Are there any other suggestions out there?

Containerization.

Dan

The following helps reduce favorable conditions.

• Avoid any cultivation around roots once planted and established. Wounded roots are the primary source for the fusarium to enter the plants.

• Raise the soil to Ph 6.5 -7.0

• use nitrate sources of fertilizers. Avoid using ammonium based fertilizers.

• Avoid flood irrigation (water could be conamtinated).

• Keep the soils cooler than 80°F (if possible) by using a thick layer of mulch (also reduces need for cultivation and potentially damaging the roots).

• know your seed source. fusarium can be spread by seed.

Other possibilities would be to obtain specific rootstocks for grafting and graft the varieties you want to the rootstocks.

It would help to know which race of fusarium you are dealing with or choose a rootstock with resistance to at least race 1 and 2.

Another option is to try a product called "Actinovate". This can be used as a soil drench and is labeled for use in California. It is rather expensive. One can find smaller amounts at places like Worm's Way, Morgan County Seed or the Maine Potato Lady. There are different formulations so be sure to choose the correct one for the intended use. I will remain nuetral on whether or not to call it an "organic" product.

I have heard of another similar kind of product but I do not know the name.

None of these eliminate fusarium but done together may help manage the problem.

mulio, these are of course excellent suggestions, but how long will an area lie fallow waiting for a soil drench/fumigate/treatment to work?

That is: will structure get toms in the ground this season, or are containers in order while the area gets 'sterilized' of nasty critters? IME in Bay Area and Sacto, your infected spot is down for a season, unless some products have changed since the last time I've done this...

Dan

#1 you very likely wont completely sterilize the area.

even methyl bromide and Vapam where not capable of this. "sterile" conditions actually make a nice place for the pathogens to re-establish quickly probably due to reduced competition. In tests pathogens tended to move back into such conditions faster than the good guys.

Fusarium can blow in on dust particles. Thus even containers could have issues (that was my experience in NC).

Actinovate can be used pre-plant and during the actively growing season. I wouldn't say it's a be all to end all. Just another management tool.

mulio, I parenthesized sterilized, the most important point is not sterilization but can the person who made the query expect to use their land this season if a treatment is applied? The answer used to be 'no', which is why IMO containers are an alternative.

Dan

Thanks for the ideas. I realize there isn't a really good one, but if nothing else it's good to have the earthtainer expense supported. My wife doesn't understand the need for expensive containers when I have "a garden already."

I'm reluctant to use the chemical treatments and doubtful I'd get much sterilization anyway. The garden abuts areas that can't be sterilized and probably contain many host plants and infected soil. I may try the Actionvate on a row to see if it makes any different. Or I may just invest the $ in more containers. I imagine that if I had a dozen earthtainers, I could cover the entire garden area with plastic for a couple seasons and leave the containers on top, moving to different areas occasionally.

I guess I was hoping to hear that some growers had developed more-or-less "control" through cultivation and variety strategies. My fear is that the disease becomes so endemic in the soil that I can't even get a crop of tomatoes out (so far I get a decent harvest, but plants are done early in the season. in my part of CA, I should be harvesting well into December).

Thank you again for all the suggestions. I will be trying to follow your guides Mulio, and adding containers Dan.

best,

joel

My 3-18 gal Sterilite SWCs cost me less than $10/per, using wick and support material out of the recycle bin, the ones cut will be used for potatoes, so free structure there. Interestingly, I moved my 5-gals from standalone to self-watering and the 5 gal is a little more than half the cost of an 18 gal. - the 6-oz yogurt containers are a perfect wick for 5-gals.

Friends in Bay Area needed 3 years for their plot to clear of wilt and then we used VFN only, still lost one that season. In Sacto less wilt prevalence there, but we used containers there too for one season in the rotation.

Sorry to hear that, fact of life in small gardens, which is why the container technology is blossoming (so to speak).

Dan

Hi Dan,
? Is 6 oz. recycled yogurt tub for you 5 gal. SWC wick correct, or misprint ?
(Always like to pick peoples brains right.)

structure,

I will be planting 30 EarthTainers this season. 16 for tomatoes, 9 for corn, 4 for Snow Peas, and one for onions.

I've had a very positive experience with Actinovate on the Snow Peas over the Winter, and will be using it liberally on my tomato plants this season.

The 'Tainer on the left was treated with Actinovate, the one on the far right was not. Enough said??

{{gwi:2103708}}

I am expecting it to also battle disease as well as increase productivity.

Raybo

Sheesh, Raybo. Make us all feel bad. ;o)

gringojay:

Yes, that's correct. I haven't calculated it, but the area of the wick appears to be ~1/6 - 1/7 of the area of the bottom of the 5 gal.

