Blight is a disease that is quite common in houseplants and gardens, unfortunately, it can often be difficult to treat. Here is a simple do it yourself cure for blight that costs less than .02¢
In order to cure something, you need to know what caused it in the first place- Blight is actually caused by a colonization of an infectious organism, generally virus, fungi or mold. Plants that have been affected often begin wilting, or the leaves curl, yellow and dry up. Since the plant has been infected with a virus or fungi, it can spread from plant to plant, which in turn causes an entire crop to be infested. The fungal blight is spread from spores that travel through the air.
How to Prevent Blight:
There are a number of steps you can take to prevent blight in the first place, negating the need for treating it altogether.
- Avoid Over watering plants- plants that require low amounts of water will pick up fungal infections rapidly when over-watered
- Avoid Over Crowding- space plants properly to avoid overcrowding. Good airflow helps prevent infections.
- In houseplants, use healthy, clean soil
- Avoid composting plants that have been infected with blight
- Apply Mulch or Straw around the plants to prevent water from splashing up underneath the plant
How to Treat Blight:
If you’ve done all you can and your garden or houseplants are exhibiting signs of blight, here is a rapid cure. Fill a clean spray bottle with water, add a few drops of DAWN ORIGINAL dishwashing detergent. Not the scented kind, not the colored kind, just the ORIGINAL Blue Kind that you can still buy at the dollar store for 1.00. Seal and shake well to even distribute the dawn throughout the bottle.
For our houseplants we use a 4 oz mini-spray bottle and add 2 DROPS of dawn.
Spritz the affected areas of the plant.
To treat an entire Garden:
1 level tablespoon of baking soda
1 level tablespoon of Epson salts
1 level tablespoon of miracle grow (tomato or veg. fertilizer)
2 tsp of liquid dawn dish soap (reg. blue strength)
3 tablespoons of regular rubbing alcohol
Mix all in one gallon of water, apply to everything in the garden every 10 days.
Did you know?
The Irish potato famine of 1845 was actually caused by Potato Blight.
We have NOT tried ANY other brand of soap, so we cannot tell you whether or not any other brand is effective at treating blight. If you happen to give it a try, we’d love to hear your results.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons ; Midori
great timing! my tomatoes were plagued with this mess, dh found the fix here on the site and our plants are now recovering. thank you so much, if i could send you a jar of salsa to thank you i would!
love it, will mix up and try on some of my plants in the garden. we’ve been having so much rain!!!
i sure will mix me up some of the blight spray and use it. thank you for sharing the info.
i know for a fact that the dawn liquid mixed with water works on the houseplants. i’m gonna give it a try on some small trees and veggies.
i will try this,,i got it onm my tomato’s this year 100 plants caught it,,i did everything to get rid of it,,so thank you,,i will try and let you know my :2cents worth:
we actually had this in our garden this last summer. will need to remember this for next year. thanks for the good advice.
dawn works great on fairy rings also. just squirt dawn on the ring and then water in.
great idea — thanks for sharing.
does this work on roses also?
will this work on roses as well?
i have lost so many veggies to blight! so excited to have this information! thank you!
this same mixture will also work to get rid of the dreaded aphids, have used it many times and i know it does work.
Already fighting this in my garden!! And something is eating my swiss chard!!!