Fungus Among Us (in the soil)

16 years ago

Hi folks, Been a while since I've visited the soil forum (life has a habit of pulling me away like that).

I'm hoping everyone has some good suggestions for what to do here.

Our community garden plots are apparently breeding grounds for fungal disease such that some are finding it almost impossible to grow tomatoes, etc.

Any suggestions for how best to treat this condition as organically and safely as possible (economically too if it can be done)?

Are there organic methods or products out there for mitigating bad fungi such as this?

Since it's a community garden we'd likely have to get approval from at least a majority of folks before spraying anything, even an organic product. But if it's reasonable enough the growers could probably be convinced.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (7)

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
16 years ago
You don't say what kind of fungal problems but here's a link that may help.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato woes
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
16 years ago
Unfortunately, tomatoes are prey to an assortment of bacterial and viral disorders, as well as the fungal diseases. Planting tomatoes in the same vicinity year after year makes prevention of infection nearly impossible.
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No response? I would try corn meal at 20 lbs/1000 ft^2 and water it down with some whole milk at 3 oz/1000 ft^2. I'm aware of the rain situation in Texas, but do not know the day to day activity. Assuming your August will be hot and somewhat dryer, the fungus should go dormant for awhile. Repeated applications of above in dormancy will act as a preventative measure. Soybean meal is another good fungal food (and much higher in N2 than cornmeal) for fall fertilization and winterization. You should balance with some alfalfa meal (rabbit food) from time to time to get the bacteria up and bring the soil in balance. Add lawn clippings and leaves, mow high or low (dependent on your grass type) and stop the chemicals from entering the lawn. Organics will take a while to build and diversity is the key. I've done the following on my lawn this year and am satistfied of the results for my cool season KBG/Fine Fiscue mix. Mulch mow at 3.5-4". Water 1"/week over 24 hours. Spread corn meal at 10 lbs/k in early and late April. Sprayed milk in early and late April (Focused on last year outbreaks, it has returned in the unsprayed areas. Won't repeat that mistake again). Spread alfalfa meal (rabbit food) at 10-15 lbs/1000 ft^2 in late May and early July. Plan to end the year spreading 10 lbs/1k ft2 of soybean meal every 3-4 weeks Until October. Currently hand pulling some grass in future compost addition areas and am amazed as to how nice the soils smells. I think it is the alfalfa. Good Luck
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Kimmsr
16 years ago
Get lots of organic matter into the soil. The Soil Food Web will, eventually, clean up the soil borne diseases.
hamiltongardener
16 years ago
About 2 teaspoons of baking soda, a teaspoon of vegetable oil, and a couple drops of soap (just a bit!) in a litre of water.

Shake it up in a spray bottle and spray it into the plant.
Kimmsr
16 years ago
The url for that I had for Dr. Harry Hoitinks research on diseases suppression with compost no longer works but I found some more about the same thing, research that shows that growing plants in a good, healthy soil will grow strong, healthy plants that will ward off plant diseases better.
http://orgprints.org/4887/01/Fuchs-2005-Quality_Compost.pdf

Here is a link that might be useful: Suppressing Plant Diseases with Compost
elphaba_gw
16 years ago
What about cornmeal (not corn gluten)? Lots of stuff on the web about it. It does everything from eliminating athletes foot to dandruff to fungus on my verbena.

Do a search, I think dirtdoctor.com has some forum entries on this as well as gardenweb. Great thing is that it is cheap and non-toxic so you haven't lost much except time if you give it a try and it doesn't help. Is kind of slow acting though as far as I can tell.
(I'm definitely not an expert so please research first.)
tracywag
16 years ago
Corn meal is great for a lot of fungal problems. I've also had great experience with worm castings fighting unknown things. The bonus is they can't harm your plants.

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Fungus Among Us (in the soil)

Comments (7)

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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hamiltongardener

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