Julie Rubaud's Page

"I am a vegetable pathologist and an avid gardener who has been studying basil downy mildew and watching it develop in my garden every summer since 2008.  I have evaluated organic and conventional fungicides on field-grown plants.  And…"

"Hi Mark, Sounds like you have a plan of attack. I am guessing you are in Washington State? I know they are very strict with organic regulations. Any phosphites that they might allow? I will try some of your ideas. There is no "silver…"

"Hi Walter, Happy New Year     I am now using Preclude (which does not have acetic acid like Oxidate), and have used it at 2% with no burn.  I will be trying 3% here soon.  For sterilizing the greenhouse, remove all basils-then…"

"Here is a realy good link for info on BDM from Meg McGrath of the Cornell Research Lab in Riverhead NY. http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/NewsArticles/BasilDowny.html ;"

"Hi Mark, Thanks for sharing your experiences. We had pretty good luck with keeping the greenhouse temperature above 70 degrees, as BDM thrives at 68. It seems to have helped control the symptons. Oxidate sprays had very little effect. We tried…"

"Hi there everyone.   Sorry I'm late to this discussion, I hope everyone is still following.  The holidays delayed in getting my profile setup are at fault.  First question, is this disease truly systemic, or semi-topical? …"

"I use that concentration to cure, for maint. I use 1/oz gallon. I tried the 2 oz ratio on plants that were beyond saving, it cleaned them up. If the disease has progressed you have nothing to lose anyway. I spray after every rain, and every 7 to 10…"

"Chris, Any issues with spraying Oxidate at 2 oz /gallon on basil? That is a pretty high rate and basil is a sensitive plant. Since Oxidate has no residual benefit how often do you spray?  "

"Cease and Actinovate both carry OMRI labels and thus are pretty easy to get approval to use in an organic regulation. It would behoove the above poster to get his products OMRI listed if he wanted to make it easy for organic growers to consider…"

"I reading the replies I see several folks have suggested the use of Cease and Actinovate. These products contain only one strain of bacillus subtills. I suggest you try the Revive version of Quantum Growth products which contains a consortium of…"

"Changing cultural practices is the only way to go until someone figures out a better organic product. When I start out my basil and it is in a small area of the greenhouse I place small box fans on the benches for better air movement. If the…"

"Have you tried Cease, from Bioworks? Not aware of any phosphites that are organiic certified."

"keep the humidity under control and increase the air flow, oxidate @ 2 oz/gallon is what we use. I kept our basil going until the end of Nov in our house with no heat this year."

"Hi Julie, How did you make out with the downy mildew basil issue this year?   Walter Marion Gardens, Herbs"

"I have tried seeds from High Mowing Seeds and Johnny's. I haven't tried any other sources yet, but tried about 10 varieties for Have you had any luck with any vendors? I will try the Actinovate, thanks."

"Here in southern NJ a lot of work is being done to find a control for basil DM because we devote a lot of acres to this crop. DM is carried "IN" the seed and can not be removed by seed treatments. The only fungicides that seem to work…"