Grow Your Own Magazine

Both of my tunnels went down with blight this year. The plants and all fruits are now gone but as I want to grow tomatoes in them again next year, whats the best way to sterelise them.

Is a good spray with jeyes fluid enough (perhaps twice) as well as a soil drench, or are there other methods to "clean up"?

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated lots - Sunday 28th at 1640hrs

OH uses Jeyes to spray the glass in the greenhouse to sterilise the glass and framework, but I would consider it a bit fierce as a soil sterilant, and would use Armillatox for that purpose.

If you go to armillatox.co.uk, you will be told that it is illegal in the EU for this purpose, but if you go to armillatox.com, you will be given all the dilution rates for its various uses. Apart from Armillatox, I understand there isn't a soil sterilant available to amateur gardeners. It is still readily available in the UK.

You pays your money and you takes your choice.

valmarg

PS we still use it for all the purposes of the .com site.

Piglet,
Blight spores (sporangia) can stay viable and infective in soil for between 2 and 11 weeks. So sowing another crop next year should not be a problem. Just make sure you remove all diseased plant material and fruit.

No need to consider soil sterilization with Jeyes or Armillatox, it's over-kill, and it's not required.

Hope this helps,

Sorry to hear that Pigletwillie, I thought indoor toms weren't so susceptible as the plastic keeps the spores away? For that reason I planned to do all my toms indoors next year - now I'm not so sure. All my outdoor toms bit the dust, but so far most of the greenhouse ones seem ok.

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Bonnie Rait

Piglet, you could try, being a resourceful engineering type chap, some heat based sterilisation of the top spit.

I worked on a flower nursey one student summer and they covered the greenhouse beds with black plastic sheeting and ran a steam hose from the boilers under one propped up end for twenty-four hours or so.

Two tunnels might be a bit expensive on gas though.

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A sheen type flamethrower played over the land until it's smoking would probably do the trick.

For cripes sakes don't burn the polytunnel down though!

Armillatox would be ok to clean the inside of the plastic as you can legally use it for that!

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We suffered to. Thought about digging some of soil out and then replacing it with 'clean' soil.
Or is this just creating unnessacary (forgive spelling) work?.

L

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Lass

In all things of nature there is something marvellous.
- Aristotle

you could sterilise the soil in a microwave... one dish at a time ...

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Jondanie is right - the blight spores don't last long and a quick wash of the plastic with jeyes or Armatillox would be sufficient as a general clean up. I would be more concerned about rotation inside a polytunnel - as i'm sure you know!

If you want to clean up the soil anyway and add a different crop to the rotation you could try a green manure with biofumigant action (google Caliente Mustard) which would probably overwinter OK if you sowed it soon.

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Happy Gardening!

Thank you all for your suggestions.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated lots - Sunday 28th at 1640hrs

Hi PW, what about the smoke cones thats sold to steralise greenhouses. Am sure they would work for you even if you wanted to try them in conjunction with some of the other suggestions. The more products you use in the tunnels the surer you are of killing all the germs or spores. Good luck whatever you decide.

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And when you're back stops aching,
And you're hands begin to harden.
You will find yourself a partner,
In the glory of the garden.

Rudyard Kipling.