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#1
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
Hi, I'm growing tomatoes on my apartment porch, got maybe a dozen
plants going not too bad. Got a severe problem with bugs and bacteria pest because I recirculate excess water. Yup, the plant's saucer has a little hole in it with a quarter inch barb and tube which leads to an overflow collector. Half a day later I pour it back into the plant's pot. Recirculate the excess water, bacteria, bugs, whatever. Not the ideal situation to produce prize winning tomatoes, I fear, but a step in the direction of water conservation, probably taken a million times before. This year is my first endeavor to raise tomatoes, and I'm pleased so far. I'm in San Diego county California a bit east. My porch is overhung on the north and west sides, so the tomatoes only get a few hours of direct sunshine a day. No rain, so I water them twice daily, and spray with tap water after dark. I also flood the pots with tap water, so I get some overflow, which I use next watering. Pests encountered so far include caterpillars, leaf eating bugs, and something (bacteria?) which turns leaves and stems black in places. Caterpillar/worms seem easily defeated by applications of Ortho Bug-Be- Gone, but it must be replaced monthly. The leaf eating bugs are not so easily defeated. A little Malathion every other night slows them down a lot, but too heavy an application seems to destroy the foliage. I reckon I'm using about a teaspoon of Malathion per gallon of water now. First I heavily spray my victims with straight tap water, then lightly spray them with the Malathion solution. After a quarter hour, I again spray heavily with straight tap water. Seems to reduce the damage, but my principal question at the moment is what can be done to improve the results? Another insecticide, or another proportion? The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? |
#2
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
On Aug 20, 10:04 am, wrote:
Hi, I'm growing tomatoes on my apartment porch, got maybe a dozen plants going not too bad. Got a severe problem with bugs and bacteria pest because I recirculate excess water. Yup, the plant's saucer has a little hole in it with a quarter inch barb and tube which leads to an overflow collector. Half a day later I pour it back into the plant's pot. Recirculate the excess water, bacteria, bugs, whatever. Not the ideal situation to produce prize winning tomatoes, I fear, but a step in the direction of water conservation, probably taken a million times before. This year is my first endeavor to raise tomatoes, and I'm pleased so far. I'm in San Diego county California a bit east. My porch is overhung on the north and west sides, so the tomatoes only get a few hours of direct sunshine a day. No rain, so I water them twice daily, and spray with tap water after dark. I also flood the pots with tap water, so I get some overflow, which I use next watering. Pests encountered so far include caterpillars, leaf eating bugs, and something (bacteria?) which turns leaves and stems black in places. Caterpillar/worms seem easily defeated by applications of Ortho Bug-Be- Gone, but it must be replaced monthly. The leaf eating bugs are not so easily defeated. A little Malathion every other night slows them down a lot, but too heavy an application seems to destroy the foliage. I reckon I'm using about a teaspoon of Malathion per gallon of water now. First I heavily spray my victims with straight tap water, then lightly spray them with the Malathion solution. After a quarter hour, I again spray heavily with straight tap water. Seems to reduce the damage, but my principal question at the moment is what can be done to improve the results? Another insecticide, or another proportion? The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? Instead of applying so often and washing off you should leave the poison on the plants so it can have a chance to kill. |
#3
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
On Aug 20, 10:04 am, wrote:
Hi, I'm growing tomatoes on my apartment porch, got maybe a dozen plants going not too bad. Got a severe problem with bugs and bacteria pest because I recirculate excess water. Yup, the plant's saucer has a little hole in it with a quarter inch barb and tube which leads to an overflow collector. Half a day later I pour it back into the plant's pot. Recirculate the excess water, bacteria, bugs, whatever. Not the ideal situation to produce prize winning tomatoes, I fear, but a step in the direction of water conservation, probably taken a million times before. This year is my first endeavor to raise tomatoes, and I'm pleased so far. I'm in San Diego county California a bit east. My porch is overhung on the north and west sides, so the tomatoes only get a few hours of direct sunshine a day. No rain, so I water them twice daily, and spray with tap water after dark. I also flood the pots with tap water, so I get some overflow, which I use next watering. Pests encountered so far include caterpillars, leaf eating bugs, and something (bacteria?) which turns leaves and stems black in places. Caterpillar/worms seem