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

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 ?

 

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

 

This aspirin for toms reminds me off the "rub in WD40 " cure for arthritis !

 

Still, worth a try . 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.

 

Really sorry to hear that, John

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

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

 

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

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

Steve...