Do you sterilize cages/wooden stakes?

[kath]

Last year most of our tomato plants had to be pulled early because of Septoria and EB- it was rampant. Many of the wooden stakes we used had been used the previous year also and hadn't been sterilized. I read that Septoria can survive for up to 3 years so we've brushed the stakes well and are trying to figure out how to submerge over 100 stakes in a 10% bleach solution for 30 minutes. Some of them are 8' tall and our tallest container is only 3'. I'm thinking that I could coat the middle 2' of the tall stakes with paint but I'd really rather not. Any comments or suggestions welcome.

Has anyone used Oxidate or GreenShield for this?

kath

[troad]

Kath,
Make a trough with visqueen and lay the stakes down in it. Gather the ends of the visqueen and elevate them so the liquid does not run out.

[kath]

Thanks, troad-will any type of plastic sheeting do?

[troad]

Kath,
As long as it holds the water and you keep from poking holes in it. Probably some 4 mil would be strong enough. You will need to be able use it long enough to put in a few stakes at a time.

Len

[kurt]

After each season I nuke all my materials after cleaning soil off with Phisane.It is made for greenhouse applications.For the plastic pots I spray with pump sprayer and stack.The poles I drench with the spray.Then for the hell of it I use bleach spray also.I do throw away the velcro ties(perfect medium for spore to hide).I repeat this in the beginning of mater season.Got nailed with some crud 8 yrs ago and have been paranoid ever since.So far so good.

[carolyn137]

All New foliage infections are spread via wind and rain and they comprise the majority of Tomato foliage infections seen.

If plants in a previous year were infected, yes, the spores and bacteria can fall to the ground and the next year you can get splashback infection.

I've never staked tomatoes but wouldn't worry all that much about sterilizing them which you can't really do easily anyway, b'c all new infections are still the problem.

Same with cages and for several years after I moved to this new area I did grow quite a few varieties in cages, and some of the same varieties just by sprawling elsewhere.

I just can't see any sense, I guess my opinion only here, in trying to sterilize cages when it's the spores and bacteria that fall to the ground that can cause splashback infection and again ALL NEW infections are not prevented by sterilizing either stakes or cages.

[tjg911]

kath,

i never considered doing this until a few years ago when LB hit. so then each may before i'd plant i would spray my crw cages and rebar stakes with a 20% bleach solution until someone asked this question sometime in the past 6 or 8 months. at that time carolyn said basically what she said above. so i am not going to waste my time doing this anymore. when i plant them out i mulch with straw and put the crw cage and rebar in place. i make sure the straw is out past the base of the cage and keep straw out to the drip line as they grow. foliar diseases are not a big problem for me as long as i mulch, can't stop airborne diseases.

tom

[kurt]

I guess the keyword would be" New"infections.If some bacterias and spores are "introduced"by bought plants,vectored by insect migration,infected seeds and left to sprawl then you have to take corrective action.Hey if you do not have the problem great,but if it does occur then you are stuck with it and have to do prevenative and corrective measures.I learned my lesson here in S Fl when my wife brought home some infected plants from HD,Took me two years to get rid of grey mold.Spores and bacteria stick to anything porous and all they need is heat and humidity to activate the life cycle again.I am glad I do container maters only.I went down to my friends commercial mater farm and he tells me once "it"is in the ground you have two options,and you have to take both.One is to inject steam into ground(very expensive and time consuming)and you have to rotate crop or not grow in same land for up to three years.Meanwhile having soil tests done each steaming.He said it is all part of farming.So I nuke every year and have not had any problems since.

[kath]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Had a marathon planting day today- started with all my curcurbits followed by pole beans and after the shade and partly cloudy weather happened in later afternoon I began and finished putting in 150 tomato plants. Yes, it was dark when I finished.

I've grown all my own plants this year and I'm pretty fanatical about mulching transplants before the first chance of rain to prevent spashback infection, starting with a thin layer until the soil warms really well and adding to it as the season progresses. I use fresh ties each year and wash and bleach tomato clips and bags, and we cleaned cages with bleach mix the year we had late blight and got rid of the stakes. We've never had any bacterial problems with the soil- just the common local fungal infections. I'm sure the problem will decrease when I decrease the number of plants I grow and can increase the distance between plants. Last year I couldn't even walk between the rows without leaves brushing up against my clothes, so I'm sure I was spreading disease every time I walked through.

Considering what Carolyn says and how much cold, early am fog/dew, and rain we had last year, I think I'm going to skip the attempt to disinfect 150 stakes this year and just hope for better weather. We also put up cattle panels and 8' t-posts which with all new materials this year and have planted 17 kinds of cherry and small tomatoes and 12 returning beefsteak and heart favorites along them, so if the stakes wreak havoc with the rest of the plants but they survive until August I should at least be able to taste their fruits and decide if I like them well enough to grow them again.

This is the last year I want to grow anywhere near this number of plants...seriously. I'd love to be able to fit all of them along the cattle panel next year and get rid of all the wooden stakes permanently.

Thanks again to all who shared their experience and offered advice- you're a great bunch!

kath

[tjg911]

gosh kath i'm tired just reading all you did! maybe i won't gripe about planting my 8 plants.

tom

[kath]

Originally Posted by tjg911

gosh kath i'm tired just reading all you did! maybe i won't gripe about planting my 8 plants.

tom

Well, my knees and back are still aching today and usually I recover pretty well overnight, so that's just one more reason to try to keep things simpler next year.

kath