Dan

Thanks Raybo. Not only for this but for all your work on the earthtainers. I have four modeled on your .pdfs I admit, I always wondered why you bothered with containers given your pictures showed perfectly good ground--OK, I know water savings etc.--now I know another reason, and it's one I can relate to.
Looks like I'll be trying some Actinovate too. That and continuing to try to really build up and balance my existing soil. It'll be fun to have the comparison plantings to watch this season (containered, in-ground w/Actinovate, in-ground with "normal" treatment.)

structure,

Some other benefits in the 'Tainers vs. in-ground.

- Haven't had to use a rototiller for 2 years now.
- 4 to 6 week jump in first ripe tomatoes since soil temp warms quicker, earlier planting out.
- No weeding.
- No pest problems like gophers, etc.
- Isolation of the soil in the 'Tainers reduces risk of soil disease migration.
- Rotation of the plants 180 degrees for more productivity.
- Use of Deck space and other sunny areas for growing.
- Significant reduction in water use.
- Ability to do controlled experiments (fertilizers, bio additives, etc.)

There may be more, but that is what I could think of at the moment.

Raybo

Hi Raybo,
We all know why you skipped listing benefiting by "fortune" - you've generously shared what you have found.
Now fame ....

There may be more, but that is what I could think of at the moment.

The major puttering and farting around factor. ;o)

Dan

gringojay,

No "fortune" nor "fame".

Just trying to learn from others like Earl, then share what improvements I've been able to come up with so all benefit. The EarthTainers in Haiti is an example that brings me happiness (see the link below):

http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/bookviewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E3553249

Raybo

Here is a link that might be useful: EarthTainer in Haiti Project

Last night I ordered an Ozone Generator for aquatic applications. Should be here in a week. Now, just need to figure out a manifold tubing distribution system to send the Ozone to the 16 tomato EarthTainers, and how long per day to run it. (Yes, when I was a kid I went crazy with my Erector Set).

{{gwi:2103709}}

I am going to experiment with everything possible this season to try to keep the 'Tainer water reservoir as pristine as possible.

Need to check-in with experts here to see what potential impact the Ozone will have on the bio's like Actinovate. Goal is to kill the nasties, but not harm the good guys (or I will at least have to reapply the Actinovate more frequently). Small price to pay for a "clean house".

Raybo

Raybo,

"just need to figure out a manifold tubing distribution system"

From the picture I can't quite make out the size of the tubing, but any tropical fish store should have a large selection of "gang" type manifolds available. You may know this already after seeing the heater your using in another thread. Don't know anything about the Ozone effect etc., but I believe Oz Generators and UV sterilizers are used in the fish aquarium hobby also.

Hope it helps,
Rob

Erector Sets,Tinker Toys, and Lincoln Logs too !lol

Rob,

Thanks for the tip on the gang manifolds. I haven't been to a pet store yet - - been ordering everything on the Internet. So I will go to my local one tomorrow to see what sort of tubing and connectors they have.

Raybo

Sorry to hear about your dilemma, Structure. I tried Stupice last year and didn't get much of anything in my fusarium wilt soil. It's very frustrating. One friend told me that "Big Boy" has been her best bet for growing tomatoes when dealing with fusarium wilt. I saw her tomatoes, and I really had to wonder if she had fusarium wilt. She exclusively used that tomato.

I don't have a flat area outside to set containers, since my gardening area is a hill. I went to the expense of putting in grow boxes and then learned about the wilt. I moved from CO to NC and hadn't heard of it before. Do people test the soil before they buy a house? :) I'm moving in two years and hoping not to have this nightmare in my next home. Perhaps you could solarize and do a container garden for just one season. Best of luck!

structure-
just an addition-----I experienced what I thought was Fusarium a few years ago. After roto-tilling as deep as possible and adding a yard of compost as I do each year, I had several zones in the 14x16 area where the plants ...in a matter of days....turned full yellow and succumbed.

I have since turned the soil over very lightly...just enough to turn in the cover crop and the next yard of compost in the spring.

Given that the roots may extend + 3' down, and even tho I essentially have created a large raised bed, or contoured landscape........, the disease has not revisited........

I don't know for sure that either of my adjustments to cultivation had anything to do with the result, or if it was truley Fusarium,... did'nt test, but it has worked so far. I've read opinions differing on tilling verses no-till.

I would like to try a method I read about this year, where you "plug" the tomater seedling right in a cover crop, negating the need for mulch. Could the right crop growing above help cleanse the soil?...........This is whats so fun about all of this :)

A good resource for good clean rich compost are the yard waste reclamation centers.

Thanks for the additional ideas. It's really a bummer to have a small garden and face diseases like this. But, hey, least I've got a garden! So far we get a pretty good crop of tomatoes each year too. It's just not what I hoped for, and I live in dread of that time when the wilt is so established it starts to kill off everything before I get to harvest.

