It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 2:54 pm

All times are UTC - 6 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:09 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:40 am
Posts: 1
Assuming that blight is either a bacteria or fungus and seems to be soilborne, is it possible to kill this disease in the soil (using organic methods of course) instead of treating the plant on a weekly basis?

I should add here that I live in SE Iowa. The soil in my veggie garden is primarily clay, but by adding mulches and compost for several years now the clay is getting much looser.

The past two years my poor tomatoes have been hit by blight (bell peppers too). Crop rotation has not helped. This year I will try some of the organic remedies I have seen on the Internet, but I'd still like to know if I can get this disease out of the soil for good.

Thanks for any insights you can send my way.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:59 am 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator

Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2003 3:45 pm
Posts: 2884
Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
Have you tried using organic fertilizers? Mulch and compost are nice but the do not feed the soil microbes like fertilizer does. Healthy microbes are better than more and more microbes. Just to kick things off I would start with ordinary corn meal and alfalfa pellets. Scatter a heaping handful of each under the canopy of the tomato plants and repeat that monthly. If you really wanted to go crazy you could scatter a handful of flour, too.

Spray the foliage with milk (3 tbs per gallon on your Ortho sprayer) every other week to reduce/eliminate insect problems.

Be sure you are not doing anything to harm the paper wasps building nests under your eaves. They eat tomato horn worms. If you don't have wasps I've heard the best way to find the horn worms is with a flashlight after dark.

_________________
David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 6 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by eWeblife