Comment

Comment by Shaun Mavronicolas on June 28, 2013 at 11:11am

Great, thanks Vlad. I use a lot of vermicompost tea and yes have to be careful about wet tomato leaves in our climate here in Vancouver BC... only spray when I know it will dry properly by end of day. It was put pretty eloquently by someone I consider a mentor that an AP system is much like a giant tea brewer... I really liked that analogy a lot. There is a lot of wisdom to be gained from that.

Comment by Vlad Jovanovic on June 28, 2013 at 9:45am

Most of what you see there on those older and lower leaves is just a standard Brdeaux mixture (copper sulfate and calcium hydroxide). It's an old time anti fungal remedy that is allowed in organic food production, but not really appropriate for AP because of the copper. Most of that was sprayed before I planted them into the grow bed. After the toms were transplanted into the system, I switched to a foliar spray of aerated worm tea and bacillus subtilis for some protection against fungal pathogens. (So far, so good)...

I try not to foliar feed tomatoes much, and when I do I always make sure to include an anti fungal component, whether mineral, or microbial...wet tomato leaves are like a magnet for a whole host of fungal pathogens.

Comment by Shaun Mavronicolas on June 27, 2013 at 5:10pm

Hello Vlad, is that potassium or magnesium (Epson Salts) foliar spray residue, perhaps some other magic formula?