Must be Living Under a Rock - Fungacide Free

[mobiledynamics]

in-ter-resting replies sofar. In reading past threads, I sorta presume it was the t-ville consensus to spray spray spray to maximize yield

[MickyT]

I also don't spray anything and some years my tomatoes are down and out by early September due to Late Blight. Last year was a good one Is it possible to prevent late blight by using preventative sprays, and to what extent?

[Worth1]

Presume---suppose that something is the case on the basis of probability.

Assume----suppose to be the case, without proof.
Which one is it.

Worth

[clkeiper]

nah, I think those who do just aren't interested in the floggings that occur for the choices they make in their own gardens.

[b54red]

If you don't spray down here then you are very lucky if your tomatoes make it past the end of June and I like tomatoes all summer long. I'm not spraying to get the maximum crop but rather an extended crop. I grow my tomatoes for fresh eating and I still like to be consuming them right up through the fall and sometimes til Christmas. The fact that I live in an area with a lot of commercial tomato growing that has been going on around here for a very long time increases the onset of diseases due to all the insects carrying diseases from one place to another. I am not too concerned with the amount of chemicals I put on my plants because it is a fraction of what is used commercially for most of what is purchased at the grocery store. I use mostly copper but start the season with Daconil for prevention of Early Blight and later in the season will use it occasionally especially towards mid fall when the danger of Late Blight increases. There are definitely advantages to living where the disease pressure is low but one big advantage of living where it is high is the very long tomato season we have. I started picking my tomatoes in mid May and expect to be still picking ripe tomatoes right into Novermber and hopefully into December.

Bill

[artis]

Never sprayed my tomatoes with anything other than water. But then again I live in the Garden State, famous for the best tomatoes in the world.

The chemical structure of Daconil and the Wikipedia article both look rather scary. I would personally never use Daconil on anything.

[pmcgrady]

Sprayed Daconil last week, it rained a day later... Noticed a few spots on a couple Mule Team plants... Sprayed again 5 days ago with an organic fungicide/pesticide/miticide, it rained again...
Noticed black spots on a couple plants leaves... Gave all my plants a bleach spray tonight, just in case. You might not believe in spraying, but you probably will if you ever see your entire tomato crop shrivel up before your eyes in a few days...

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by artis

Never sprayed my tomatoes with anything other than water. But then again I live in the Garden State, famous for the best tomatoes in the world.

The chemical structure of Daconil and the Wikipedia article both look rather scary. I would personally never use Daconil on anything.

Sorry to inform you...
But you just jinxed yourself...
I did the same thing about 5 years ago!

[Spartanburg123]

I started spraying last year after losing two to TSWV. But I was too late. This year, I was on top of it- Neem Oil, Daconil, only after rains. Still I lost two to TSWV- realized that I wasn't killing the thrips, the carrier of TSWV. Now I'm chasing thrips. Me thinks next year I'm gonna let the garden go where it goes! I plant enough that I get plenty of good eating tomatoes for our house and our friends....

[rhoder551]

I don't spray chemicals... it's not allowed in my community garden since we are supposed to be totally organic. However, I do spray a very dilute sea salt and water mixture on my tomato and melon leaves to keep off the mildew and other leaf cruds. I'm not an expert but I think my climate isn't prone to the diseases and mildews that show up in wet summer areas. I'm a lazy gardener and if I lived in an area where spraying was a must, I don't think I would grow tomatoes.

[Worth1]

Oh trust me I have it just hardly ever use anything.
Worth

[bower]

One thing I've learned at t'ville is to feed-feed-feed to maximize yield and minimize disease. My plants especially bigger fruit types were always starting to get diseases once they had loaded up and started to ripen fruit. Feeding regularly from that time onward made a big dent in disease for me.

Aside from that, sanitation pruning has worked well for everything except the mildews - which can defoliate the plants in short order.
I'm usually right on top of foliage disease at my place, because I water and/or open/close the greenhouse every day so while I'm at it... pick off anything suspect and dispose elsewhere. But last year I managed the tomatoes at my friend's farm greenhouse, and one day or one afternoon a week for pruning and tying up / sanitation included, was enough to keep the plants in pretty great shape. Granted that it was an unusually dry year for us so less fungus pressure. But mildew or some other unknown blight did attack one group of plants in August before they had ripened their fruit load. I don't know if feeding would have helped or why those two rows were affected not the others, but they were all shorter plants with mostly big fruit and all a heavy load for the amount of foliage.
Anyway it was gratifying to see that one day a week was enough for the usual sanitation to work.
I always remove the spent blossom bits because they are mold magnets and drop onto leaves (at least, in greenhouse with minimal wind to shake them away) causing mold to begin. Taking them out when pruning and tying makes a huge difference imo.

As for the dreaded mildew, IPM strategies are helping with that at my place - that is, removing the host weeds from the area where air flows into the greenhouse.
Side benefit, those neglected areas of the garden are looking much better, and productive.

[Labradors2]

I like my home-grown veggies and fruits to be organic so I don't spray. Septoria and Early Blight blow in on the wind every year, even in a drought. I remove the lower leaves, then the yellowed ones, then the infected ones. Usually manage to stay ahead long enough to get a harvest before the frost comes .

I know that some of the sprays are "organic" but I am growing my tomatoes in soil, and I don't want to negatively affect the soil web or the multitude of earthworms.

Linda

[brownrexx]

I also do not use sprays. They are not necessary in my area and I do not believe in spraying chemicals on my plants "just in case". My plants get some Early Blight and I trim it off the lower leaves. Some years Late Blight hits in late August and no amount of spraying will stop it so I just figure that my tomatoes are done for the year. Septoria hits so late in the year that it does not matter.

I realize that conditions are different in the South and I probably would have to garden differently if I lived there.

[Worth1]

And even then what part of the south.
I live in the transition zone between the deep south and the south west.
And on top of that just southeast of the Balcones escarpment/fault by about 25 miles.
This puts me at the far north edge of the Texas Coastal plains right before you get into the hill country.
The area I live in is one of the most diverse parts of the country/US including flora fauna weather and geology.
I can go from 10 to 100 miles in any direction and might as well be on another planet.