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Probably everyone who grew tomatoes in their area has ever encountered a disease called late blight. You may not even know this name, but black and brown spots on leaves and fruits that appear at the end of summer and lead to the death of tomato bushes are familiar to many. If you are not a supporter of the use of chemical methods of processing plants, then you may have already come to terms with the fact that most of the tomato crop is lost every year from this scourge, and have no idea how to protect your tomatoes.
Maybe you are trying to grow super-early varieties of tomatoes that have time to give a harvest before the outbreak of late blight, or pick tomatoes in early August while still green so that they do not have time to hit the unfortunate disease.
But in any case, nothing can stop you from trying folk remedies for late blight on tomatoes. Oddly enough, they are sometimes more effective than chemical fungicides. Perhaps the secret is that there are many recipes for folk remedies, and if you alternate them, then the insidious fungus simply does not have time to get used to the variety of remedies used. Well, and most importantly, they are absolutely harmless both for the fruits themselves and for the environment, which is a great advantage in the modern world.
Phytophthora – what is it
Late blight or late blight is a disease caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans. The very name of the fungus speaks for itself, because in translation it means “destroying the plant”. And most of all, plants of the nightshade family, primarily tomatoes, suffer from it.
You need to know the enemy by sight, so it is important to determine the main signs that appear on tomato bushes when infected with late blight. At first, on the leaves of tomatoes, you can see small brown spots on the reverse side. Then the spots increase in size, the leaves begin to dry out and fall off. The shoots also gradually acquire a dark shade, and gray-dark areas form on the tomatoes themselves, which blacken over time.
This happens because it is by this time that the most suitable conditions for the development of the disease are formed.
The difference in day and night temperatures leads to the formation of abundant dew on tomato bushes. The average air temperature does not exceed +15°+20°C, there is no heat. And if, in addition, the summer is rather rainy and cool, then the fungus can begin to rage much earlier.
Phytophthora also feels comfortable on calcareous soils and with thickened plantings, in which fresh air circulates poorly.
But in hot and dry weather, the development of phytophthora is greatly slowed down and at high temperatures the colonies of the fungus even die. Of course, when the first signs of late blight appear on tomatoes, the question is “how to deal with it?” occurs one of the first. But it is necessary to think about the fight against this disease much earlier.
Indeed, in accordance with the laws of nature, the disease affects, first of all, weakened tomato plants with poor immunity. Therefore, tomatoes need good care and complete feeding, which will withstand the onslaught of a fungal infection.
Agrotechnics against phytophthora
In accordance with the well-known saying that the prevention of a disease is much easier than its treatment, it is necessary to carefully observe all the basic agricultural practices when growing tomatoes. This will serve as a good prevention of late blight on tomatoes.
- Since the fungus is well preserved in the soil for several years, it is imperative to observe crop rotation: do not return tomatoes to last year’s place for 3-4 years and do not plant them after potatoes, peppers and eggplants.
- If you overdo it with liming, then you need to restore the acid balance of the soil by adding peat. And when planting tomato seedlings, cover them on top with some sand.
- In order for the fight against late blight on tomatoes to be successful, try not to thicken the plantings – you need to follow the scheme that has been developed for a particular variety of tomatoes.
- Since tomatoes do not like high humidity in general, and due to phytophthora, in particular, try not to get water on the leaves when watering. Watering is best done early in the morning so that all the moisture has time to dry out by night, when the temperature drops. Better yet, use drip irrigation.
- If the weather is cloudy and rainy, you can not water the tomatoes at all, but the procedure for regular loosening of row spacing becomes very important.
- To maintain plant immunity, do not forget about regular feeding of tomatoes with basic nutrients, you can also use spraying with immunomodulators, such as Epin-Extra, Zircon, Immunocytophyte and others.
- If cool and rainy summers are the norm in your area, then choose only fungus-resistant hybrids and tomato varieties for growing.
- To protect tomato bushes from fungus, it is recommended to cover tomato bushes in the evenings and in rainy weather with non-woven material or film in the second half of summer. In the morning, dew does not affect the plants, and infection does not occur.
Folk remedies for late blight
When choosing how to spray tomatoes from phytophthora, you must first try all the means and then use what you like best. After all, different varieties of tomatoes may have different susceptibility to various substances. In addition, it often depends on the specific weather conditions. Phytophthora is a very insidious disease, and to cope with it, you need creativity and a desire to experiment. Especially since what worked well this year may not work next year.
Iodine, boron and dairy products
Possessing antimicrobial properties, iodine can serve as a good tool for treating phytophthora on tomatoes. There are many recipes using iodine – choose any of the following:
- To 9 liters of water, add 1 liter of milk, preferably low-fat, and 20 drops of iodine;
- To 8 liters of water, add two liters of whey, half a glass of sugar and 15 drops of iodine tincture;
- 10 liters of water is mixed with one liter of serum, 40 drops of iodine alcohol tincture and 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide are added.