easily defeated by applications of Ortho Bug-Be- Gone, but it must be replaced monthly. The leaf eating bugs are not so easily defeated. A little Malathion every other night slows them down a lot, but too heavy an application seems to destroy the foliage. I reckon I'm using about a teaspoon of Malathion per gallon of water now. First I heavily spray my victims with straight tap water, then lightly spray them with the Malathion solution. After a quarter hour, I again spray heavily with straight tap water. Seems to reduce the damage, but my principal question at the moment is what can be done to improve the results? Another insecticide, or another proportion? The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? Excess moisture on the leafs will cause a mold and fungus growth. All that spraying, more so at night, is giving the molds a chance to really grow. On occation spray the leaves otherwise just water the soil. Also try using a spay made up with garlic oil, hotpepper juice and a little dish soap mixed with water. What that will do is change the tast of the leaf and the bugs won't eat it as much. |
#4
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
wrote in message oups.com... Hi, I'm growing tomatoes on my apartment porch, got maybe a dozen plants going not too bad. Got a severe problem with bugs and bacteria pest because I recirculate excess water. Yup, the plant's saucer has a little hole in it with a quarter inch barb and tube which leads to an overflow collector. Half a day later I pour it back into the plant's pot. Recirculate the excess water, bacteria, bugs, whatever. Not the ideal situation to produce prize winning tomatoes, I fear, but a step in the direction of water conservation, probably taken a million times before. This year is my first endeavor to raise tomatoes, and I'm pleased so far. I'm in San Diego county California a bit east. My porch is overhung on the north and west sides, so the tomatoes only get a few hours of direct sunshine a day. No rain, so I water them twice daily, and spray with tap water after dark. I also flood the pots with tap water, so I get some overflow, which I use next watering. Pests encountered so far include caterpillars, leaf eating bugs, and something (bacteria?) which turns leaves and stems black in places. Caterpillar/worms seem easily defeated by applications of Ortho Bug-Be- Gone, but it must be replaced monthly. The leaf eating bugs are not so easily defeated. A little Malathion every other night slows them down a lot, but too heavy an application seems to destroy the foliage. I reckon I'm using about a teaspoon of Malathion per gallon of water now. First I heavily spray my victims with straight tap water, then lightly spray them with the Malathion solution. After a quarter hour, I again spray heavily with straight tap water. Seems to reduce the damage, but my principal question at the moment is what can be done to improve the results? Another insecticide, or another proportion? The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? or another alternative to try is a neem oil spray. rob |
#5
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
In article ,
"George.com" wrote: The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? or another alternative to try is a neem oil spray. rob Seconded. I would personally never use Malathion on anything I expected to eat. -- Peace, Om Remove _ to validate e-mails. "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson |
#6
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
In message , Omelet
writes In article , "George.com" wrote: The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? or another alternative to try is a neem oil spray. rob Seconded. I would personally never use Malathion on anything I expected to eat. Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. -- Max Wright |
#7
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
In article ,
Max Wright wrote: In message , Omelet writes In article , "George.com" wrote: The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? or another alternative to try is a neem oil spray. rob Seconded. I would personally never use Malathion on anything I expected to eat. Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. I wonder if a sulfur treatment would help? -- Peace, Om Remove _ to validate e-mails. "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson |
#8
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
Omelet wrote:
In article , Max Wright wrote: In message , Omelet writes In article , "George.com" wrote: The black growth mostly on the stalks and a few leaves I attribute to some bacterial infestation, but the Malathion don't seem to help. A few hours spent examining labels of pesticides at the Home Depot and Lowes seems to suggest I am SOL. The growth puts me out of competition for the Better Homes and Gardens competition, but don't seem to be hurting the plants a lot; it's just ugly. Any ideas? or another alternative to try is a neem oil spray. rob Seconded. I would personally never use Malathion on anything I expected to eat. Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. I wonder if a sulfur treatment would help? Bordeaux mixture should work, and it even sticks pretty well through rains. Bob |
