Organic Foliar Sprays

We have been using organic foliar sprays in our orchard for a few years to help curtail fungal pressure and, at the same time, build a healthy microbiome on the leaves. Last year, too little too late, we decided that maybe this would work on our tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons, all crops that seem to be predisposed to fungal pressure here in mid to late summer.

While anecdotal, so far it does seem to be making a difference this season now that we have started early and continued applying regularly. So much so that I am finally comfortable sharing our current recipe with you all.

In essence, this foliar spray works to build a healthy microbiome on the surface of the leaves, something that has proven to help plants’ immune systems reject spore colonization of unwanted fungal disease pressure.

It’s like a probiotic for our plants. Makes total sense to us, and I hope you find this useful in your gardens too.

Ingredients (per gallon of water)

• 2 ounces Cease (Bacillus subtilis)
• 1 ounce Molasses
• 1/2 – 1 ounce Fish and Seaweed emulsion
• 2 drops castille soap

Because of the scale of our garden, we mix this up in a 3 or 4 gallon batch. All ingredients go into the bottom of the backpack sprayer and then you fill with water. Vigorously shake to mix it all together.

Once on your back, continue to jiggle and mix all ingredients together before application.

My husband uses a backpack sprayer and applies this to our orchard, all cucurbits and tomatoes, and then outside of the garden he applies this to all of our native edibles scattered around the property.

We start applying this as soon as we transplant the plants in spring, and reapply once a week or after a rain event. Yes, it adds work to the garden, but the lushness of our plants this summer demonstrate that anchoring our weekly tasks around these prophylactic measures is all worthwhile.

For a smaller garden, starting with a one-gallon recipe should work well.