Tomato Experiment with asprin spray.

[brownfingers]

I sprayed mine as young plants, (about a foot high), and have added some to a feed just the once. All 16 plants look healthy and as yet not one tom has suffered BER. I usually get just a few with BER, but have put it down to mixing powdered eggshell in the final potting mix to give them more calcium to go at. I wonder if the aspirin has had anything to do with it?

[Richard Eldritch]

Quick up date..er... nothing to update really. No blight yet though. Still it's wet and warm lets hope the spore are blowing the other way. Going to give them another spray once the rain stops.

[marchogaeth]

As I made quite a lot of willow water it didn't all get used in one go. I stored the spare and, when I went to use it today, I didn't know whether to spray it on the plants or drink it! It has fermented and smells absolutely wonderful. I did spray it on the basis that the important organic element should still be in there and that it's natural sugars that are turning into alcohol.

It could be coincidence but, I gave all the plants a little slosh on their roots the other day and the vine tomatoes seem to have gone mad producing side shoots - all over!

[Richard Eldritch]

Well, I have to declare this experiment a success! I got loads of fat juicy Folia F1 Plum Toms with no sign of any blight. Only one or two green ones left and they're still going strong.
I'll be certainly using asprin spray next year and I may even allow a extra truss or two per plant ( I stuck to three this year)

[teakdesk]

Good for you, Richard.

Perhaps next year you could only spray half your crop to see if those without spray get blight and those sprayed do not. That would show that blight was present on your plot and the aspirin protected the plants.

I got blight at the allotment but not at home, neither inside nor out. So I figure that had I sprayed at home I would have been misled into thinking the aspirin was responsible.

However, I think I may well follow your lead and spray at the allotment next year as there are so many other tomatoes and potato plants around. I will be able to spray all my crop there and know that if my neighbours are affected but I am not then the aspirin was responsible.

Thanks for your efforts!

[Richard Eldritch]

Good for you, Richard.

Perhaps next year you could only spray half your crop to see if those without spray get blight and those sprayed do not. That would show that blight was present on your plot and the aspirin protected the plants.

I got blight at the allotment but not at home, neither inside nor out. So I figure that had I sprayed at home I would have been misled into thinking the aspirin was responsible.

However, I think I may well follow your lead and spray at the allotment next year as there are so many other tomatoes and potato plants around. I will be able to spray all my crop there and know that if my neighbours are affected but I am not then the aspirin was responsible.

Thanks for your efforts!

Cheers, of course it wasn't very scientific but I've never been able to grow them before without getting blight. I have a very small garden, but I'll put aside a couple of plants next year as controls.

[brownfingers]

I sprayed mine just once and had no problems. I thought I may have copped for a spot of blight , but I removed the plant which I thought may have had it, and all the other plants were ok, so it was probably a false alarm.

[marchogaeth]

I missed this thread earlier this year but I was just thinking about this one from last year today and couldn't see it ref'd on the April one so I thought I'd bump it.

Bean sticks and willow bark/shoots for me tomorrow then - tomatoes are healthy at mo and don't want sweeter especially but I think I'll give the potatoes a go. They are only second earlies but I want them to grow on for as long as possible.

[Jarz]

Hi all, sorry I've not posted much here but I do read a lot of posts which interest me or are beneficial, and this is certainly one of them!

We only discovered at our committee meeting last night that we can no longer sell Bordeaux powder but we do get an awful lot of blight on our site. We were trying to find ways of getting round this, like growing BR crops, but it may be a problem educating other plot holders who are set in their ways, and may still buy potatoes or tomatoes from somewhere else, like a garden centre, or supermarkets etc.

So I'm glad to see that there could be alternative methods in fighting this disease. I lost all my potatoes and tomatoes in 2015, as did a lot of people, simply because I didn't bother spraying them with a Bordeaux mix. Silly me, thought I would get away with it.

How long do you soak willow in the water for, please?

Thanks for the tips.
Janet

[Penellype]

Be careful using copper sulphate. Most chemicals that are banned are banned for a reason.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper%28II%29_sulfate

Toxicological effects

Copper sulfate is an irritant.[37] The usual routes by which humans can receive toxic exposure to copper sulfate are through eye or skin contact, as well as by inhaling powders and dusts.[38] Skin contact may result in itching or eczema.[39] Eye contact with copper sulfate can cause conjunctivitis, inflammation of the eyelid lining, ulceration, and clouding of the cornea.[40]

Upon oral exposure, copper sulfate is moderately toxic.[38] According to studies, the lowest dose of copper sulfate that had a toxic impact on humans is 11 mg/kg.[41] Because of its irritating effect on the gastrointestinal tract, vomiting is automatically triggered in case of the ingestion of copper sulfate. However, if copper sulfate is retained in the stomach, the symptoms can be severe. After 1–12 grams of copper sulfate are swallowed, such poisoning signs may occur as a metallic taste in the mouth, burning pain in the chest, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, discontinued urination, which leads to yellowing of the skin. In cases of copper sulfate poisoning, injury to the brain, stomach, liver, or kidneys may also occur.[40]
Environmental toxicity

Copper sulfate is highly soluble in water and therefore is easy to distribute in the environment. Copper in the soil may be from industry, motor vehicle and architectural materials.[42] According to studies,[citation needed] copper sulfate exists mainly in the surface soil and tends to bind organic matter. The more acidic the soil is, the less binding occurs.

[marchogaeth]

How long do you soak willow in the water for, please?

Thanks for the tips.
Janet

In the rooting hormone type recipe it says 24 hours and strain but I usually just leave it in for as many days as there are between making and using - about a week.

Alternatives - blight resistant potatoes. The Sarpo ones are good but not to every ones taste. Cara did very well for me last year and still produces a reasonable crop as a second early. This year I'm trying Orlo which is also meant to have good blight resistance.

[Jarz]

Thanks for the replies. Not visited this forum for some months and hadn't realised I'd posed a question.

How are you all getting on with your tomatoes? Here in our part of London they seem to be very slow, especially in ripening.

I planted three seedlings in a grow bag in the greenhouse and have only two fruits. One emerged just the other day. But in the outside in the raised bed that one has gone quite mental, but is still green.

[Baldy]

Only a few of my hundreds and thousands have ripened - hundreds possibly thousands are still very green. About 10 other varieties and none have started to turn red whether in the unheated GH, in the garden or at the allotment. Its been an odd year weather-wise...