I have been rototillering. I have a hard time not. I've heard it's problematic, but something about that nice finely turned earth is hard to resist (do'ho). I may try just adding another think layer of compost this year and not tilling. I get great compost for CHEAP from the university.

I've read on this forum that the "plug" method using a cover crop wasn't too effective, but please let us know if it works.

This year I'm going to depend on containers and Actinovate. I'm really curious to see how the Actinovate works. While expensive, a little goes a long way so if it really does help control Fusarium, then I'm going to be stoked.

I suppose this would be posted already, but Garden's Alive is offering something called "Root GuardianTM Biofungicide for Soilborne Diseases" for control of fusarium wilt in tomatoes. This seems to be a antagonistic fungus. Anyone tried it? I don't think I'd want to mix this with Actinovate which, as I understand it, is a bacteria. But I would like to give it a shot someday.

After reading your post back in March I ordered GS's version of this biological fungicide. It's called Root Shield. It's been almost two months now since I used it and for the first time, I have big beautiful tomato plants with huge tomatoes on them! By this time in the season, my tomato plants are severely stunted, haven't set barely any fruit, and have whole branches that are yellow and shriveled up. I do have two plants that have some yellowing, but they have as much fruit as the other plants around them and are large.

I bought this trichoderma harzianum as sort of a last hope, but actually I had already given up on battling the fusarium wilt and bought containers and dwarf varieties of tomatoes. I just didn't expect anything to help. This is really great for all of us who have just been dreaming about growing things that our race of FW attacks. Of course it's one more thing to pay for, but it's worth it to me to be able to grow my own tomatoes. I have yet to see how it will affect my watermelon, which I've also really struggled with in the past.

Thanks Livvyliv. I'm going to have to try this next season, or maybe even for a fall crop.

I've did go ahead and use Actinovate and it certainly helped the tomatoes grow. Too early to say whether it protects them much from the Fusarium. I've already got daytime wilting. The plants are setting fruit and look OK, but they shouldn't be wilting so much in this mild weather.

Anyway, I will repost my results at the end of the season. I hope you will too. Threads like this are very valuable IMO.

Livvy, please read what I wrote about Root Shield in the other thread here about Fusarium Wilt.

I've linked to the webpage of the company that makes it and explained that the Fusarium being talked about is not the Fusarium species that infects tomatoes and how some GWers found out about that by contact with the company quite a few years ago.

Carolyn

> Anyway, I will repost my results at the end of the season. I hope you will too. Threads like this are very valuable IMO.

Any reports?

Try drenching the soil with nuronbiosafe worked for me

Please elaborate... rates, techniques, and where to purchase. Prices?

first go to www.nuron.co.nz click other products, go to Fusarium treatments, comes from nz & i paid $12.50 a lt really dose kill Fusarium in the soil

Thanks

How much did that $12,50 worth treat in square footage? Thanks. Did you just drench your entire garden or only around the plants?

I don't have soil borne disease issue but I wonder how much of stuff is necessary to drench a big volume of soil (30 gallons ?).? at what cost ? Then what will happen when you water the plant or it keeps raining ?

Sey

Hi, 20ltrs of product will do, priceFOB Auckland nz $12.50 lt

Your web site lacks the details that would help a consumer have the confidence to purchase this. There are no detailed application methods, rates, how - to's, mode of action, pricing, nor purchase information.

Is the species of Fusarium that affects tomatoes the same as what affects bananas and kiwis?

I would be glad to drench my 75 tomato plants on a trial basis with your product and post the results here.

web site look at DIRECTIONS

The only directions is below... not nearly enough detail for a consumer to make a wise decision if the product is for them or not.

Directions of Use

– Can not be used directly on Organic Crops.

– Can be used to clean surfaces or equipment directly in contact with organic produce,

provided that those surfaces and equipment are thoroughly rinsed with water prior to contact

with any organic produce.

– Do not mix with acids.

– Read safety directions before use.

Non Organic Farmers

– Fruit and vegetables must not be left in dump tanks during any disruption of production.

This could result in serious burning of sensitive fruit.

Disclaimer

Although this remedy has been extensively tested under a large variety of conditions, the

registration holder does not warrant that it will be efficacious under all conditions because the

action and effect thereof may be affected by factors such as abnormal climatic and storage

conditions, quality of water, compatibility with other substances not indicated on the label and

the occurrence of resistance of the disease against the remedy concerned as well as by the

method, time and accuracy of application. The registration holder furthermore does not accept

responsibility for damage to crops, vegetation, the environment or harm to man or animal for

lack of performance of the remedy concerned due to failure of the user to follow the label

instructions or to the occurrence of conditions which could not have been foreseen in terms

of the registration. Consult the supplier in the event of any uncertainty.