Using Fertilome For Blight

I decided to use an organic fungicide to help with the blight. It was taking over every plant it touched and Ryan and I didn't want it to go any further. We decided we would rather use a fungicide than lose all of our hard work to a stupid spore. I went to Jackson's Greenhouse and asked for help.

New growth on my 'Chef's Choice' orange
tomato plants that had lots of blight

You can see where the leaves died where
they were affected with blight

The lady there directed me to a product called Fertilome. She said it wasn't organic, but I did some research and the chemicals used in the product are considered organic. She kept telling me I had a bug problem from what she could see in my photos. But, I tried telling her I had talked to a few different people about it and I'd done a lot of research and she wouldn't listen. I finally showed her my original photo of the blight and she changed her tune and said maybe she was wrong. Duh.

Well, I bought the fungicide and a pH tool. I am going to take in a cup of soil for Jackson's to test for me since they do it for free. I thought free was better than spending $20 on the kit myself, but I haven't made it back because I've been busy. I have plans to take the soil in tomorrow and I will let you know what I find out.

The butternut squash is growing along the fence quickly

When I got home, I mixed up some of the fungicide with water as the bottle directed, then put it in a spray bottle. The directions say to lightly spray the affected leaves, but not so much that the leaves drip. I lightly misted all the affected plants, and tried not to breathe in the chemicals. Although they are organic chemicals, they are still chemicals and should be treated as such.

I sprayed three days ago. The photos here are taken today, three days after the application of the fungicide. I feel like it worked. The leaves that had blight on them are now brown and shriveled, as if the fungicide killed the blight, but also killed the leaf in the process. But, the stems don't seem to look any different and there is new growth on the top of the plants. Also, the blight hasn't spread like it had been before. Last week, before the Fertilome, I noticed entire branches overcome in only a day or two. Now, it's a spot here and there and mostly on the tips of the leaves. I feel like it's been a success so far, but still have to wait and see what happens.

Coriander hanging in the basement

I was scared of using the fungicide because I read online that some bugs would die as a result. Ugh, that was my biggest hesitation in using the fungicide, but I also read that it was only in the first 24 hours that it would kill bugs, so I tried to make it so when bees were out and around, it would be the last 12 hours of the 24. So, I sprayed it on around 6 p.m. when I hardly see any bees or other bugs around. Also, I've been out to the garden and there are still tons of insects buzzing around, so it must not have done too much damage. I'm not sure, and it's hard to tell. But it is something I think about and try to affect as little as possible. I read where you can cover your plants with a sheet or some other cover for 24 hours, then remove them.

The butternut squash and the musk melon plants are doing well. The butternut has vined out and we have 2-3 small squash and one big one so far. There are a bunch of flowers, too, so it must be doing well. The muskmelon is producing, too. We have at least two melons, one of them is a bit bigger than the other. That plant is growing up the fence, too, and there are many possibilities for fruit to appear. The lakota squash isn't doing much and neither is the zucchini. Hopefully, after we get the soil tested at Jackson's, we can get those turned around.

I went ahead and harvested the coriander. Some of it was still green and seems to be taking forever to turn brown. But, some of it is brown, so I decided to cut it all and hang it downstairs and see what happens. There is so much of it, I'm sure it will be ok if it all doesn't turn brown, but from the plants I hung last week, it seems like they will all eventually turn brown. 

Now that we have a blank spot in the garden, Ryan and I are going to save the spot for fall planting. We want to do more greens and lettuces. So for the time being, we are going to leave it alone. 

Once a week I've been feeding all of the plants in the garden the seaweed fertilizer Ryan bought at Jackson's. For some reason it was hard for us to find this stuff anywhere. It's available online, but hard to find in the stores and nonexistent at stores like Lowe's or Home Depot. All they have is Miracle Grow. There are all kinds of brands, but the one we are using is called Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed. I hear that fish emulsions work just as well. Our 'Tumbling Toms' plant on our front porch was looking pretty sad and had stopped producing any fruit. I poured this on it and by the next week there were three new branches with blooms on them. It's been almost three weeks since the first time I put any on it and I've gotten 3-4 tomatoes off of it and there are even more to come. I definitely recommend getting some of this if your garden seems a little puny. This is much better than Miracle Grow, and the results are immediate. It's a little pricey, but worth the price, I think. You add one ounce to a gallon of water and I did about an ounce between the two garden beds and a quart on the 'Tumbling Toms' and the rest of my flowers on the front porch. It works on those, too, in case you're wondering.

I plan to keep using the seaweed once a week and I may spray one more time for blight. I think after that, if I continue to water carefully, I won't have to worry about the blight. At least I hope.