Savona Technical Details

* Fatty acid non toxic insecticide
* Safe alternative to chemical pesticides
* “Effective against mealybugs, whitefly and aphids”
* 1 bottle will cover 500 sq.m
* Simply dilute with water for application

One of the most common tomato pests is whitefly, recognised by their white wings and yellow body. They attach their eggs to the underside of the tomato leaves typically on the ones with the shortest stalks. The eggs look yellow when first deposited, but then turn a brownish colour as they mature. When hatched the whitefly feed on the foliage of the plant.

Initial signs are a dewey secretion and the presence of a mould growth. The plant is affected by irregular ripening of the fruit and the sooty mould referred to earlier that leaves the plant looking generally a little sick. You can expect the secretion to attract other pests as well, an unfortunate side affect, ants and wasps both get attracted by the secretion.

The normal productive cycle of whitefly is between 15 to 30 days so you need to check and retreat the plants over this period to make sure you have taken care of the problem fully. While they are active you will need to be spraying at least once a week.

A simple and effective way to kill whitefly is to make a mix of one part liquid soap (insecticidal if you can get it) and four parts water, then to use a plastic spray bottle to apply the soapy solution to the whole plant, paying particular attention to the underside of the leaves.

Other more drastic alternatives are to use either a deltamethrin dust or permethrin dust, but I would try the Savona or the soap solution first.

• Too much nitrogen
• Limey or sandy soil conditions
• Variable moisture content accentuated by extremely dry or wet weather conditions

The video below includes a little information on blossom end rot with pictures of what it looks like in case you are not sure. There are other subjects covered in the video for other gardening problems but the blossom end rot is one of the first covered.

All the conditions are fairly easily taken care of, nitrogen comes from the feed, compost or perhaps a mulch you have used so clearly if you are having problems with your tomatoes and suspect this to be the cause you need to moderate any supplementary feeding reducing the amount of feeding you do or the strength of  the solution. If a mulch is the problem then change the type to one that does not provide nitrogen, plastic or newspaper are good options.

If your soil has a lot of lime or sand in it then you could consider using containers or growbags, alternatively you could just take a lot more care over the soil preparation and get a lot more well rotted compost into the soil to combat its natural condition.

Watering needs to be done consistently and regularly, I would suggest 2 or 3 times a day unless of course the weather has been extremely wet in which case you probably need to stop watering completely until things get a little dryer. If you tend to experience this type of weather you should pay special attention to your soil preparation to make sure you have a situation where the soil drains easily. The objective when watering is to make sure the soil is always moist but not completely saturated as this prevents air gaining access to the plant roots.

You may also want to consider a watering system to make sure you can meter the amount of water your plants get. The system on the left is about the best you can get in the States and although the reviews on it have highlighted a couple of minor irritations it does the job and makes sure that your plants are watered consistently.

The system available in the UK has had mostly 5 star reviews but did get one very bad review, I suppose this could have been a Friday afternoon production, but mostly the people who bought it were more than happy.

I have to be honest I use the old fashioned watering can for my plants and they are fine, but if you have a busy lifestyle and do not always have the time to water your plants then a watering system for you is a must have.