good then. I am sure if your out there with the bleach then you a certainly rinsing off all the mud you can as well.

That's has to be a good thing.

So I am switching to the bleach solution in order to wash off the mud and of course trying to keep the mold spores down.

[MrSalvage]

The sun came up a little to high once I got back out there. So I just stayed with straight water. All my plants are pretty clean now so I should be set for an evening spray.

I noticed it takes much more water to clean the plants off after a rain. I am sure i used 5 or 6 gallons of water at least to clean them all. The pepper's and tomato's weren't even that dirty other than dust from my dirt road. (Which is a whole other subject that I am studying). God only knows whats been applied on the dirt road in the winter from the County. One thing is for certain the dust from the road coats my garden every day from the a-holes driving to fast up and down the road.

Anyway when I am spraying chem it only takes 1 gallon in my tank to do my whole garden. It's a 20x40 with some side plants in bags, half barrels & buckets ect.

Just some thoughts before I make my notes for the day...

Bill

[gorbelly]

So far, I've never had serious pest problems on my tomatoes aside from some caterpillars that got into the fruit (and rodents, but that's a different issue). Sure, there was some minor foliage damage, but certainly not enough to endanger or really slow down the plant. Not like a hornworm problem, which can rapidly defoliate. So if I see caterpillars, I spray around fruit with Bt or spinosad. If I saw a major infestation with something like aphids, mites, etc., I'd use neem or insecticidal soap or something, probably. But if I only see a few, I'll leave it up to the predatory bugs to keep them in check. Partly because I like to keep the flora in balance in the garden and not do anything unless things are already badly out of balance, but mostly because all that spraying is time intensive and can get expensive, and I already have enough to deal with spraying regularly to prevent fungal infections.

I plant a lot of flowering plants that are supposed to attract predatory bugs and intersperse through the yard. Seems to work OK so far, and if not, I can enjoy the pretty flowers and their fragrance!

I'm thinking of spraying the fruit with a capsaicin formulation like Hot Pepper Wax because we are overrun with squirrels and chipmunks this year, and I'm still worried that the voles might come back.

[MrSalvage]

I have never even heard of hot pepper wax. So that's a new tool in my arsenal. As i do have squirrels & stuff. Hum it does look expensive though. I wonder if I can make my own with my harvest of hot peppers this year for the next?

Thanks for the tip on that one!

I finally sprayed the Capt Jack's last night. I so wanted to tank mix it with the Daconil. So i could cut out 1 more step in my spray program. I didn't do it thou, maybe a little later in the summer when I don't have so much to loose.

I did spray a tank mix of Daconil & BT on the 15th with no ill effects that I can tell.

I did see where the late blight has arrived here in Virginia. I had no idea that this is what caused the Irish Potato Famine from the 1840's. So I need to step up my bleach program. I am not even sure it will help...


http://blogs.ext.vt.edu/ag-pest-advisory/

Regards
Bill

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by MrSalvage

I have never even heard of hot pepper wax. So that's a new tool in my arsenal. As i do have squirrels & stuff. Hum it does look expensive though. I wonder if I can make my own with my harvest of hot peppers this year for the next?

I haven't used it yet, either, but it looks promising. Yes, it's expensive. I figure I will try it this year, and if it's successful, I'll look for ways to make my own. I don't grow super-hot peppers, but capsaicin is pretty available in various forms as a supplement, topical, etc. Seems like a combo of capsaicin and oil (neem, if you also need an insecticide or for an antifungal boost) would do it, although it probably wouldn't have the same staying power against rain as a formula with paraffin. Getting the proportions right would be tough, though, but I don't think capsaicin burns plants the way it burns people!

[MrSalvage]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Calcinit is most helpful in containers as a source of calcium to help prevent BER. As a fertilizer the nitrogen in it will give the plant's green vegetation a boost, but not so helpful for the fruiting stage.

Here's my spray regimen, and I believe in prevention too. Like Texas, we get hot humid conditions. I am going to be very specific about the brand, and the mixing.

1/2 Tablespoon per gallon of Southern Ag brand liquid copper fungicide, which is at half of their labeled weakest strength, but believe me it is very effective. Liquid copper is an OMRI accepted use fungicide( organic). When fully mixed and diluted, I put in 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of anybody's brand of BT, because this kills caterpillars really effectively, its a bacterium that they eat even one of, and it gives them an infection, but completely safe for people and animals, and beneficials. I put it in after the copper is fully diluted, because copper is not only a fungicide, but also bactericidal, and I don't want to kill the BT with strong mix. Last, I squeeze in about 1/10 of a teaspoon per gallon of dish soap liquid, to break the surface tension and allow the spray to spread.
I spray the tops and bottoms of all leaves and also the stem down to the soil line, I do this every 10 days, or every 7 days during times when the morning dew is dripping off the leaves, and also after a heavy rain. I try to avoid flower truss sprays.
I also do selective pruning of leaves to thin them out a bit for air flow.
I agree, prevention is the key, but I like organic methods.
I used to use neem, also very effective, but I didnt like that the oil stays on the plant, because even though it dries, oil + heat scares me. It's not much of a concern with the copper. Neem is organic too.

This is a great post from Marsha in another thread!

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=35928

I hope i don't get into any trouble putting her post into this thread. Her spray regimen is of high value to this topic. Please forgive me...

[Cole_Robbie]

I just sprayed Spinosad. It looks like the quart bottle is only going to last long enough for me to spray twice. The Met52 is 3x the price, but goes 4x farther.

I just noticed the potato beetles that were eating my eggplant, which I sprayed last week with the Met52. It looks like they are still eating the plant, but I noticed the sun has faded their red shells to pink; they've been dead a few days. Met52 reminds me of the superflu from Stephen King's The Stand.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by MrSalvage

Bill, have you used the bleach on other stuff like Beans, Broccoli, Collards, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Okra & Pea's?

I have used it on almost everything in my garden at one time or another and have found it works on most things. I have certainly used it on beans, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. The main things I use it on regularly are tomatoes, squash and cucumbers because they are growing at the same time and hit by various diseases so when I am spraying one I usually spray them all. I also use it on bell peppers but they don't usually need it as often. I also use Daconil and copper spray to help with prevention.

Bill

[MrSalvage]

Thanks for the answer man. That certainly helps to confirm things better.

Here is a thread that all the usual op's are talking about gray mold. It's from the 2013 growing season. I see where another tank mix comes to light with copper and manzecob. Interesting read indeed...

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.ph...rd+Copper+Soap

I have been searching for a thread where all the different chemicals are broken down into categories. Meaning organic or not & maybe someone else's search-fu on here is better than mine. Surely someone has put together a list?

[MrSalvage]

It also seems that not all copper sprays are the same. There are certainly a few to name out.

Bonide Liquid Copper Fungicide
Concern Copper Soap Fungicide
Natural Guard Copper Soap
SoapShield from Gardens Alive
Southern Ag Liquid Copper Fungicide

I am sure there are even more. Has anyone ever created a database for the home gardener? Can anyone name some more products?

[MrSalvage]

Another for the list...

DuPont - KOCIDE 3000 DF Fungicide/Bactericide 41.6% Copper Hydroxide