fusarium wilt

[b54red]

Well it is now the end of August and I can give some of the results of the bleach treatment. I treated every spot I was going to plant in one bed (by the way one of the worst beds in my garden for fusarium) with about a gallon and a half of bleach solution ( 6 ounces to the gallon). I waited for two days after the treatment before setting out the seedlings. I planted 16 plants on June 5 in very hot weather and over the next couple of months I lost 2 plants and have one that is sick from it now. Usually in plant outs in June or July I lose between 50 and 80% in the first couple of weeks from either fusarium or bacterial wilt.

My conclusion is that this treatment has been a major help in reducing fusarium at least for a couple of months. I have used it on most of my plantings since then and the results are about the same. Nearly all of the plants that were set out in untreated spots died within a month. Since the heat has been so bad this summer I would say this is more than a good result. Last year I planted around 25 plants in June and lost all but 5 or 6 before any fruit developed and only 3 were productive before succumbing to fusarium.

I will try it on another bed in the spring to see if it works again. I'm hoping it will be even more effective in the spring when the fusarium is not as virulent.

Ami, the Tarasenko 6 and Barlow Jap both produced a few fruit from the plants that I set out in the treated soil, whereas I lost all of them in the spring to fusarium even though they were treated with Biotamax and Root Sheild. Maybe I'll try using something like Root Sheild and using it after the soil has been treated. The bleach should be totally gone in a few hours or more but I'll wait a day or so to be sure. It might give those organisms a better chance to multiply in the sterile soil before having to compete with others.

[FILMNET]

I have lost 1 plant a week from this disease ,terrible for you and me. i am down to 8 plants now.

[beeman]

Originally Posted by b54red

I will try it on another bed in the spring to see if it works again. I'm hoping it will be even more effective in the spring when the fusarium is not as virulent.

It sounds as if you have found something useful.
My concern would the lack of bacteria in the treated area. I suppose ultimately it would spread from the surrounding area, but what would be the effect on the plants in the mean time?
One answer might be to do a soil drench with ACT a few days after your treatment, but would that re-activate the fusarium spores? So many questions!

[Gloria]

b54red--Thanks much for your report on results. I am astounded by the apparrent success. After treating and waiting a few days, I would add beneficial organisms including beneficial nematodes.

[b54red]

Beeman, I'm sure the bleach probably kills most good and bad bacteria but the effect is very short term. I was just hoping it would give my plants a short time in which to establish themselves before the fusarium begins its nefarious work. I have no doubt that the fusarium will move back into the area as well as beneficials because it doesn't take long for earthworms to move back in. My biggest concern would be a build up of salts from the reactions of various things in the soil with the sodium hypochlorite. So far I am seeing no signs of salt poisoning; but it could be a problem with repeated applications.

I thought in the spring I might try adding something like Root Sheild after a few days to give the soil a head start with the beneficial organisms and see if it makes any difference. One of the most remarkable things is the difference in bacterial wilt which usually kills most of my seedlings set out during the mid summer heat before the fusarium can even have a chance to kill them. I have a huge amount of spare seedlings this summer that I usually run out of by mid August because of all the replacements I have to make.

[b54red]

I guess I should do a follow up from last season first. The plants set out in mid summer in the holes treated with the bleach solution for the most part were productive til the cold got them. Of course some got fusarium bad enough that they died and some were not very healthy because of fusarium; but the treatment at the very least delayed the onset and reduced the severity of the fusarium.

I have 4 beds planted now and am doing a test to see if the bleach treatment helps in the spring also. The first two beds I planted with the usual preparation but without the bleach treatment. These beds got my largest and healthiest looking seedlings and a week later I planted the first bed treated with the bleach. About two weeks later I got the fourth bed planted and it too was treated with the bleach solution; but I gave it a heavier treatment.

