Quote:
Originally Posted by Katydid
Thanks. The plant didn't look any better this morning, so I went ahead and dug it out. I wanted to cry seeing all of the big, beautiful fruits that were getting ready to ripen. The stems all below the wilted parts showed no internal discoloration (I even did the water glass test to look for streaming bacteria and saw nothing), so maybe it hadn't spread extensively.
I dug out the soil around the root ball. I think later this afternoon when I spray for gray mold on an adjoining Black Krim, I'll add some dilute bleach to the dug out hole, fill it with some sterile potting mix, and not put anything solanaceous there for a few years. (After some consideration, I decided not to build a concrete containment vessel over the spot.)
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I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. In my past experience with Bacterial Wilt I found through trial and error a method of getting rid of it in the soil where a plant has been sickened and killed by it. I first mix up at least a gallon and sometimes 2 if the plant is large of a solution of 10% bleach and water and pour it slowly around the plant and keep doing this until the immediate area is soaked well. I then wait til the next day and pull the plant and add more of the diluted bleach to the hole just to make sure. I have planted back in the same spot within 10 days with no ill affects and no return of
Bacterial Wilt. I have done this numerous times with good results every time so I assume the bleach is strong enough at the 10% mix with water to kill the bacteria completely. It will also kill any earthworms in the spot but they will return rather quickly once all the bleach has oxidized and the soil has returned to normal. This treatment doesn't guarantee that Bacterial Wilt won't return or pop up in another spot in your garden but it has always cleaned the spot treated and I have done it at least 25 times over the years.
As to your gray mold problem. If you grow black tomato varieties then you will eventually have gray mold if the conditions are right for it to form. I have been battling it since I grew my first black tomato. First time I didn't know what to do and tried using Daconil and it did nothing to stop its progress. The next year I tried the diluted bleach spray and it stopped it immediately but at the loss of every infected leaf. I learned that it is far better to treat it as soon as you see the first signs of gray mold because if you wait it will get much worse and may become unstoppable. It seems to me that it is similar to Late Blight but much slower acting but if you allow it to remain on the plant for too long it seems to become systemic and then it will infect the fruit and stems and overwhelm the plant. I have found that with black varieties of tomatoes it is best to apply a copper spray every week once they start fruiting. I use the Southern Ag brand and usually apply it at the rate of 2 tsps per gallon of water with a little soap for better coverage. This simple thing will prevent most outbreaks of gray mold along with some judicial pruning to keep the plant more open for better air flow and sunlight. When this is not enough and I still get an outbreak of gray mold I immediately spray the plant and any other black tomatoes with the diluted bleach spray. It is more dilute than what is used in the hole to kill back Bacterial Wilt. Read the thread on its use carefully before using it. It is not a preventative but rater a disinfecting of the plant and in the process it will kill or shrivel up any of the plant that is infected by gray mold so using it early is imperative. After the diluted bleach spray I wait 24 to 48 hours and remove all shriveled stems and leaves and then spray the entire plant with a copper spray and at this point if conditions are favorable for gray mold development I will use 1 Tablespoon to the gallon but if the weather is dry and humidity low I will use the 2tsp mix.
http://tomatoville.com/showthread.ph...t=bleach+spray
I still grow black tomatoes every year and usually have only minor problems controlling gray mold but it is essential that you learn to recognize it early and start treatment quickly in order to have a successful season. Using the preventive spray of copper will go a long way in simplifying controlling this problem.
Bill