Re: Bleach

In a message dated 12/31/98 7:43:06 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ldnwelty@raex.com writes:

<< ubj:	 Bleach
 Date:	12/31/98 7:43:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
 From:	ldnwelty@raex.com (Welty)
 Sender:	owner-pumpkins@mallorn.com
 Reply-to:	pumpkins@mallorn.com
 To:	pumpkins@mallorn.com
 
     Does anyone have thoughts on spraying pumpkin plants with bleach.
Possible
 effects on nutrients, leaf health, or other problems.  In the past I have
sprayed
 individual spots on leaves to kill mildew without any harm to the plant.  In
1999 I
 am planning to dig a small water reservoir and was thinking of putting bleach
in the
 irrigation water to prevent unwanted pests from growing in irrigation lines.
Any
 thoughts, or better methods?  If bleach is totally non harmful to the plants,
could
 it be used to kill some of the hard to get rid of diseases (bacterial wilt,
phyto,
 gummy stem blight, mosaics)?
 
 thanks,
 Nic Welty
  >>
Nick,
    Generally, a 10% bleach solution will kill most pathogens. Bleach can also
kill a plant, but I'm not sure at what concentration that will present
problems. I would not discourage your research, for sometimes people discover
new things that the general scientific community might disagree with. Be
careful and experiment with small portions of your plant, or plants that don't
matter if they are damaged. You might be able to find a concentration that
won't kill a plant but will knock out a certain disease. I would be
pessimistic that a bleach technique would kill a virus. Viruses are toughies.
If you kill the plant, you will kill the virus......but we don't want to do
that.
                          pumkinguy 
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