#9
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
In article ,
zxcvbob wrote: Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. I wonder if a sulfur treatment would help? Bordeaux mixture should work, and it even sticks pretty well through rains. Bob I'm not familiar with that. I'll have to google it... -- Peace, Om Remove _ to validate e-mails. "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson |
#10
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
Omelet wrote:
In article , zxcvbob wrote: Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. I wonder if a sulfur treatment would help? Bordeaux mixture should work, and it even sticks pretty well through rains. Bob I'm not familiar with that. I'll have to google it... Copper sulfate and slaked lime. I think it's even "organic" approved. Bob |
#11
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
In article ,
zxcvbob wrote: Omelet wrote: In article , zxcvbob wrote: Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. I wonder if a sulfur treatment would help? Bordeaux mixture should work, and it even sticks pretty well through rains. Bob I'm not familiar with that. I'll have to google it... Copper sulfate and slaked lime. I think it's even "organic" approved. Bob It makes sense. I may have to try some of that for the ivy out front. -- Peace, Om Remove _ to validate e-mails. "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson |
#12
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
Omelet wrote:
In article , zxcvbob wrote: Omelet wrote: In article , zxcvbob wrote: Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. I wonder if a sulfur treatment would help? Bordeaux mixture should work, and it even sticks pretty well through rains. Bob I'm not familiar with that. I'll have to google it... Copper sulfate and slaked lime. I think it's even "organic" approved. Bob It makes sense. I may have to try some of that for the ivy out front. Your ivy has a fungus? Bordeaux mixture is a fungicide; it sounded like OP's tomatoes have a blight. Fungicide will help. BTW, my one tomato plant that's downhill from the compost pile (where among other things I've been dumping the cat box) is big and robust and 3 times the size of the other tomato plants. It's also the only one that doesn't have any blight at all. Coincidence? Bob |
#13
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
"zxcvbob" wrote in message ... Omelet wrote: In article , zxcvbob wrote: Me neither! But that black growth sounds suspiciously like blight - which no amount of insecticide - or fungicide, for that matter - is going to cure. If that's really what it is, there isn't much you can do except remove affected leaves and fruit and hope it only spreads slowly. However, since blight thrives in humid conditions you should probably cut down on the spraying too. I wonder if a sulfur treatment would help? Bordeaux mixture should work, and it even sticks pretty well through rains. Bob I'm not familiar with that. I'll have to google it... Copper sulfate and slaked lime. I think it's even "organic" approved. Bob what role does the lime play? We have copper sulfate spray which I use from time to time, but not with lime. rob |
#14
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
In article ,
zxcvbob wrote: I may have to try some of that for the ivy out front. Your ivy has a fungus? It was suffering from root rot. Some of it still does from time to time. It kills whole sections before I catch it. :-( Bordeaux mixture is a fungicide; it sounded like OP's tomatoes have a blight. Fungicide will help. I can use topical fungicides for my Peruvian torches. They came in with a blight and I've been fighting it ever since. BTW, my one tomato plant that's downhill from the compost pile (where among other things I've been dumping the cat box) is big and robust and 3 times the size of the other tomato plants. It's also the only one that doesn't have any blight at all. Coincidence? Bob Good nitrogen in that cat litter. ;-) It used to be beneficial here too, but I quit dumping used kitty litter in garden beds when I switched to scoopable. That stuff is nasty. -- Peace, Om Remove _ to validate e-mails. "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson |
#15
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Tomato pesticides, anything better than Malathion?
On Aug 20, 8:09 am, James wrote:
On Aug 20, 10:04 am, wrote: Instead of applying so often and washing off you should leave the poison on the plants so it can have a chance to kill.- Hide quoted text - That's a good point, but Malathion does seem to damage the foliage, and it tends to become concentrated at leaf tips, on account of the curl. I'm trying to avoid that when I do the second tap water spray. Maybe if I left the Malathion spray on longer, maybe a half or three quarters of an hour before hitting them with straight tap water again? I'm using Smart and Final spray bottles to spray with, at a dollar apiece I thought would do the job well enough, but they seem to deliver rather too much spray too hard. |
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