How to get rid of early blight?

[My Foot Smells]

Does anyone else have a problem with EB and have a remedy?

Thinking about solarization this fall and then top with some fresh compost/sand mix next spring...

I do not have the space to constantly rotate crops every year, so looking for other options to improve my soil heath and get rid of some soil disease. EB is a constant pita for me.

tia

[Labradors2]

We suffer from EB and Septoria, but I think they are blown in on the wind. Looking around our property and the surround, lots of the wild shrubs and even the lawn seem affected by the various moulds so I fear there is no escape in a wet year.

It helps to remove the lower leaves that may touch the ground or suffer from splashback, then remove leaves as they yellow. I sometimes spray with bleach when I get really desperate.....

Linda

[brownrexx]

I think that it would be pointless to solarize since the spores are almost weightless and arrive on the slightest breeze and will lie dormant in the soil. It would be like trying to solarize your lawn to prevent dandelions. I have seen people kill their whole lawns with Roundup and then replant sod ( my brother actually did this). They expect to have a totally weed free lawn and are disappointed when the weeds arrive again. I keep telling him that he can't stop the wind.

Anyway LB spores overwinter in the soil so the best way to deal with it is prevention by cutting off branches that are close to the soil and applying a deep mulch around the base of the tomato plants to prevent splashing of the soil which we know is going to contain spores.

I still get a few leaves with LB and I trim them off and dispose of them.

Solarization will not improve soil health because it will also fry the good microbes which help your plants to absorb nutrients from the soil.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

We suffer from EB and Septoria, but I think they are blown in on the wind. Looking around our property and the surround, lots of the wild shrubs and even the lawn seem affected by the various moulds so I fear there is no escape in a wet year.

It helps to remove the lower leaves that may touch the ground or suffer from splashback, then remove leaves as they yellow. I sometimes spray with bleach when I get really desperate.....

Linda

Thanks Linda,

I do remove the leaves past the first cluster and trim anything that hangs low, as well as mulch the bed to prevent splashing. I have tried fungal sprays to no avail in the past, which doesn't seem to help much & certainly not cure.

We have had big rains (sometimes 8" in one day) humidity and damp conditions - as per the usual spring. Now the heat is coming.

Was thinking solarization might be helpful in the fall and then retop with a compost/sand mix for next year. I've heard some wild things like powdered milk, egg shells, etc... prevent blight from resurfacing.

I see some ppl in my area have gone to grow bags with oak leaf mix. ??? I guess that way if a plant gets infected you can manually move or remove to prevent spread. IDK.

I do cut the affected stems and wipe pruners with a bleach rag between plants.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I think that it would be pointless to solarize since the spores are almost weightless and arrive on the slightest breeze and will lie dormant in the soil. It would be like trying to solarize your lawn to prevent dandelions. I have seen people kill their whole lawns with Roundup and then replant sod ( my brother actually did this). They expect to have a totally weed free lawn and are disappointed when the weeds arrive again. I keep telling him that he can't stop the wind.

Anyway LB spores overwinter in the soil so the best way to deal with it is prevention by cutting off branches that are close to the soil and applying a deep mulch around the base of the tomato plants to prevent splashing of the soil which we know is going to contain spores.

I still get a few leaves with LB and I trim them off and dispose of them.

Solarization will not improve soil health because it will also fry the good microbes which help your plants to absorb nutrients from the soil.

Good points. I quit trying to rope the wind many years ago and I am certainly not interested in creating more work that provides no benefit. I try to work smarter, not harder these days (((try being key word)))

thx

[brownrexx]

I am just never in favor of solarization unless it will definitely kill a serious threat. It is just too harmful to the rest of the soil food web. Many people talk about adding myco this and myco that but if you nurture the soil and don't kill the good guys with heat or chemicals then the microbes will be there for your plants. This is why I don't use synthetic fertilizers. They only feed the plant - not the soil.

[pmcgrady]

I had EB last year pretty bad, so I'm trying a different approach this year. Last year 125 tomato plants were planted all together in one block at 5 foot spacing, with newspaper mulch and 4 inches of straw,EB spread quickly. This year I planted them in 100 foot rows 4 foot spacing with a row of peppers in between each row of tomatoes. When I transplanted them I added a coffee can of ProMix BX (with bio fungicide) to each hole. I'm using black plastic mulch, with 4 inches of straw for mulch this year. Just getting ready to start Dacocil sprayings as a preventive, we'll see what this year brings.

[brownrexx]

I forgot to mention that I use cages for my tomatoes and make sure that they have adequate spacing from each other to provide good airflow and keep the plants dry and not touching each other. I am also meticulous in removing fallen tomatoes and dead plants especially at the end of the season because EB spores can overwinter in tomato plant debris so I make sure that it is totally removed from the garden and NOT composted.

It is a pain picking up and getting rid of all of those rotting tomatoes at the end of the season after a frost (do you even have frost?) but I think that it's worth it.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I am just never in favor of solarization unless it will definitely kill a serious threat. It is just too harmful to the rest of the soil food web. Many people talk about adding myco this and myco that but if you nurture the soil and don't kill the good guys with heat or chemicals then the microbes will be there for your plants. This is why I don't use synthetic fertilizers. They only feed the plant - not the soil.

No serious threats that I know, EB is just a constant annoying issue that pops up in the spring. It just limits production, but does not totally wipe out plant production. However, I also get blight on other things (fruit trees - fire blight, blue berries - stem blight, etc....). So definitely unavoidable to some extent. Excellent point about soil composition and organic fertilizer.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by pmcgrady

I had EB last year pretty bad, so I'm trying a different approach this year. Last year 125 tomato plants were planted all together in one block at 5 foot spacing, with newspaper mulch and 4 inches of straw,EB spread quickly. This year I planted them in 100 foot rows 4 foot spacing with a row of peppers in between each row of tomatoes. When I transplanted them I added a coffee can of ProMix BX (with bio fungicide) to each hole. I'm using black plastic mulch, with 4 inches of straw for mulch this year. Just getting ready to start Dacocil sprayings as a preventive, we'll see what this year brings.

Sounds like you are on top of things. I have thought about the black plastic mulch before, but have not used.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I forgot to mention that I use cages for my tomatoes and make sure that they have adequate spacing from each other to provide good airflow and keep the plants dry and not touching each other. I am also meticulous in removing fallen tomatoes and dead plants especially at the end of the season because EB spores can overwinter in tomato plant debris so I make sure that it is totally removed from the garden and NOT composted.

It is a pain picking up and getting rid of all of those rotting tomatoes at the end of the season after a frost (do you even have frost?) but I think that it's worth it.

Frost comes around turkey day here, sometimes earlier. I usually yank my plants in September and clean the beds of dropped fruits and stalks. I space 4' and use TTC.

[BigVanVader]

I have found a rotation of copper and potassium bi-carb to do the trick. I start with potassium using it every day for 3 days then I use copper. Let it stay for 3-5 days then remove any infected leaves. If it rains repeat the copper. Then I just repeat this process till it is gone. Spray the soil/mulch/etc under the plants as well. I would also recommend plastic of some kind depending on climate.

[RayR]

How many of you folks inoculate your plants with mycorrhizal fungi?

Enhanced tomato disease resistance primed by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by RayR

How many of you folks inoculate your plants with mycorrhizal fungi?

Enhanced tomato disease resistance primed by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus

The Pro Mix BX has the mycorrhizal fungus in the mix, you have to add water/wetten the mix to activate the fungus.

[BigVanVader]

I plan to use this for my fall tomatoes and next year from the start.
http://www.montereylawngarden.com/do...Label_(01).pdf


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacill...loliquefaciens