Information and discussion regarding garden diseases, insects and other unwelcome critters.
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July 12, 2016 | #151 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,069
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Bill, this is a really helpful thread. When you say [x] oz of bleach in a gallon, you mean the total volume of water + bleach = 1 gallon, correct? Not 1 gallon of water + [x] oz bleach?
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July 13, 2016 | #152 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 12
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Hey Bill,
I sprayed several tomatoes with the bleach solution last week. The two that were the worst infected with EB are now palm trees after I removed the infected leaved A few days later most of the leaves left have a few black spots or edges of black. There are tomatoes on one of the Palm trees. is it too late? When do you give up on a plant? How many leaves do you remove before giving up? There are two other plants that just had a few yellow leaves, after spraying, a few more leaves were obviously diseased and I removed them, but although these plants look pretty healthy now there are black spots on the main stem. I used 4 oz of 8% bleach to one gallon of water. Your thoughts would be appreciated. I am located in the Portland OR area. Thanks in advance for your help! Last edited by Chrysos; July 13, 2016 at 10:13 AM. |
July 13, 2016 | #153 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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July 14, 2016 | #154 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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Quote:
Since I usually plant an excess of tomato plants for our needs I am more likely to pull a plant early rather than fight a long sustained and frequently hopeless battle to save a really sick plant. It is entirely your decision when to pull the plug on a plant but I will usually do it if there is nothing left but a few healthy leaves at the top of a long bare stem; but even when a plant is like that it can recover from a lot of diseases if enough time is left in the season. Of course if the plant has a really difficult disease to control or one that can't be controlled I will pull it before it gets too bad in order to prevent the disease from spreading to other plants by insects. Bill |
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July 14, 2016 | #155 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: montreal
Posts: 31
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Do I need to wait a few days before I spray the bleach if I just removed sick leaves? Will the part of the stem that I've exposed wilt or die?
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July 15, 2016 | #156 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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Quote:
Bill |
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August 9, 2016 | #157 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 166
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Not sure where I messed up, but I had grown 2 Better Boy tomato plants in 1-gallon pots up to about 2 feet tall and decided that it was time to transplant them into my raised bed.
I watered the roots in thoroughly when I transplanted them, just as I always do. They looked great for a day or two---until I sprayed them with a solution of 4 oz. of concentrated bleach (8.25%) in a gallon of water. The next day, they looked like I had hit them with a flame thrower---all the leaves were starting to shrivel up. I watered them again, but the next day they looked even worse. A day or two later they were grave-yard dead (all of the leaves dead and falling off and the main trunk turning yellow/brown). I pulled them up and tossed them into my compost pile. Not sure where I went wrong, but I won't ever try that again. |
August 9, 2016 | #158 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: North carolina
Posts: 199
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Quote:
Same happened to me. Everytime i use bleach i get dead plants. |
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August 9, 2016 | #159 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: AL
Posts: 1,993
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Quote:
I would say, and this just my thoughts, that it was the soil and not the bleach that did it. I've known quite a few home gardeners that have had trouble with Better Boy where they have gotten a virus in a heatbeat and killed their plants. With using bleach spray on new transplants, you don't know if it from the spray or the soil. Also, not sure how heavy you sprayed. When I spray using the bleach, I use a misting type of spray and hit the plants quick and move on. I don't coat the leaves. Just a quick hit and move on does the job. I could be wrong, but I would say if your plants totally dying, something else going on other than the bleach. |
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August 9, 2016 | #160 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 166
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Quote:
I coated them really well (to the point of run-off) all over . . . leaves and stems. I am sure I over did it. The same soil grew tomatoes quite well this spring. I doubt that it was the fertilizer. I only used 3 of those little tomato fertilizer sticks in the soil around each plant---and that was 2 or 3 weeks prior to the transplanting (when they were still in pots.) Thanks all for the feedback! |
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August 9, 2016 | #161 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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The amount of bleach you used added to a full gallon of water should not burn the leaves at all unless there was some kind of significant disease presence. My starting point with small plants or even plants in the greenhouse is 5 oz added to a gallon of water with the 8.25% bleach. My general spraying mix when dealing with most diseases like gray mold is to use 5 1/2 oz added to a gallon of water. I do spray late in the evening or very very early in the morning and I use a fine mist. I rarely see any leaf burn at all unless a disease is present; then I get a shriveling of the more diseased leaves within 48 hrs.
There is always the chance that you got hold of a bottle of bleach that was far more concentrated than the label suggested. That happened to me twice but both times it was an off brand bleach but I'm sure it could happen with any of them. You didn't use a bleach with a scent or some other additive did you? I'm sorry it didn't work out for you but something must have gone wrong but I have no other ideas. Bill |
August 10, 2016 | #162 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: France
Posts: 554
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I strongly agree with Bill, tomatoes don't die if sprayed with the right product, with right doses, sprayed at the right time. I learnt this the hard way after the following mistakes :
- bad math when converting oz and gallons into the metric system. By the way I don't think lots of gardeners spray one gallon of the stuff in one go, another risk of making mistakes when preparing smaller quantities. - reading the precise composition of the product on sale is a must. Sodium hypochlorite often comes with whitening agents, scents etc. which may have unexpected effects. Choosing the right brand is important. - I understand some varieties may be more delicate than others but I haven't met any yet. - Sodium hypochlorite does wonders but no miracle : at the end of the season late blight always wins on my place. I'll add a detail that may interest gardeners working on crossings : year after year I grow a very bushy yellow cherry tomato, name unknown, that may have at most one or two leaves struck by late blight when all the other varieties are severely hit and it keeps giving fruit. Hope it may give ideas... |
August 10, 2016 | #163 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 166
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Thanks.
No, the bleach I used was a straight sodium hypochlorite solution (no perfumes or other ingredients). I suppose the manufacturer could have made a bad batch. I have no way to check that. And I am an engineer with over 40 years experience---much of it in the safety and environmental field---and quite familiar with the metric and English systems and very careful with my measurements. I think I just over applied it. Thanks again. |
August 10, 2016 | #164 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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Quote:
I will emphasize again how important it is to start spraying as soon as you see the first signs of LB because if you wait it will become systemic and then nothing will help. The undersides of the leaves must be sprayed completely because that is where new spores seem to form and it is important to kill them before they spread. Late Blight is the most difficult thing to stop or even slow down. It makes gray mold look like a minor problem in comparison. Bill |
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August 11, 2016 | #165 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: France
Posts: 554
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Big thanks for the above post. You made me understand that hitting Late Blight is not a fight but a war. As I'm retired I'll have plenty of time to follow your instructions, I had never thought I should have sprayed on such a big area. From now on I won't throw in the towel before the first serious frosts.
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