The resulting solutions carefully process all the leaves and stems of tomatoes, especially from the underside.
You can also use solutions of fermented kefir and whey (1 liter per 10 liters of water) both in pure form and with the addition of a small amount of sugar for preventive spraying against phytophthora. Water the tomato bushes with such solutions regularly every week, starting from the moment the buds form.
To use it, you need to dilute 10 g of boric acid in 10 liters of hot water, cool to room temperature and spray the tomatoes. For the best effect, it is advisable to add 30 drops of iodine to the solution before processing.
Finally, a remedy that effectively fought against the already visible manifestations of phytophthora on tomatoes is the recipe for the following preparation:
Eight liters of water is heated to +100°C and combined with two liters of sifted wood ash. When the temperature of the solution drops to +20°C, 10 g of boric acid and 10 ml of iodine are added to it. The mixture is infused for half a day. Then it is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 and all parts of the tomato plants are carefully sprayed. Before treatment, all affected plant parts must be removed.
Ash solution
When fighting late blight on tomatoes with folk remedies, the action of ash is considered especially effective. After all, it contains a very large number of various trace elements, each of which can interact favorably with the tissues of tomatoes. To prepare a mixture for spraying, 5 liters of ash are dissolved in 10 liters of water, insisted for 3 days with occasional stirring. Then the solution is brought to a volume of 30 liters, any soap is added for better adhesion to the leaves, and used to spray tomatoes.
Yeast
At the first sign of phytophthora, and better in advance, when the first buds appear, dilute 100 grams of fresh yeast in a 10-liter container with water and water or spray the tomatoes with the resulting solution.
Garlic tincture
Phytophthora spores on tomatoes can die from garlic treatment. To prepare the infusion, 1,5 cups of crushed shoots and heads of garlic are mixed with water in a volume of 10 liters and infused for about a day. After the solution is filtered, and 2 g of potassium permanganate is added to it. It is necessary to spray tomato bushes regularly, every 12-15 days, starting from the moment the ovaries are formed. For each bush of tomatoes, it is desirable to spend about 0,5 liters of the resulting infusion.
Copper
The method of supplying tomatoes with microparticles of copper, which has the ability to treat phytophthora, scaring it away from plants, is quite interesting in application. You need to take a thin copper wire, cut it into small pieces, up to 4 cm long. Each piece is calcined or peeled and pierced with a tomato stalk in the lower part. It is advisable to bend the ends down, but in no case wrap around the stem.
Polypore Mushroom
Spraying with infusion of the tinder fungus increases the immunity of tomatoes and, as a result, has a protective effect. The mushroom must be dried and finely chopped with a knife or with a meat grinder. Then take 100 grams of mushroom, fill it with one liter of boiling water and let it brew for a while until it cools. Strain the solution through cheesecloth and water the tomato bushes, starting from the very top.
The first treatment can be carried out at the time of the formation of the ovaries, and processed several more times if the first signs of phytophthora appear on the tomatoes.
Horsetail
Also, from natural remedies, a decoction of horsetail well raises immunity in tomatoes. To obtain it, 150 grams of fresh or 100 grams of dry horsetail are placed in one liter of water and boiled for 40 minutes over low heat. After cooling, the broth is diluted in 5 liters of water and carefully sprayed with tomato plants.
Saline
This treatment will help, after the solution dries, to create a thin protective film on the leaves of tomatoes, which will prevent the entry of fungal spores through the stomata. In a 10-liter watering can, dilute 250 g of salt and treat all parts of the tomato with the resulting solution.
It can be carried out during the appearance of ovaries. If you carry it out when signs of late blight appear, then you must first remove all the affected parts of the tomato plants.
Straw and grass
A good prophylactic against late blight on tomatoes is the preparation of herbal or hay infusion. For its manufacture, you can use both fresh herbs and rotten straw. Pour about 1 kg of organic matter with 10-12 liters of water, add a handful of urea and let it brew for 4-5 days. After straining, the infusion is ready for processing. They can both water and spray tomatoes.
Other drugs
There are several more drugs that are actively used by the people to combat late blight on tomatoes.
- In a 10-liter bucket of water, dissolve 10 tablets of Trichopolum and add 15 ml of brilliant green. The resulting solution can be used to treat tomato bushes both during flowering and when the first symptoms of phytophthora appear.
- In 10 liters of water, mix one teaspoon of copper sulfate, boric acid, magnesia. Add potassium permanganate at the tip of a knife and a little laundry soap (can be replaced with 3 tablespoons of liquid soap).
To summarize
If the question arises, what exactly is the best way to process tomatoes from phytophthora, the use of which folk remedies is most optimal, it is difficult to find an unambiguous answer to it. The best option would probably be to alternate the above remedies, and even use some of them in one complex solution so that they enhance each other’s action.
Of course, it is very difficult to fight late blight on tomatoes, but with reasonable use in various combinations of many of the folk remedies described above, it will be possible to defeat any disease and enjoy ripe, tasty and healthy fruits.
