grey mold after rain

babice · June 24, 2012

I've learned to check with you folks before I try something. Am looking for your advice on how to proceed! I knew yesterday I would likely start having issues because it was very humid yesterday and, for today, we were forecasted either rain or more very high humidity. --- grey mold forming on the ends of some of the leaves of almost every plant. I considered spraying a soapy solution to try to wash off any mold spores that are there. But, seems they are going to need Daconil to help them get thru the rest of this humid day.

babice · June 24, 2012

It's spreading fast. Already showing on some of the stems. Even infecting my basil! Holy cow. I sprayed Natria on them earlier today. I have fans blowing on them now and am deciding between either using Daconil or Actinovate/ExelLG to help. Feeling like this is a bad one though!

b54red · June 25, 2012

Gray Mold and lots of rain and humidity go together like peanut butter and jelly. Once it gets going good it is very hard to stop it especially if the weather stays wet and humid.
Are you certain what you are looking at is Gray Mold? It and Late Blight can be confused because they can be so similar in appearance; but Late Blight is far more deadly and acts faster to destroy a plant. Gray Mold usually makes its first appearance on the lower or mid portion of the plant where it is shadier and where less light and air can get to the leaves. I hope you are right and it is Gray Mold.

We have been having drizzly rain for about 24 hours now and I know without even looking that I will have Gray Mold on my plants in the morning. If the rain lets up just for an hour or two I will spray with the bleach spray and hope for the best. The bleach spray is the only thing I have found that works at all on Gray Mold once it gets started on a plant. If you can kill the mold back and then get some dry weather with lower humidity then Daconil will help stop it coming back.

amideutch · June 25, 2012

Go with the EXEL LG and Actinovate. Use the bleach as a last resort. Apply your EXEL LG using 2 Tbls per gallon of water. Later on if needed you can bump it to 4Tbls per gallon. Once the plants are infected Daconil won't do anything as it is a protectant and not an eradicator. Ami

babice · June 25, 2012

ami - thanks. I had suspected this so I did go ahead with the Actinovate/Exel LG and I went with the 2 TBS of the ExelLG since it seemed to call for a good dose. I used molasses as a sticker. I had some left over so used it as a soil drench around the base of the worst plants.

B54 - no - I really don't know. I've spent the good part of this past night reading and trying to figure it out. It truly happened over night. It's on some of the stems and all over the affected leaves. Some of the leaves ends are turning black. Oddly as the day wore on I noticed my basil has brown patches now. Then I noticed that some of my flowers (which have been growing nicely with no problems) have the spots, as well as a bee balm I brought home from the nursery on Saturday. So I moved those flowers and the bee balm far away from the toms and sprayed them with the Actinovate/ExelLG too.

Humidity is 86% right now (it's 1:45 a.m.)

Should get better (like 58%) by 8am and then keep going down throughout the daytime hours, so I'm hoping that is going to help. It goes back up again over night tomorrow night.

Ami and/or B54 - do you think I should spray the Daconil tomorrow before the humidity climbs back up again? Or give them a day of rest from any intervention (save maybe cutting off the worst leaves/stems)?

thanks!

BLTLOVER · June 25, 2012

I'm in zone 5b also and had the heavy rains. Immediately after the sun came out I sprayed with Daconil. There were some leaves curling but no mold. You didn't mention if you have been spraying up to this point. I've learned that it's best to have a regular treatment program. I start spraying a couple weeks after I put my plants out and then about every 10 days or immediately after rain throughout the season. I do that even in dry years and it keeps it from getting a foothold.

babice · June 25, 2012

ami et al -- in my panic yesterday I had started another thread on this subject in the Gen Disc forum. I posted pics over there. If you'd like to look at those here's the link: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...212#post286212

This morning I didn't have much time so wasn't able to get more pics yet but I will post more later today. The worst of the worst plants leaves are wilting inward now and generally looking sad. The other plants still have leaves with brown specks all of them but the plants aren't looking bad themselves at this point. Still don't know what this is.

Thanks!

babice · June 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLTLOVER

I'm in zone 5b also and had the heavy rains. Immediately after the sun came out I sprayed with Daconil. There were some leaves curling but no mold. You didn't mention if you have been spraying up to this point. I've learned that it's best to have a regular treatment program. I start spraying a couple weeks after I put my plants out and then about every 10 days or immediately after rain throughout the season. I do that even in dry years and it keeps it from getting a foothold.

Hi BLT - leaves didn't start out curled. Just covered in these brown specs. Almost like they had been splattered with dirt. I did the ami-dip when I planted these out. Then one weekend I used Neem Oil and the next I used this cinnamon-oil-soap fungicide. I had planned to start either the Daconil or the Actino/Exel spray this past weekend and get those into a 2 week rotation...was still trying to decide whether I really wanted to use Daconil or not. Mother Nature has intervened and made my mind up for me!

