Funcicide Spray -- what do you use and why?

Greatgardens · December 31, 2016

I'm going to spray, so "I don't spray" is not really an answer to the question.

The candidates seem to be Daconil, Copper-based, Bleach, Green Cure, and Neem Oil. In no particular order. I want to spray as little as possible and as safely as possible. Bleach sounds enticing because it is a very known quantity and dirt cheap. But that is just an off the top observation. What do you think?

I'm also particularly interested in those who might have used Green Cure or something similar, since it is primarily for mildew, I've read.

-GG

wildcat62 · December 31, 2016

I use Copper & Daconil but haven't had a lot of success. The EB eventually gets me every year. But if I didn't spray I'm sure it would be much worse. Lots of good info on here.

ContainerTed · December 31, 2016

I spray as little as possible. When I do spray, my first choice is "Garden Safe". It is a good fungicide, a "hornworm killing" insecticide, and a miticide. I always concentrate on the undersides of the leaves and that makes each event of spraying last as long as possible when the rain comes.

Garden Safe comes in concentrate and in premix. I even use it on my fruit trees. Now, I keep other garden chemicals around and will not hesitate to use them. But my 32 oz container of Malathion concentrate is more than 6 years old and is still over 3/4 full. Here at the Muddy Bucket Farm, I have problems with Colorado Potato Beetles and Japanese Beetles. Although I have the occasional hornworm, I don't see cut worms and some of those other maladies that kill plants. The various wilts are rare except for when I buy commercial plants. Garden Safe usually helps with those.

No, I don't have stock in the company. I just think I found the right thing for this location.

Greatgardens · December 31, 2016

It is Neem Oil, isn't it? Seems to be lots of proponents for Neem Oil, so you have plenty of company. Pretty sure that is the product that Lowes and Amazon sell.

-GG

Dark Rumor · December 31, 2016

I have had success with Daconil one year and the next year Daconil did not help against leaf disease. Daconil will stop the spread of some leaf diseases, it will not kill the pathogens, but it does stop the disease from spreading. So against some diseases daconil will work, it is trial and error process.

I had some success with hydrogen peroxide last year using a 50/50 mix with water. I plan on using hydrogen peroxide again this year. I think hydrogen peroxide does kill some fungal diseases, but requires frequent applications, maybe once every week or two.

ContainerTed · December 31, 2016

I usually get Garden Safe at Walmart. It will even kill stink bugs and Japanese Beetles if you spray them directly. It's slow on those two, but effective in the long run.

rick9748 · May 13, 2018

70% Neem, why not buy pure Neem extract. Is something hiding in"Other" ingredients??

adewilliams · December 31, 2016

I used Green Cure this year to help with powdery mildew on my seedlings. It worked great! The problem cleared up after a couple of days. I also sprayed my tomato plants with it about once a week early in the season to keep them healthy and it seemed to work. Of course, we didn't have a lot of rain this year, so that might have been why they stayed healthy for so long. It's not a huge investment and I found it helpful. It's definitely worth a try.

rick9748 · May 13, 2018

Why not just go to backing soda??Much cheaper.Use and application on YouTube.

gorbelly · May 13, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick9748

70% Neem, why not buy pure Neem extract. Is something hiding in"Other" ingredients??

Neem extract and neem oil are not the same thing. Also, I don't even know what this has to do with anything anyone has said?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick9748

Why not just go to backing soda??Much cheaper.Use and application on YouTube.

Because baking soda is only effective against powdery mildew and only mildly so, and tomatoes are susceptible to a range of very unrelated fungal and bacterial diseases. In addition, the recommendation to use it is an extrapolation of the effectiveness of potassium bicarbonate. Unfortunately, a logical extrapolation doesn't equal a scientific or in vivo reality.

ContainerTed · December 31, 2016

Ade, I actually started using this product when I lived in Buford, GA. I know it works in that climate. Anyhow, my main point is that this product is so many things in one and it has been rated as organic. No need to have lots of bottles of things that only do one thing.

Take care.

**carolyn137** · December 31, 2016

I have used Daconil for many years and will continue to do so, the concentrate (95 % active ingredient,chlorothalinol)),not the already diluted stuff,dilute it yourself when needed.

It's best used as a protective for only Early Blight and Septoria Leafspot, the two most common fungal foliage diseases. It has no activity at all for the two most common bacterial foliage diseases of Bacterial Speck and Spot.

So you need to know which disease(s) you are dealing with before you decide what's best to use.

And is not that effective for Late Blight, P.infestans unless the symptoms of that fungal disease are detected early and affected foliage removed and destroyed. Early Blight and Late Blight are very different fungal diseases and both can appear early or late in the season.It all depends when the spores are in the air,which way the wind is blowing, rain, and other variables.
But P.infestans can ,and often is lethal,not so much with Early Blight,Alternaria solani.

Discussions/arguments abound at many sites about possible toxicity but Daconil is THE most widely used antifungal worldwide and has been for many decades,and when compared to some organic products, some organic cpds have greater toxicity.

Best to go to the Organic Forum here to capture some of that data,not here in this thread.What I'm essentially saying is that I don't want to spend time grabbing links from my faves,especially from the Extoxnet site.

OK,I decided to fetch that Extoxnet site anyway.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Exto..._AUIBygA&dpr=1

Carolyn

Greatgardens · January 1, 2017

I guess that I should also include Serenade. Any proponents for it here?

-GG

gorbelly · January 1, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greatgardens

I guess that I should also include Serenade. Any proponents for it here?

-GG

I used it this year alternating with organic copper soap (Bonide) and had pretty good results. My initial impression is that Serenade did very well against bacterial speck, which is the predominant tomato problem in my garden, but this year was much better.

I tried it on the powdery mildew on my squash, and it seemed to do as well as the copper, which is to say not a terrific job.

