ok, so a week or two ago i applied a copper sulfate garden dust to combat the leaf spot septoria onn my tomatoes. I haven't really saw the plants get better, but, they're really not getting worse. so that is a good thing for me. What I need to know now is what I need to do from here on out to prevent them from getting it again, both this year and for the years to come: 1. Since I know that the problem will still be in the soil next year, when I plant my tomatoes, I'm going to immediately mulch soil with cardboard/newspaper and straw to keep the fungus from access my plant. 2. I DID plant my tomatoes in a different row this year than last year, I did notice a little of this problem last year. How far away should tomatoes be planted away from infected row? 3. Corn meal is supposed to combat bad fungus by growing its own good ones. Will applying this now, or even next year before planting ever combat the septoria? 4. I am going to have another soil test done so i can perfect the health of my soil so the fungus doesn't bother plants as much. so what am i missing?

I don't like to say it for fear it will bring bad luck, but I put the stinky pail (and I can't really smell it, put 1/4 cup or so of dishwashing liquid in it - think it's for inhibiting mosquitoes) between the two cherry trees. Maybe one or two on those which had been a problem. But no, otherwise isn't helping. Still haven't sprayed any more though, can if I decide to. It's not deterring them from certain other things they like but I keep picking them off relentlessly. I'm also hesitant to say I'm not getting the numbers I had feared if I keep picking at least 3X a day, pretty much know which plants they prefer and sun on them is a huge factor but will find them in shade as well. It could be our harsher winter than usual and also the heavy rains this year in addition to the unseasonably cool weather for many days. terryjean's morning method is probably good because I think they might spend the night underneath leaves, but I don't see many early at all. They seem to be mostly flying in now or coming down off my trees. I found that if there's a swarm doing the group thing, I have a better chance of getting all of them if I cup my hand over them and move in and tip carefully into soapy water. That seems to discourage them from trying to fly up and away but still some do get away. Then they grab onto my fingers, and I have to work them off. I use a cottage cheese container because it's easier to maneuver under plants without spooking them by disturbance than a pail. Yesterday there was a bumblebee and beetle sharing an echinacea. I got the beetle, spooked the bee but didn't get stung. Obviously in the numbers some have, spraying is the only method. I've caught a couple in flight and see them flying around, sometimes watch where they will land and into the soapy water they go, can't stand out there all day. I was digging and see a few on the ground. One I grabbed and lost it, was looking on the ground, felt a bite on my arm and startle reflex kicked in, looked down, there it was on arm by hand, got it into the soapy water. So maybe they will bite, felt different from their stickery feet but could have been that. Neighbor tried diatomaceous earth sprinkled on their hibiscus, said 15 one day and 1 the next. But I don't know if that kills them or repels, worth looking into. Gutters are bad so in front I collect runoff in pails and use to water the garden also to get the hot water out of the hose. A few beetles are in the yellow bucket (further research needed on making rotten fruit traps in yellow containers, think not this year). None in the white pail so far but set that out just the other day. Got my Grubex down just before a substantial rain, didn't get complete coverage but better than I thought I could do. The following days I see granules so I call the 800#. Those are just the carrier and will eventually break down but the rain should have gotten the active ingredient watered in. Hope so. A shower won't do, need substantial rain. We'll see. Read up on how it affects farmers and commiserated with our ag ext guy. He's reduced to using Sevin on his raspberries, concluded that gardening will be different from now on. Sevin is not popular on the forums, but there are charts on how many days beforehand it's safe to spray food crops. If you don't buy certified organic, some of what we buy in the stores has surely been treated with something. I prefer not to use it because it gets washed off in rain and is messy to deal with but have it for backup. The beetles turn soybean leaves to lace but have to be pretty bad before it affects crop yields or requires spraying, there are more potent chemicals professionals use we can't get. The corn silk, usually they attack the outer rows only on fields so far, but it's nasty to see a photo of 15 or more beetles on the silk. It it gets eaten down to 1/2 inch, and the corn hasn't pollinated yet, there will be no corn. But if it's already pollinated, doesn't seem to affect it, just nasty. No sign of a good eradication effort in my area, and may get worse due to people doing nothing and not knowing what they are. I hope the scientific community (or savvy lone experimenter) comes up with something better and more foolproof, probably not in my lifetime but I keep hoping. Decided to let my roses start setting buds again Aug 1, will see how that goes. Time to make the first sweep of the day.

Apparently septoria spots can appear on tomato stems. Cornell University says "Spots may also appear on stems, calyxes, and blossoms, but rarely on fruit." (http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Tomato_Septoria.htm) and Ohio State University also says "Septoria leaf spot is a disease of the foliage and stems" (http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3112.html) Are there spots on the fruit as well as on the stems and leaves? Re Alternaria canker, TAMU says "Symptoms of Alternaria canker appear on stems, leaves and fruit...Sunken grayish lesions are present on fruit." (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tomatoproblemsolver/stems/8b.html) It seems to me that Septoria isn't ruled out yet, while alternaria canker would cause spots on the fruit and I don't see any.

I don't compost any of my tomato plants, healthy or diseased, I pull them all after first frost and dump them in the pasture for the horses to eat. And I rotate the tomatoes from one end of the garden to the other every year- and since I added a new corn patch this year it will be a three year rotation. Between that and pruning the lower foliage to prevent soil contact and using drip irrigation (and living in an area with almost no rain in the summer) I haven't lost a plant yet this year and all 40 tomato plants look very healthy.