Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Tomato disaster!

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Etienne Goyer <etienne AT lejardinduvillage.ca>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tomato disaster!
  • Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 07:05:31 -0400

Apparently, Actinovate (OMRI listed) can be used as soil drench for root
disease, including rhizoctonia. That might be easier/quicker than
compost tea.

I am not speaking from experience. I am using Actinovate for the first
time this year, to control PM on cucurbit.


On 12-05-22 10:03 PM, KAKerby AT aol.com wrote:
> This is a total shot in the dark, and an extrapolation of what worked
> for one fungal problem into what might work in another. So, proceed
> with caution, but here goes: A tomato grower here (not me) was looking
> at a really bad case of early blight a few years ago - she'd already
> lost a lot of plants (I think about half) and she was afraid she'd lose
> the whole planting. Instead of thinking in terms of killing the evil
> bad fungus already there, she went the other direction and deliberately
> introduced massive amounts of good healthy fungus and associated
> beneficial bacteria, via compost tea as a foliar spray. She said she
> was able to save most of the remaining plants and salvaged something of
> the tomato harvest, rather than watching the whole thing burn down.
>
> While early blight is a leaf issue, rather than a base/stem issue, the
> basic principle would seem to be the same - flood the area with the good
> guys and the bad guys won't be able to compete. Or at least it'll slow
> 'em down. I found myself reading through your dilemma and wondered if
> that might be a worthwhile option. If you choose that option I'd love
> to hear how it works out. Actually, please let us know what option(s)
> you choose and how it/they worked. I'm sure one or more of us will
> eventually face something similar in the future.
> Kathryn Kerby
> frogchorusfarm.com
> Snohomish, WA
> Ruminations - essays on the farming life at frogchorusfarm.com/weblog.html
>
>
> --Original Message-----
> From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Marlin
> Burkholder
> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 8:23 PM
> To: Market Farming
> Subject: [Market-farming] Tomato disaster!
>
>
> I am having what amounts to a major disaster in my high tunnel planted
> tomatoes this spring! I am having die off of plants transplanted three
> weeks to a month ago. Inspection of the roots reveals that about an inch of
> stem below the soil line has begun rotting and collapsing causing sudden
> death of the plant. I would estimate that I have lost upwards of 1/3rd of
> my plants in one house and it looks like I am going to lose more. I posted
> here one day last week and several responded that it is damping off. The
> damp off I am familiar with happens in the greenhouse soon after young
> plants have come up. I don't think you would see damp off of 18 inch to two
> foot tall plants, some of which had tomatoes on approaching the size of golf
> balls. I have heard of warnings about putting fertilizer too close to stems
> at transplanting. I had put about two tablespoons of "Plant Tone" (an all
> organic product) mixed in the soil around the top of the roots at
> transplanting. I have done this for years and never had trouble. Once
> about 15 years ago I had a similar problem when I transplanted tomatoes
> through plastic mulch into ground that had one foot tall red clover plowed
> down about a week or two before. I figured that that was triggered by too
> much bacterial activity in the soil breaking down the clover and also
> attacking the tomatoes. The soil in one high tunnel had been amended,
> tilled, and plastic mulched last fall and did not have an excess of freshly
> decomposing organic matter in the root zone. The other high tunnel had not
> been mulched and was planted to over wintered spinach last fall and it had
> lettuce plugged into it in very early spring. I had seen about 5% die off of
> lettuce soon after transplanting to some similar type of root rot but it was
> nothing to be alarmed about. There is some tomato loss in that house but not
> nearly as bad as in the plastic mulched one.
>
> Now I am wondering what the heck is going on and what should I do about it!
> I'm thinking of buying some replacement plants and soaking the roots in some
> sort of fungicide before putting them back in the holes. I would also spray
> fungicide at the base of the plants that are still living. I would rather
> not use something chemical. We do have an abundance of forage mustard
> growing in other areas of the field which was planted for the purpose of
> natural soil fumigation. Would it work to make up an infusion of it and
> spray it on the soil? I need to pick some brains here!
>
> Marlin Burkholder
> Shenandoah Valley
> Virginia
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Market-farming mailing list
> Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>
> Market Farming List Archives may be found here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/market-farming/
> Unsubscribe from the list here (you will need to login in with your email
> address and password):
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/market-farming
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Market-farming mailing list
> Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>
> Market Farming List Archives may be found here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/market-farming/
> Unsubscribe from the list here (you will need to login in with your email
> address and password):
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/market-farming

--
Etienne Goyer - Le Jardin du Village
http://lejardinduvillage.wordpress.com

"Changer le monde, une betterave à la fois"





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page