Disease Control for Tomato Plants

There are a number of new products that have recently appeared on the market to control disease. Here are a few that I think are useful for the tomato grower.

I haven’t tried them myself, but if they do the job effectively, are well worth investigating further.

Canna Aktrivator – a friendly fungi
Tricoderma is a beneficial bacteria that will colonise your root zone leading to a host of benefits including, increased nutrient uptake and more robust plants.

By colonising the mould around the root system, the development of other negative moulds and micro-organisms is greatly reduced.

My thoughts … this is a great product for root protection but it is very expensive. There are other products available that do a similar job for less money.

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BioBizz Leaf Coat – leaf protection
Leaf Coat works by forming an extremely thin elastic layer on the leaves that not only contains micro elements which the plant can absorb, but also protects against fungi, pests and diseases.

Using Leaf Coat does not restrict your plant in any way and is completely permeable to light. Naturally degrades over two weeks from last application.

My thoughts … this is a very useful organic product to protect leaves from fungal attack.
I think it would also be useful for establishing cuttings as it redu.ces moisture loss.

Bud Rot Stop – fungal control for leaves
A new and safe way to eliminate bud rot (botrytis). Bud Rot Stop is a broad application leaf conditioner that conditions the leaf to ensure it’s able to defend itself against fungal attack.

This is a clever system of fungal control which works at two levels – it also helps plants build a resistance to fungal diseases.

It is organic and a product that I will be trying out next season.

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Rot Stop Roots – fungal control for roots
This specific mix of beneficial bacteria when added to your system make conditions unfavourable for the growth of fungi, out-competing the fungi thus assisting the plant to fight back and regain health and encourage fresh root development.

Rot Stop (Roots) does not sterilise your root zone so your natural concentration on beneficial bacteria will not be harmed allowing the plant to recover quickly.

My thoughts … I may give this one a spin next season too.

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To Sum Up
Many of these new products, and above are just four of them, work in an organic way by out-competing harmful bacteria. The problem is that they are expensive.

Serenade is a less expensive product that is used extensively in the USA and works in a similar way. I hope it will be available to the home gardener soon in the UK because using natural and organic methods to protect tomato plants from fungal attack and other diseases, has got to be a good way forward.

Information on the products above may be found online on many hydroponic store websites. However, I think that these products are all a bit over-priced, but if they do their job, are probably worth thinking about next season.

I’ll keep you updated ….