Out of over 80 plants in the ground I see three that are showing definite fusarium symptoms and a quick check by cutting off a small stem confirmed my suspicions. The three sick plants are all in the two beds that did not get the bleach treatment in the planting spots. I did lose a few to bacterial wilt and before I replanted in those spots I did treat the hole with the bleach solution. The only problem with the comparison test is the beds that got treated are devoted to single stem pruning so the plants are much closer together. The beds with the infected plants were planted a week before the first treated bed so I'll just wait and see what happens. I have one more treated bed that I will be planting in this weekend and after that I will only be putting in replacement plants for plants that died or were too sick to keep fooling with and I hope to treat each spot a replacement goes in. I tag the replacements so I can keep up with them.

[amideutch]

Red, did see the thread I started on Azoxystrobin? I think that is the one product that can help with your fusarium problems and is effective as a soil drench as well as a foliar. Ami

[b54red]

Ami, what is it? It sounds like an antibiotic.

[amideutch]

Red, here is a link to the thread. Azoxystrobin is derived from mushrooms. Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=22423

[b54red]

Did a careful walk through today to check for TSWV and so far so good; but the incidence of fusarium is increasing fast. The first untreated bed is showing signs in almost every plant with one to the point of wilting so much it needs to be pulled. The second plant to show signs is rapidly turning yellow from the bottom so it may or may not produce anything. I am seeing some in the treated beds also but at least I haven't had a single case of fusarium striking a plant down before it sets fruit so far. With these rapidly warming temps I will soon be in full replacement mode.

The last tomato bed I have will be planted this afternoon and it was treated two weeks ago so I came back and did another treatment today around 1:00 and so there will only be a few hours between treating and planting. I have plenty of young seedlings in cups so if this is too soon it won't be a total disaster.

I'm beginning to confirm that the treatment with the bleach solution is only a temporary delay in the onset of fusarium in my garden; but if the delay is long enough it will be well worth the trouble. This is the first year that I have had no plants killed by fusarium in the first month after setting them out so that is some improvement.

[b54red]

Out of the ten tomatoes in the first bed I planted that was untreated all but one have fusarium now. The one that doesn't have it is a replacement for a plant that died the week after setting out and I treated that spot before replanting. Now the race is on to see which ones will hang on long enough to make some decent fruit before the fusarium kills them.

The second planted bed that was untreated has about half the plants showing infection but none have died from it yet.

The third bed which was lightly treated is showing about 10% of the plants infected with one or two looking pretty bad so that is some improvement.

The fourth bed which was treated a bit heavier is only showing two plants out of 35 with fusarium so far; but they have only been in the ground for 3 weeks.

The last treated bed is still being planted since I lost a couple to the wind the other day and need to replace them today or tomorrow.

I think it is still way to early to tell what the final results will be and we are just getting into the time of the year when fusarium does the most damage among my tomatoes. It is also time for TSWV, Gray Mold, Early Blight, Bacterial Speck and Spot, and Septoria to get busy now that the heat and humidity have gotten high.

[Heritage]

b54,

Sent you a PM...

Steve

[Crandrew]

Originally Posted by b54red

Out of over 80 plants in the ground I see three that are showing definite fusarium symptoms and a quick check by cutting off a small stem confirmed my suspicions.

When you cut a piece of stem what do you look for? Thanks and sorry to hear about your struggles.

[b54red]

I look for yellowish to brown streaks inside the cut or you can split the stem and see the streaks running up and down the inside preventing the good movement of nutrients and water. Once you learn what to look for you can usually tell a plant has fusarium before any of the more obvious signs even show. I don't wish that skill on anyone. I got it from lots of practice seeing thousands of plants die from fusarium over a lot of years.

At first glance my garden looks pretty good but on closer inspection it is now obvious that I have at least 20 plants with very obvious fusarium symptoms and at least that many more showing early signs of it. Despite that I feel I will have plenty of plants that will endure long enough to provide us with plenty of tomatoes and plenty to give away.

I am starting to see some fusarium in the treated beds but so far the treatment does seem to give me a bit of a delay with most of the plants still not showing much in the way of symptoms. One real plus is the fact that I am not losing plants to bacterial wilt in that first week or so after setting them out. That has always been a major problem for me when setting out seedlings in warmer weather and since I do so much replacement planting I set out a lot of plants from May through August each year.

[Crandrew]

TY for the info.