Trying to be prepared for the coming gardening season in case blite hits the tomato plants again.
Best organic fungicides based on bacillus subtilis?
- Thread starter TacticalSpeed
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The best preparation is prevention. Chances of Blight both early and late can be significantly reduced/minimized by rotating the location you plant tomatoes and mulching the young plants immediately after planting.
The rotation should be no tomatoes growing in that soil for three years prior. If you had blight last year, the rotation should be 5 years to allow the spores to die out. By following this faithfully you can reduce that rotation time down from three years to two years safely after years of no blight.
Mulch is an excellent preventor of blight especially early blight. Covering the soil around the new plants shuts down the primary pathway for blight spores to find your plants. The mulch needs to be something like 4 to 6 inches thick and preferably composted.
Other things like staking, trimming lower leaves, not letting any touch soil, hygiene i.e. never using stems in compost, etc. all can help.
Best Fungicide? I couldn't say because I do not own or purchase any. Someone else will have to pitch in on "Best".
The rotation should be no tomatoes growing in that soil for three years prior. If you had blight last year, the rotation should be 5 years to allow the spores to die out. By following this faithfully you can reduce that rotation time down from three years to two years safely after years of no blight.
Mulch is an excellent preventor of blight especially early blight. Covering the soil around the new plants shuts down the primary pathway for blight spores to find your plants. The mulch needs to be something like 4 to 6 inches thick and preferably composted.
Other things like staking, trimming lower leaves, not letting any touch soil, hygiene i.e. never using stems in compost, etc. all can help.
Best Fungicide? I couldn't say because I do not own or purchase any. Someone else will have to pitch in on "Best".
Heirloom farmer1969
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That's good advice from meadowlark.
I always rotate mine every year to a place where nothing in the tomato family was planted the year before. But if you lack the space, it can be difficult.
A farmer friend that I get all my free manure from here in Kentucky is a big organic tomato grower. I'm pretty sure he uses copper and what's called serenade organic disease control.
One thing you can do is keep the plant off the ground and prune the lower leaves off the plant so the soil doesn't splash on them. Another is to prune them to a single or double main stem so air can flow through the plant, if it is an indeterminate type.
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@Meadowlark is correct when he says prevention is the best preparation. But, as to your question, I have never heard of the stuff before now so I did a little research on it and found out that it and Trichoderma both do the same thing. That when used together it works many times better than when either is used alone. I know about Trichograma and I cultivate it by using whole ground or stone ground cornmeal at planting or at sprouting. I haven't had Damping Off in years and the only fungus I ever have is Alternaria Solari but in my climate it is a hot weather problem and my tomatoes are about ready to be pulled anyway. Wish I could help. I did find out it is expensive and none of the off the shelf fungicides have it as an ingredient.