Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post

Blueaussi · June 19, 2009

This year is one of the bad years for wilts and blights here in SC. We've had a lot of cool, wet weather, and when it's hot, it's very, very muggy.

There are a lot of tough choices. Daconil works well, but it's not organic, and I don't want to do anything that will hurt my tree frogs. There are some organic sprays on the market, but they don't work nearly as well as the Daconil, and some of them will also hurt my tree frogs. And the most disease resistant varieties aren't the best tasting.

So, at plant out I inoculated all my tomatoes and peppers with beneficial bacteria and fungi. I've sprayed with a seaweed solution and aspirin to try and boost the plants immune system, and I've cut off yellowing leaves, and I've crossed my fingers, and thought malignant thoughts at nasty tomato diseases.

And, I've still got problems. In the few minutes I had before a thunderstorm chased me inside last night, I noticed that one of the Giant Belgiums has yellowing leaves more than half way up the plant, and something is really wrong with one of the Sun Kings. I didn't have time to examine it carefully, but there is mottling on the leaves all over the plant, and it's drooping: not wilted, but drooping. I'm probably going to pull it tonight.

I always grow one or two hybrids with strong disease resistance packages in case it's a bad year, so it's discouraging to see a Sun King failing already. I'm thinking I'm going to spend a good part of this winter putting some earthtainers together to try next year.

So, yeah, well, nothing really good to say, but I feel your pain.

June 19, 2009	#5
Blueaussi Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Carolina Zone 8a Posts: 1,205	This year is one of the bad years for wilts and blights here in SC. We've had a lot of cool, wet weather, and when it's hot, it's very, very muggy. There are a lot of tough choices. Daconil works well, but it's not organic, and I don't want to do anything that will hurt my tree frogs. There are some organic sprays on the market, but they don't work nearly as well as the Daconil, and some of them will also hurt my tree frogs. And the most disease resistant varieties aren't the best tasting. So, at plant out I inoculated all my tomatoes and peppers with beneficial bacteria and fungi. I've sprayed with a seaweed solution and aspirin to try and boost the plants immune system, and I've cut off yellowing leaves, and I've crossed my fingers, and thought malignant thoughts at nasty tomato diseases. And, I've still got problems. In the few minutes I had before a thunderstorm chased me inside last night, I noticed that one of the Giant Belgiums has yellowing leaves more than half way up the plant, and something is really wrong with one of the Sun Kings. I didn't have time to examine it carefully, but there is mottling on the leaves all over the plant, and it's drooping: not wilted, but drooping. I'm probably going to pull it tonight. I always grow one or two hybrids with strong disease resistance packages in case it's a bad year, so it's discouraging to see a Sun King failing already. I'm thinking I'm going to spend a good part of this winter putting some earthtainers together to try next year. So, yeah, well, nothing really good to say, but I feel your pain.