Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ceh2101

Late Blight Reports - The Globe

ceh2101
14 years ago

I would guess that everyone has read the reports in the Boston Globe about how the late blight has spread to all of the counties in Massachusetts.

So far, my plants have not been affected but I have been spraying alternatively with chlorothalonil and copper.

How is everyone else doing? Does anyone have reports of late blight in Plymouth County?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/31/disease_that_spawned_irelands_potato_famine_hits_new_england

Comments (16)

  • ceh2101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Also, does anyone know why the state is not recommending Serenade to control to the late blight?

  • nandina
    14 years ago

    Question...did you begin your spray treatments when discovery of Late Blight was first announced or have you been treating your tomato plants (perhaps weekly) from the time they were young?

  • digdirt2
    14 years ago

    Serenade like most other fungicides has little effect on late blight once established. They can help protect/prevent it but once the plant is infected the best you can hope for is to slow it down a bit.

    I think most prefer to pull and destroy the plants to avoid the spread of the disease and the soil contamination problems and given the resistance in this current strain (based on my reading), culling and proper disposal of the plants appears to be the #1 recommended method of control rather than trying to nurse them along.

    Lots of ongoing discussion here about it.

    Dave

  • ceh2101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks for the reply. Have you read the Massachusetts documents on this, which you can reach at the Department of Agricultural Resources front page? The thing is that they do not even mention Serenade. You would think that there would be some farmers out there smart enough to start spraying this product from the beginning of the season, but the product is just not mentioned at all.

    What's more, not everyone has the blight. The last alert only covered some of the counties in Mass., so you would think that they would have mentioned it as a possible preventative measure, but there is nothing.

    Meanwhile, I know the local Agway is making a fortune selling it to everyone.

  • jtcm05
    14 years ago

    Why would farmers use serenade when there are much better products available?

  • sunsi
    14 years ago

    Has anyone ever tried horticultural cornmeal for fight disease problems in the garden? I tried some on for my tomatoes many of which looked like they were ready to be pulled and I've seen a turnaround. I'm not sure if the turnaround was the end of the disease or if the horticultural cornmeal did it. I'll be using it again next year for more testing.

    Cornmeal
    http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/ga...stion/id/1372/

    Cornmeal Juice
    http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/ga...estion/id/153/

    Cornmeal and its many uses
    http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/ga...uestion/id/18/

  • ceh2101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Organic farmers would use Serenade because copper is their only other alternative and is often ineffective.

  • korney19
    14 years ago

    Which is MORE effective (or ineffective), copper hydroxide or Serenade? Which is cheaper?

  • ceh2101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi Korney19,

    I do not know about the price, but the MA Department of Agricultural Resources - go to their front page and follow the links on blight - says that Copper has been unexpectedly effective. They do not say anything about Serenade or Corn Meal.

  • korney19
    14 years ago

    Maybe they read that report back in 2001 that Serenade-treated plants did about the same as untreated plants! And it's about 2-3x as expensive as other fungicides!

  • liz63
    14 years ago

    Actually I bought the concentrate and it was no more expensive than the copper spray. I have no idea how much Daconil is because I was trying to stay organic. I read that report and I'm a bit nervous - how can they still sell it 8 years later if it doesn't help?

  • ceh2101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Korney19: Is this the only study on Serenade? Do you mean this study? Is it the only one out there.

    In any case, Mass DAR has apparently found that copper has been much more effective than previous studies have led them to believe. Same could be true for Serenade.

    It looks like the Tennessee study applied Serenade too late after late blight was already established. They should have been applying it as soon as the plants were transplanted.

    Here is a link that might be useful: 2001 study

  • jtcm05
    14 years ago

    Looks like serenade is less effective than copper-based.

  • barkeater
    14 years ago

    I heard using useless substances like Serenade and corn meal are contributing to the rampant spread of late blight! ;-)

  • diane62ma
    14 years ago

    I lost all my tomato plants to the blight. I live in western Mass. Before I realized what it was it was too late. I pull them out last weekend, so disappointed, they were all doing very well and I anticipated alot of tomatoes...oh well there's always next year.

    Diane

  • korney19
    14 years ago

    A friend just bought Southern Ag Liquid Copper Fungicide today, I think he said it was around $7? You use anywhere from 1 to 7 spoonfuls per gallon.

    Liz, if someone said lemon juice worked and it was *****organic*****, people would buy it. I'm not saying Serenade doesn't work, but almost all the edu/ag/gov sites are recommending chlorothalonil based products, and probably for a reason.

    ceh2101, YES, that was the report that said,

    "Plots treated with BAS-500, BAS-510, and with Dithane alternated with Quadris had significantly lower disease ratings for Early and Late Blight and the highest marketable yield than the other treatments. Plots treated with Seranade (biological fungicide) had disease ratings not significantly different than the untreated check plots."

    Dithane, by the way, is Mancozeb (manganese & zinc.) Dithane-45 is often on ebay for under $10 or so.

    You tried stating that they waited too long to use Serenade, but rereading the actual product label, it never mentioned anything about PREVENTING Late Blight--instead, it always says "Late Blight suppression."
    This is for their "industrial strength version" designed for farmers, which is something like 10x stronger than the consumer product!

    The price I saw for Serenade was $29.95, didn't mention size bottle. I've also seen Serenade MAX, 12 lb bag, $159.00.

    Daconil I think I paid $13.77/pt at Walmart; Mancozeb was $12/pt at horseloverz. Daconil/chlorothalonil may be the most economical at 2t to 1T/gal. All I could find for Serenade was 2-6 Quarts/acre. For Serenade MAX, it says 1-3 lbs/acre. It also said:

    "For suppression, begin application when plants are 4 to 6 inches high. Repeat applications on a 5 to 7 day interval or as needed. For improved performance, use Serenade MAX in a tank mix or rotational program with other registered fungicides for late blight control. Use shorter spray intervals under conditions conducive to rapid disease development."

    I'm not about to do the math, but 4" to 6" tall plants, every 5-7 days, at $159/bag, why don't we all run out and get a couple bags?

Sponsored
Grow Landscapes
Average rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars8 Reviews
Planning Your Outdoor Space in Loundon County?