So growing here in Florida poses several challenges, of which one I would like to mention and the solutions I found. Whiteflies and other pests are a real pain to deal with, and with a lot of these comes parasitic fungi of different types. There is a fungus in Florida that if you cannot get rid of whiteflies or aphids and others that produce milky secretions, it will just sweep in and wipe the plant out. I just had this happen to a Fatalii that had just reached peak maturity, and it almost killed it. Younger plants or ones with low nutrients or deficiencies will just get killed. I believe the fungus is attacking because of the sugars in the waxes and sticky secretions these bugs produce. So the source, the bugs needs to be dealt with. I have tried a lot of different things that are clean and non man made chemical based to deal with both the whiteflies, and fungus, and nothing has really been that effective. However, I developed a spray to combat the fungus and eliminate it, and the bonus is it will dislodge and irritate the bugs. Around the same time I found an all natural new plant based pesticide called Spinosad, which is in a product called Captain Jack's Deadbug brew. I was not expecting it to work, but it actually eliminated all the whitflies after just a couple of applications! So I highly recommend it, at least for whiteflies, although its supposed to kill a lot of different bugs. Here are the ingredients for a solution that will eliminate most if not all fungal infections:
Per gallon:
3 tablespoons 3% hydrogen peroxide
4 droppersful 1500 ppm colloidal silver(the weak stuff you get in most health food stores probably is not strong enough)
10 drops tea tree oil
10 drops oregano oil
10 drops lavender oil, all pure essential.
Put all these ingredients into purified water, shake vigourously before applying.You probably could add some dish detergent to emulsify it better, but I did not. I was able to stop an attack dead in its tracks using this combination. It wiped out the fungus without killing the plant or the leaves, and the plant has responded by putting out new growth and shedding those severely infected leaves. To use just completely spray the entire plant with it both on top and under the leaves intil it drips off. Do that several times per day for several days. I brought in a plant that was hit hard, and I hit it with this spray three times a day, for three days straight. It eliminated the problem.
I also discovered an amazing special fungus that can be added to the soil, which attacks and eliminates other pathogenic fungi. I have links to studies showing how when merged with a tomato roots structure, it prevented many typical problems, and cause the plant itself to develop resistant mechanisms for future possible infections. I am testing it right now, and so far after only two weeks application I am seeing results. With tomatoes, I both drenched the soil, and the plant. A tomato I am growing had developed a problem to which I was not sure if it was fungal related or something else. It was developing spots all over the leaves, which would cause the leaves to prematurely yellow and die. This issue has been resolved so far as a result of this addition. The plant as well seems more vigourous, and is now putting out better leaves, they are greener and larger as well. This vampire fungus is called Pythium Oligandrum. I am testing it out with peppers too.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18945162/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22977087
Now if I could just find a cheaper source for it, I could test it on a much larger scale.
Per gallon:
3 tablespoons 3% hydrogen peroxide
4 droppersful 1500 ppm colloidal silver(the weak stuff you get in most health food stores probably is not strong enough)
10 drops tea tree oil
10 drops oregano oil
10 drops lavender oil, all pure essential.
Put all these ingredients into purified water, shake vigourously before applying.You probably could add some dish detergent to emulsify it better, but I did not. I was able to stop an attack dead in its tracks using this combination. It wiped out the fungus without killing the plant or the leaves, and the plant has responded by putting out new growth and shedding those severely infected leaves. To use just completely spray the entire plant with it both on top and under the leaves intil it drips off. Do that several times per day for several days. I brought in a plant that was hit hard, and I hit it with this spray three times a day, for three days straight. It eliminated the problem.
I also discovered an amazing special fungus that can be added to the soil, which attacks and eliminates other pathogenic fungi. I have links to studies showing how when merged with a tomato roots structure, it prevented many typical problems, and cause the plant itself to develop resistant mechanisms for future possible infections. I am testing it right now, and so far after only two weeks application I am seeing results. With tomatoes, I both drenched the soil, and the plant. A tomato I am growing had developed a problem to which I was not sure if it was fungal related or something else. It was developing spots all over the leaves, which would cause the leaves to prematurely yellow and die. This issue has been resolved so far as a result of this addition. The plant as well seems more vigourous, and is now putting out better leaves, they are greener and larger as well. This vampire fungus is called Pythium Oligandrum. I am testing it out with peppers too.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18945162/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22977087
Now if I could just find a cheaper source for it, I could test it on a much larger scale.