Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Information and discussion regarding garden diseases, insects and other unwelcome critters.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old May 25, 2015   #1
Itoero
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Belgium
Posts: 186
Default sodium bicarbonate

Does anyone has any experience in using sodium bicarbonate to prevent fungus?
Itoero is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 25, 2015   #2
JamesL
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 1,992
Default

Yep. Go with Potassium bicarbonate instead. It is much more effective.
Greencure is a ready made product. Make your own GC by adding a spreader/sticker to some PB.
JamesL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 26, 2015   #3
Itoero
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Belgium
Posts: 186
Default

ok,
Where I live, people use sodium bicarbonate to treat rust on garlic or onions.
But with potassium bicarbonate I should have better results?
Is there any known difference between potassium and sodium bicarbonate as fungicide?

And my last question,
How much potassium bicarbonate should I dissolve in 1l water?

Last edited by Itoero; May 26, 2015 at 07:34 AM.
Itoero is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 19, 2015   #4
Eric02476
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Eastern Massachusetts, Zone 6a
Posts: 50
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Itoero View Post
ok,

But with potassium bicarbonate I should have better results?
Is there any known difference between potassium and sodium bicarbonate as fungicide?
Yes. There is a good body of scientific research supporting greater efficacy of potassium bicarbonate vs. sodium bicarbonate as a horticultural fungicide. The information is commonly published by reputable academic extension agencies, such as in this PDF link:

https://www.extension.purdue.edu/ext...bp/bp-69-w.pdf

As others have mentioned, neither bicarbonate is effective unless mixed with a surfactant (spreader sticker). I'm currently using GreenCure, a commercially premixed potassium bicarbonate product, for the sake of convenience.
Eric02476 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 26, 2015   #5
Iva
Tomatovillian™
 
Iva's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Slovenia, EU
Posts: 249
Default

Itoero, I use sodium bicarbonate on my tomatoes, I've never used it on garlic though. Do you know if it actually works?
Sodium bicarbonate is easily accessible here, not so sure where I could get the potassium one...
Iva is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 26, 2015   #6
Itoero
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Belgium
Posts: 186
Default

Yes it definitely works on garlic to treat rust.

If you use it on your tomatoes, how many gram do you solve in 1 liter of water?
Itoero is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 27, 2015   #7
Iva
Tomatovillian™
 
Iva's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Slovenia, EU
Posts: 249
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Itoero View Post
Yes it definitely works on garlic to treat rust.

If you use it on your tomatoes, how many gram do you solve in 1 liter of water?
This is the spray I use:

5 liters of water
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
one teaspoon of liquid soap or detergent
one teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (I never weighed it)

Mix half the water (it should be rather warm) with soap and oil to get an 'emulsion', add the rest of the water (this should be cooler) and sodium bicarbonate at the end, mix thoroughly.

Spray the plants from top to bottom so they are literally dripping with it. Don't forget the underside of the leaves.
Iva is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 26, 2015   #8
RayR
Tomatovillian™
 
RayR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Cheektowaga, NY
Posts: 2,464
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Itoero View Post
ok,
Where I live, people use sodium bicarbonate to treat rust on garlic or onions.
But with potassium bicarbonate I should have better results?
Is there any known difference between potassium and sodium bicarbonate as fungicide?

And my last question,
How much potassium bicarbonate should I dissolve in 1l water?
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/download.php?id=126nteaspoosg

I used 4 teaspoons of potassium bicarbonate and 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap (not detergent) per gallon for powdery mildew on squash and it was effective at killing PM. Experiment and see what works best. I don't particularly like the idea of using sodium bicarbonate because of the potential phytotoxic effects of the sodium ion which can vary between the type of plant. Besides potassium bicarbonate is just more effective.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Iva View Post
Itoero, I use sodium bicarbonate on my tomatoes, I've never used it on garlic though. Do you know if it actually works?
Sodium bicarbonate is easily accessible here, not so sure where I could get the potassium one...
Potassium bicarbonate is sold by wine making suppliers, Best price I've found was $7.50/LB + shipping on ebay.

Last edited by RayR; May 26, 2015 at 11:32 AM.
RayR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 27, 2015   #9
jmsieglaff
Tomatovillian™
 
jmsieglaff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southern WI
Posts: 2,742
Default

Thanks for the recipe! My squash will get powdery mildew every summer at some point. I'm going to try this recipe. I can readily get KaHCO at my local homebrew supply store. Like anything, I imagine getting things early is key.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RayR View Post
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/download.php?id=126nteaspoosg

I used 4 teaspoons of potassium bicarbonate and 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap (not detergent) per gallon for powdery mildew on squash and it was effective at killing PM. Experiment and see what works best. I don't particularly like the idea of using sodium bicarbonate because of the potential phytotoxic effects of the sodium ion which can vary between the type of plant. Besides potassium bicarbonate is just more effective.



Potassium bicarbonate is sold by wine making suppliers, Best price I've found was $7.50/LB + shipping on ebay.
jmsieglaff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 27, 2015   #10
RayR
Tomatovillian™
 
RayR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Cheektowaga, NY
Posts: 2,464
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jmsieglaff View Post
Thanks for the recipe! My squash will get powdery mildew every summer at some point. I'm going to try this recipe. I can readily get KaHCO at my local homebrew supply store. Like anything, I imagine getting things early is key.
I have mixed 1oz of Neem Oil with the recipe also and bumped the soap up to 2 teaspoons or so to emulsify the oil better. That works too, maybe even better coverage. Neem oil has its own fungicidal properties so the combo is good.
You have to get full coverage of the squash since the powdery mildew attacks the whole plant, top and bottom of the leaves and the stems. You have to re-spray once sometimes twice a week since the PM will come back with a vengeance if you don't.
RayR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 30, 2015   #11
Itoero
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Belgium
Posts: 186
Default

How long does sodium or potassium bicarbonate works?
How often should I repeat it?
Itoero is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 15, 2015   #12
jmsieglaff
Tomatovillian™
 
jmsieglaff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southern WI
Posts: 2,742
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by RayR View Post
I have mixed 1oz of Neem Oil with the recipe also and bumped the soap up to 2 teaspoons or so to emulsify the oil better. That works too, maybe even better coverage. Neem oil has its own fungicidal properties so the combo is good.
You have to get full coverage of the squash since the powdery mildew attacks the whole plant, top and bottom of the leaves and the stems. You have to re-spray once sometimes twice a week since the PM will come back with a vengeance if you don't.
Would the anti-fungal properties of this spray be a good preventative of fungal issues on tomatoes in wet weather?

I'm thinking I would mix it up a gallon at a time--would using it over the course of a couple week at a time. Would that be ok?
jmsieglaff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 1, 2015   #13
Iva
Tomatovillian™
 
Iva's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Slovenia, EU
Posts: 249
Default

In the dry season, I use it as a preventive spray every other week, in the wet season, once or even twice a week...
Iva is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 16, 2015   #14
jmsieglaff
Tomatovillian™
 
jmsieglaff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southern WI
Posts: 2,742
Default

I mainly have issues with Septoria. So far so good but we've had a very wet week and the wheels are turning in my head. Think I'll just mix what I need. Thanks for the feedback.
jmsieglaff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 16, 2015   #15
Bipetual
Tomatovillian™
 
Bipetual's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Illinois, zone 5a
Posts: 579
Default

Green Cure, which is the potassium bicarbonate, says on the label not to store unused solution, so I suspect it does not keep.
Bipetual is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:22 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★