BTW - any clue if Eastern Iowa or Western Illinois has had any reports of Late Blight?
later: according to this map, there isn't any in reported in the Midwest yet http://usablight.org/

thanks!

babice · June 25, 2012

Pictures taken this evening. Got tons of them - I have 25 plants and it's affecting all of them. Thoughts on what this is? Recommendations on protocol? Thank you for your help and time!

Fusion_power · June 25, 2012

Babice, you have gray mold and septoria and a few spots that might be early blight though I can't tell for sure on the EB. All are fungals and can be controlled with a combination of copper, daconil, or Neem.

One thing I noticed with your plants is that they might have micronutrient deficiencies, especially of boron. I would suggest getting a micronutrient fertilizer to add to the soil. other than that, they could use a bit more nitrogen.

DarJones

babice · June 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Babice, you have gray mold and septoria and a few spots that might be early blight though I can't tell for sure on the EB. All are fungals and can be controlled with a combination of copper, daconil, or Neem.

One thing I noticed with your plants is that they might have micronutrient deficiencies, especially of boron. I would suggest getting a micronutrient fertilizer to add to the soil. other than that, they could use a bit more nitrogen.

DarJones

Wow DarJones - thank you!! My gosh. How could I have all that and how did it look to me like it happened in just one night? I was spraying them with Neem Oil every other week and a cinnamon-oil-soap fungicide every other week. Gave them Actinovate/ExelLG yesterday (in addition to Natria). And I can do Daconil or Neem tomorrow. I don't have any copper...I do have "Green Cure" fungicide on the way, though.

I am glad to read, though, that it doesn't look like Late Blight because I don't want to leave those out there blowing in the wind and potentially spreading it to farms in Iowa.

ginger2778 · June 26, 2012

Babice, I also just saw a post from Amideutch on aspirin as a plant immune system booster. They take 2 aspirin tablets and mix it in 2 gallons water, used as a soil soak and foliar spray, and the plants recognize it as a stimulant to their immune systems. It said that most plants make Salicylic acid( that's what aspirin is) in response to pathogens so it's natural for them.
I am going to try it when my season comes in November.

BLTLOVER · June 26, 2012

I think the best thing at this point is to keep them sprayed maybe twice a week to see if that arrests it. If your looking for a copper based fungicide, Soap Shield spray works well. You can get it through gardensalive.com. That's all I used for years but due to all the rain we got last spring, I ran out and got some Daconil which I used the rest of the year. I have some left so I'm using it until I run out and then I'll go back to Soap Shield.

ginger2778 · June 26, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by babice

Holy crap. I think I might lose a few of these. It's spreading fast. Already showing on some of the stems. Even infecting my basil! Holy cow. I sprayed Natria on them earlier today. Obviously not helping. Gosh. I may have to resort to the dreaded bleach spray. I didn't take the affected leaves off because by the time I got back out there, I realized all the leaves are coated with this.

I have fans blowing on them now and am deciding between either using Daconil or Actinovate/ExelLG to help. Feeling like this is a bad one though! Oh my lordy.

I wonder if the fans are spreading the spores?

babice · June 26, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I wonder if the fans are spreading the spores?

eeek - hope not! The fan is pointing outward (toward the yard). I turned it off this morning because there was a nice breeze this morning. It's supposed to get uber hot the rest of this week. Hopefully it won't also be humid and the heat will just cook the crap out of those nasty fungi!

ginger - I started my toms on an every-6-week aspirin spray regimen way back. I was inspired by Mr. Ami as well as this article: http://www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm . I do like it and plan to continue. Maybe it's worth doing again this week, though, to give them the extra boost? I put Maxicrop in with it too last time I sprayed -- maybe I should up the dosage on the Maxicrop since Darjones says it looks like I need more micronutrients. Maybe I should do an aspirin spray one day and then a couple days later do a Fish Emulsion/Maxicrop spray for the nutrient boost.

BLT - sounds wise. Since I used the Actino + 2TBS Exel on Sunday, I think I might do that again once more but with 4TBS Exel as Ami suggests. And then use Daconil (since I have it) on the 2nd time of the week.

Would it be okay to vary those 2 in the twice weekly regimen for a little while?

June 24, 2012	#1
babice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Alabama Posts: 643	grey mold after rain I've learned to check with you folks before I try something. Am looking for your advice on how to proceed! I knew yesterday I would likely start having issues because it was very humid yesterday and, for today, we were forecasted either rain or more very high humidity. --- grey mold forming on the ends of some of the leaves of almost every plant. I considered spraying a soapy solution to try to wash off any mold spores that are there. But, seems they are going to need Daconil to help them get thru the rest of this humid day. Last edited by babice; July 2, 2012 at 10:27 PM.

