Feed your Tomatoes with Aspirin to prevent Blight and improve flavour?

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by JWK, Jul 13, 2016.

  1. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    I'm running a little trial myself to see if this really works, I read about it in James Wong's book "Growing for Flavour". I am a little sceptical but as its so cheap it's worth a try. I just ordered a Brix tester to check the sugar levels of my tomatoes to compare the plants sprayed with Aspirin vs those not. I also plan to spray all my potatoes with Aspirin instead of using Bordeaux Mixture this year.


    Problems growing tomatoes? Feed them ASPIRIN say scientists to fight disease and boost yield

    • Feeding it to plants can help 'ward off diseases and boosts yields'
    • Drug is very effective at warding off blight, a devastating fungal disease
    • Gardeners advised to spray plants with a solution containing the drug
    • Also told to soak the seeds in an aspirin liquid before sowing

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...say-scientists-fight-disease-boost-yield.html
     
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    • WeeTam

      WeeTam Total Gardener

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      I read that soaking the seeds in an aspirin solution prior to sowing gives them protection also. Cant remember what other plants benefited from this pre treatment ?
       
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      • "M"

        "M" Total Gardener

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        I'll be interested in reading the results of your experiment :thumbsup: (says one who has duly taken your advice and now squirts Epsom salts solution with careless abandon :whistle: :heehee: )
         
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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          Well that was a short lived experiment, my outdoor tomatoes have blight :wallbanging:

          Pulled up one plant and stripped the leaves off others in the hope of isolating it. Back to Bordeaux Mixture.
           
        • HarryS

          HarryS Eternally Optimistic Gardener

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          This aspirin for toms reminds me off the "rub in WD40 " cure for arthritis ! :biggrin:
           
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          • clanless

            clanless Total Gardener

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            Still, worth a try :blue thumb:. On the subject of worth a try - bloke in work suggested using cat litter instead of water retaining crystals in hanging baskets - both absorb and retain water - never even crossed my mind to use it this way, but I suppose it would work.:biggrin:
             
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            • "M"

              "M" Total Gardener

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              :gaah: Really sorry to hear that, John :cmonhug:

              Is it possible that you started your experiment too late to be of real value? :scratch: :dunno:

              Knew someone years ago who did this and said it worked. I'd totally forgotten about it until you posted. Can't recall if she used the clump forming stuff or the other stuff or even if it makes any difference.

              Also, unlike the crystals, you would be able to put the whole lot in the compost bin when its all finished :dbgrtmb:
               
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              • JWK

                JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                Possibly. But also from the trial ...

                Looking at it from a pessimistic point of view, it's a 53% chance of getting blight. That is quite high odds, practically every other year I would lose my entire crop. So thinking it through properly now I can see it's not a method to rely on.
                 
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                • pete

                  pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                  You mean, you actually go through the process of trying to separate the crystals before chucking it on the compost heap:biggrin::wow:

                  I usually throw the soil part on the ground and dig it in the following spring.

                  Not really that well up on nappies these days, but dont they contain the same kind of stuff.

                  Have come across a few discarded ones in the local park, and it appears to be very similar stuff inside to the water retaining gel.
                   
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                  • pete

                    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                    Lets face it John, it would be just toooo simple.
                    I do wonder what commercial growers use.
                    You can be there is stuff out there, but not for us lot.
                     
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                    • Scrungee

                      Scrungee Well known for it

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                      Will you be checking for any difference in sugar with your greenhouse tomatoes? I checked various varieties a few years ago and there's a lot of variation. I'm interested in increasing sugar content of giant tomatoes as it should increase their weight.

                       
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                      • JWK

                        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                        Yes I've got my new Brix tester but not used it yet. I just seem to be firefighting at the moment, in the last week our cooker has blown up, the patio doors have jammed and Mrs JWK pulled off the handle trying to close them and my petrol hedge cutter/strimmer needs a new fuel line.

                        I had a quick look at the Brix tester last night as it was getting dark and was struggling to focus on the instructions until I realised they were written in chinese! Grrr I'll have to get onto the supplier to send me some English ones.
                         
                      • Scrungee

                        Scrungee Well known for it

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                        If it's a standard optical refractomer (like I have), first check the calibration with distilled water (if you have it, but tap water works OK) and the edge of the blue line should be at zero, if not there's a screw adjustment - there's probably a tiny screwdriver and plastc pippette supplied with it. The water (and juices) go under the clear plastic hinged plate, then point at a light source/sky and take the reading.

                        From the link in my quote above you'll see that 10 Brix isn't the same fruit juice labelled 100g/L sugar (w/v). Brix is w/w, so 10 Brix having a specific gravity of (from tables or conversion formulae) 1.040 (which is typical for apple juice) and would be 100g of sugar in 0.962 L of juice (1L/1.04) or 104g/L.
                         
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                        • JWK

                          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                          Thanks for the info @Scrungee - yes it is a standard optical refractometer - £13 from ebay but looks identical to much more expensive ones on Amazon. I found instructions online which are not too helpful being badly translated, also found a reasonable YouTube video from amongst the plethora that mostly are promoting someone's ego.

                          For tomatoes how much do you need for a test, would a quarter segment ground in a pestle/mortar be enough? Is there another methods of juicing them?
                           
                        • Steve R

                          Steve R Soil Furtler

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                          I feed my potatoes Nurofen then I don't get a sore back digging them up !:lunapic 130165696578242 5:

                          Steve...:)
                           
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