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Re: Tomato wilt



> I don't know about wilt but I have early and late blight. Other growers
> have suggested using a food grade hydrogenperoxide spray regularly or
> an old timers idea of putting a very very fine copper wire in base of
> stem when plant is first transplanted. Copper absorbed into plant is
> supposed to help prevent the blight. Any one have comments on these
> approaches?

Coppers-based fungicidal sprays are used to control early 
blight in both conventional tomato production and in
certified organic tomato production.  Much can be said
about coppers because they are one of the main tomato
disease controls and have decades of use and literature 
to support their usage. However, coppers are noticeably 
less effective in the control of early blight (even to 
the point of very poor under some conditions) as compared  
to EDBC fungies like Bravo and Maneb.  Copper
is a superb bactericide, however, for the control of 
bacterial spot and bacterial speck, etc.  

Hydrogen peroxide has gained a lot of interest among farmers
as a foliar spray to suppress disease incidence, but very
little is published in either scientific journals or
extension literature to draw upon.  Penn State and NOFA-New Jersey 
have conducted inititial trials but no results have been
published as yet.  It is applied at a 0.5 to 1.0% rate. 
NOFA-NJ published a one sheet fact on dilution rates. 

For late blight, yikes!, just kiss your crop good-bye????

 
Steve Diver


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