Here is something you might find interesting... My garden had plenty of early and late blight and septoria leaf spot. The following year I installed a hoop house over half of it and planted tomato plants inside and out (8 in/10 out). I sprayed/coated the outside plants several times (during wet periods) with a well known product used to control these diseases. The inside plants were treated only once (lower leaves only). Soil was the same inside and out (top quality and ammended-well with organic compost). The plants in the hoop made it all the way to freeze disease free! No blight at all inside. The outside plants, well, they were pretty much toast about 45 days earlier. The hoop house makes it sooooo much easier to garden. Never had to worry about pruning wet foliage (as it was often wet outside from the morning dew and rainstorms). The hoop house was not sealed off. It was about 50% open (no side or end walls). The plastic on top kept the direct rain off but there was some splashing along the sides. (I use leaf mulch to keep the soil from splashing up the stems). I can go on-an-on about the benefits of the hoop house but perhaps best is the reduction in plant disease. (but gardening during thunderstorms is pretty cool too!) My overall production was up more than 50%. And I suspect that with the dry and sunny conditions inside the hoop structure this winter (off-season), the bacteria and molds won't stand a chance (but I will still rotate anyway). One note, I trained my tomato plants to a rope attached to the top of the hoops. It grew vine-like plants vs. bushy plants you get on cages. It keeps the foliage drier and blight at bay. I am now less concerned about growing heirloom varieties. I hope I didn't get off topic.

The first step is avoidance, protect your plants from the spores that cause Early Blight. Since those spores do come from the soil good mulches are necessary. Promoting rapid leaf drying and not getting the leaves of the plants wet can also help. To the best of my knowledge the only effective control for an organic gardener is copper fungicides, which if applied properly should not have that much adverse affect on the earthworm poopulation. I do not see that Serenade is listed as a control for Early Blight. Milk, a 50/50 mixture, is effective for controlling Powdery Mildew, Black Spot, and a few other fungal diseases as is baking soda. I find nothing about either as a control for Early Blight, however.

Seysonn, the way I understand how it works. One uses very good quality compost with lots of active microbes in it, adds some food for them and air bubbles to multiply ègoodè microbes, i.e. mostly aerobic ones. Foliar application is not that different from where you would use Daconyl for example. Daconyl works by attaching to certain receptors on tomato leaf and when pathogens come in they are unable to get attached. Thus Daconyl is great as preventative but not as curative. Brewed aerated compost tea has a group of beneficials that works on same action, some good microbes do get attached to receptors on the leaf which prevents pathogens from attachements. Second large group works on basis of using food which is avail on the leaf surface, so when pathogens arrive there simply not enough food for everybody and as such pathogens do not have easy way to multiply itself. Third group which is from same food chain as pathogens simply eats them, i.e. good microbes eat bad ones. Am sure there are more ways how it works but I am a newbie and microbiology is not my strong suit. I do believe that similar forms of plant protections and not chemicals as we use now will be developed- recognized more and more in the future. Dave as usual was correct, watering can does not work well. Got myself inexpensive Solo sprayer, hoping it works well enough.

I think we can always express our opinions and respect others too. As mentioned before, simply being "organic" does not mean safe to humans and the environment. For example petroleum products are organic among others. Then, where does the "organic" material come from ? There was a time that there were no living organisms on the face of Earth. So the source and origin of "Organic" mater is "inorganic matter". There are also naturally occurring "inorganic" matter vs synthesized by us, humans. Not all "naturally occurring" matter is safe and not all synthesized ones are unsafe. Most of medicine are synthesized without which some of us would have been dead some time ago. In my opinion, speaking against "man - synthesized/ manufactured" things is knocking our own intelligence and scientific achievements. We owe it to our bigger brain. On The Topic: I just sprayed all my tomatoes, peppers, cukes .. with Daconil yesterday. In my mind, I am neither worried about its ill effects on me and my family, nor I feel guilty about harming the environment by using it. I also have NEEM OIL spray and use it to. I feel the same way about using synthetic fertilizers as I use them along with all kinds of manures and organic matter. Organic Purists: I have a great respect for them. Their life style and philosophy, concern for the environment is admirable.