June 24, 2012	#2
babice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Alabama Posts: 643	It's spreading fast. Already showing on some of the stems. Even infecting my basil! Holy cow. I sprayed Natria on them earlier today. I have fans blowing on them now and am deciding between either using Daconil or Actinovate/ExelLG to help. Feeling like this is a bad one though! Last edited by babice; July 2, 2012 at 10:27 PM.

June 25, 2012	#4
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	Go with the EXEL LG and Actinovate. Use the bleach as a last resort. Apply your EXEL LG using 2 Tbls per gallon of water. Later on if needed you can bump it to 4Tbls per gallon. Once the plants are infected Daconil won't do anything as it is a protectant and not an eradicator. Ami __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!' Last edited by amideutch; June 25, 2012 at 01:03 AM.

June 25, 2012	#5
babice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Alabama Posts: 643	ami - thanks. I had suspected this so I did go ahead with the Actinovate/Exel LG and I went with the 2 TBS of the ExelLG since it seemed to call for a good dose. I used molasses as a sticker. I had some left over so used it as a soil drench around the base of the worst plants. B54 - no - I really don't know. I've spent the good part of this past night reading and trying to figure it out. It truly happened over night. It's on some of the stems and all over the affected leaves. Some of the leaves ends are turning black. Oddly as the day wore on I noticed my basil has brown patches now. Then I noticed that some of my flowers (which have been growing nicely with no problems) have the spots, as well as a bee balm I brought home from the nursery on Saturday. So I moved those flowers and the bee balm far away from the toms and sprayed them with the Actinovate/ExelLG too. Humidity is 86% right now (it's 1:45 a.m.) Should get better (like 58%) by 8am and then keep going down throughout the daytime hours, so I'm hoping that is going to help. It goes back up again over night tomorrow night. Ami and/or B54 - do you think I should spray the Daconil tomorrow before the humidity climbs back up again? Or give them a day of rest from any intervention (save maybe cutting off the worst leaves/stems)? thanks! Last edited by babice; June 25, 2012 at 02:48 AM.

June 25, 2012	#7
babice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Alabama Posts: 643	ami et al -- in my panic yesterday I had started another thread on this subject in the Gen Disc forum. I posted pics over there. If you'd like to look at those here's the link: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...212#post286212 This morning I didn't have much time so wasn't able to get more pics yet but I will post more later today. The worst of the worst plants leaves are wilting inward now and generally looking sad. The other plants still have leaves with brown specks all of them but the plants aren't looking bad themselves at this point. Still don't know what this is. Thanks! Last edited by babice; June 25, 2012 at 10:49 AM.

June 25, 2012	#3
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Gray Mold and lots of rain and humidity go together like peanut butter and jelly. Once it gets going good it is very hard to stop it especially if the weather stays wet and humid. Are you certain what you are looking at is Gray Mold? It and Late Blight can be confused because they can be so similar in appearance; but Late Blight is far more deadly and acts faster to destroy a plant. Gray Mold usually makes its first appearance on the lower or mid portion of the plant where it is shadier and where less light and air can get to the leaves. I hope you are right and it is Gray Mold. We have been having drizzly rain for about 24 hours now and I know without even looking that I will have Gray Mold on my plants in the morning. If the rain lets up just for an hour or two I will spray with the bleach spray and hope for the best. The bleach spray is the only thing I have found that works at all on Gray Mold once it gets started on a plant. If you can kill the mold back and then get some dry weather with lower humidity then Daconil will help stop it coming back.

June 25, 2012	#6
BLTLOVER Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Iowa Posts: 90	I'm in zone 5b also and had the heavy rains. Immediately after the sun came out I sprayed with Daconil. There were some leaves curling but no mold. You didn't mention if you have been spraying up to this point. I've learned that it's best to have a regular treatment program. I start spraying a couple weeks after I put my plants out and then about every 10 days or immediately after rain throughout the season. I do that even in dry years and it keeps it from getting a foothold.

June 25, 2012	#10
Fusion_power Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,250	Babice, you have gray mold and septoria and a few spots that might be early blight though I can't tell for sure on the EB. All are fungals and can be controlled with a combination of copper, daconil, or Neem. One thing I noticed with your plants is that they might have micronutrient deficiencies, especially of boron. I would suggest getting a micronutrient fertilizer to add to the soil. other than that, they could use a bit more nitrogen. DarJones

June 26, 2012	#12
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Babice, I also just saw a post from Amideutch on aspirin as a plant immune system booster. They take 2 aspirin tablets and mix it in 2 gallons water, used as a soil soak and foliar spray, and the plants recognize it as a stimulant to their immune systems. It said that most plants make Salicylic acid( that's what aspirin is) in response to pathogens so it's natural for them. I am going to try it when my season comes in November.