EB came for my tomatoes as always, but it came late, and it was extremely well controlled on everything except Coyote, which I think is just an especially susceptible plant, and which was kind of hard to spray because it's so shrubby.

It's hard to make conclusions because we had unusual weather this year, from a super rainy and cool May to an unusually brutally hot stretch from the middle of June through most of July. But I plan to use the same combination of copper alternating with Serenade this year again.

PS1452 · January 1, 2017

I alternate between chlorothalonil, liquid copper, and Serenade. Like gorbelly noted, it seemed that the Serenade was the most effective this year against the bacterial speck/spot, especially on the peppers.

I've always favored the copper formulations that were 10% copper soap, especially Soap-Shield. I see that the Southern Ag brand that was mentioned is "copper ammonium complex". Does anyone have any experience using both kinds, and which seemed to be better?

December 31, 2016	#1
Greatgardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,124	Funcicide Spray -- what do you use and why? I'm going to spray, so "I don't spray" is not really an answer to the question. The candidates seem to be Daconil, Copper-based, Bleach, Green Cure, and Neem Oil. In no particular order. I want to spray as little as possible and as safely as possible. Bleach sounds enticing because it is a very known quantity and dirt cheap. But that is just an off the top observation. What do you think? I'm also particularly interested in those who might have used Green Cure or something similar, since it is primarily for mildew, I've read. -GG

December 31, 2016	#3
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	I spray as little as possible. When I do spray, my first choice is "Garden Safe". It is a good fungicide, a "hornworm killing" insecticide, and a miticide. I always concentrate on the undersides of the leaves and that makes each event of spraying last as long as possible when the rain comes. Garden Safe comes in concentrate and in premix. I even use it on my fruit trees. Now, I keep other garden chemicals around and will not hesitate to use them. But my 32 oz container of Malathion concentrate is more than 6 years old and is still over 3/4 full. Here at the Muddy Bucket Farm, I have problems with Colorado Potato Beetles and Japanese Beetles. Although I have the occasional hornworm, I don't see cut worms and some of those other maladies that kill plants. The various wilts are rare except for when I buy commercial plants. Garden Safe usually helps with those. No, I don't have stock in the company. I just think I found the right thing for this location. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

December 31, 2016	#11
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Ade, I actually started using this product when I lived in Buford, GA. I know it works in that climate. Anyhow, my main point is that this product is so many things in one and it has been rated as organic. No need to have lots of bottles of things that only do one thing. Take care. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

December 31, 2016	#12
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	I have used Daconil for many years and will continue to do so, the concentrate (95 % active ingredient,chlorothalinol)),not the already diluted stuff,dilute it yourself when needed. It's best used as a protective for only Early Blight and Septoria Leafspot, the two most common fungal foliage diseases. It has no activity at all for the two most common bacterial foliage diseases of Bacterial Speck and Spot. So you need to know which disease(s) you are dealing with before you decide what's best to use. And is not that effective for Late Blight, P.infestans unless the symptoms of that fungal disease are detected early and affected foliage removed and destroyed. Early Blight and Late Blight are very different fungal diseases and both can appear early or late in the season.It all depends when the spores are in the air,which way the wind is blowing, rain, and other variables. But P.infestans can ,and often is lethal,not so much with Early Blight,Alternaria solani. Discussions/arguments abound at many sites about possible toxicity but Daconil is THE most widely used antifungal worldwide and has been for many decades,and when compared to some organic products, some organic cpds have greater toxicity. Best to go to the Organic Forum here to capture some of that data,not here in this thread.What I'm essentially saying is that I don't want to spend time grabbing links from my faves,especially from the Extoxnet site. OK,I decided to fetch that Extoxnet site anyway. https://www.google.com/search?q=Exto..._AUIBygA&dpr=1 Carolyn __________________ Carolyn

December 31, 2016	#2
wildcat62 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2014 Location: Zone 6 Northern Kentucky Posts: 1,094	I use Copper & Daconil but haven't had a lot of success. The EB eventually gets me every year. But if I didn't spray I'm sure it would be much worse. Lots of good info on here.

December 31, 2016	#5
Dark Rumor Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 287	I have had success with Daconil one year and the next year Daconil did not help against leaf disease. Daconil will stop the spread of some leaf diseases, it will not kill the pathogens, but it does stop the disease from spreading. So against some diseases daconil will work, it is trial and error process. I had some success with hydrogen peroxide last year using a 50/50 mix with water. I plan on using hydrogen peroxide again this year. I think hydrogen peroxide does kill some fungal diseases, but requires frequent applications, maybe once every week or two.

May 13, 2018	#7
rick9748 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: south carolina Posts: 175	70% Neem, why not buy pure Neem extract. Is something hiding in"Other" ingredients??

December 31, 2016	#8
adewilliams Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 87	I used Green Cure this year to help with powdery mildew on my seedlings. It worked great! The problem cleared up after a couple of days. I also sprayed my tomato plants with it about once a week early in the season to keep them healthy and it seemed to work. Of course, we didn't have a lot of rain this year, so that might have been why they stayed healthy for so long. It's not a huge investment and I found it helpful. It's definitely worth a try.

January 1, 2017	#13
Greatgardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,124	I guess that I should also include Serenade. Any proponents for it here? -GG

January 1, 2017	#15
PS1452 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Conway, AR (zone 7b) Posts: 13	I alternate between chlorothalonil, liquid copper, and Serenade. Like gorbelly noted, it seemed that the Serenade was the most effective this year against the bacterial speck/spot, especially on the peppers. I've always favored the copper formulations that were 10% copper soap, especially Soap-Shield. I see that the Southern Ag brand that was mentioned is "copper ammonium complex". Does anyone have any experience using both kinds, and which seemed to be better?