I used to work in a laboratory that tested out various fungicides on citrus trees. Serenade provided about 50 percent control of whatever disease we were testing it on. This isnÂt very good compared to the industry standard fungicide. Here is the good news though. I have a feeling that with organic fertilizer plants will experience less pressure from disease. I canÂt prove that but that is what I've noticed. With less pressure from disease you can get away with a less powerfull fungicide. Its a protectant like all fungicides. You have to apply it before infection. If the tissue you are trying to protect expands rapidly then you will have exposed spots that will be susceptible to infection. You may need to spray several times. What do you mean my tx and dx?

There have been some reports here on GW on Serenade. Have you done an all site search yet? The 'other' organic fungicide, Actinovate, is controlling a serious Take-All fungus problem plaguing my St. Augustine lawn. I have also seen posts which indicate Actinovate is working well on tomato fungus problems. Do some research to see if it would help whatever your situation is. Just remember, treatment of fungus problems must start early in the growing season to be most effective.

Thanks for the input. Disease of spicebush has taken hold, so I guess it won't help it? Perhaps I will use it in the future when putting out new plants prone to fungal problems, for ex: tomato.
I was wanting to save the spicebush....I haven't seen Actinovate in any of my gardening catalogs, and can't order anything online.
Thanks again.

Manure, all fungicides are not protectants, there are those that are systemic locally and those that are translocated throughout the plant. S and Cu formulations are examples of some other protectant types.

Whoops, I meant to say not all fungicides are protectants.

Serenade worked on my tomato plants......after the disease hit. Early blight was taking a hold of them and i have them way too closely planted. I also had end blossom rot.... I picked off as many bad leaves as I could, used some calcium carbonate (added to water) and watered them with it for extra calcium, and then sprayed with serenade several times - and I have great looking tomato plants now.

1) Has anyone used Serenade with seed propagation (in my case I am looking at Hosta seed).

2) has anyone used this product in direct tandem with other fertilizers ot should it be appointed separately?

Peter Kelley
St. Paul, MN USA

What's relevant throughout the responses is recognition of proactive measures to thwart disease issues. Soil health, balanced nutrition and a thorough understand of one's locale often results in exceptional garden performance. With regard to Seranade...one needs to understand why we need products such as this, their impact environmentally and their comparative performance if seeking a softer chemistry to achieve success in your garden.

This "manure" individual does not know very much if he thinks that all fungicides are ineffective when applied after the development of a problem. Daconil worked wonders for me in my garden with a real outbreak of rust. Neem and SM-90 did nothing but two applications of Daconil completely destroyed it. Hopefully musickep is speaking the truth when he/she says that people are wrong about Serenade not working once a problem has already developed. There is a lot of misinformation out there and it is so vast that it is impossible to know what is true and what is not until you find out for yourself the hard way.

Daconil is not an acceptable product for an organic grower to use.

The claims for SM-90 make it suspect as well.

Keep in mind that a basic tenet of organic growing is that plants grown in a good healthy soil will grow up strong and healthy and be less susceptible to plant diseases and insect pests.

kimmq is kimmsr

Just as you cannot make generalized statements about all fungal issues that affect plants, neither can you make broad generalization about fungicides. The application of any fungicide needs to be tailored to the specific pathogen it is intended to address. IOW, not any or all fungicides will work on any or all fungal pathogens. And some fungal issues do not respond to any type of fungicide.

Fungicides are grouped by their mode of action: preventative, curative or eradicative. The VAST majority of fungicides available to home gardeners are preventative. That means they will not kill or destroy any existing fungal organisms but simply prevent their development. For best effect, they should be applied before any visible signs of the disease are present but they still may have effectiveness in preventing the pathogen from spreading and infecting "clean" (uninfected) plant tissue. Both Daconil (chlorothalonil) and Serenade (Bacillus subtilis) are preventative fungicides - they have no ability to cure or eradicate pre-existing fungal issues.

This is really not up for discussion - the products are what they are and the science behind them is pretty well established. Those who have differing "opinions".....and there seems to be a few judging from the previous posts.......would do well to research how specific fungicides work rather than relying solely on anecdotal evidence as to their specific effectiveness.

If you Google the topic, there are numerous scientific websites that will explain the differences and even refer to specific fungicides, so one does not have to rely on word of mouth of hobby gardeners. I've linked to one that explains the issue clearly and succinctly but there are many others that delve much deeper in the science and technology behind these products.

I used serenade on peppers with bacteria l speck, it took a few applications, but they came back very strongly. I also used copper treatments in between the serenade. I was a skeptic but I will now pre treat my pepper and tomatoes this year!

There is a lot of advertising hype about this product out there with many sellers of the product making what amounts to false claims about it controlling various plant diseases. The manufacturer of the product, Bayer CropScience, makes no such claim., and tells you that the product must be applied before there is any sign of disease.

https://www.cropscience.bayer.us/Products/fungicides/Serenade-Soil

Organic growing is less about reaching onto a store shelf for a solution to a problem, as "conventional" growers do, than making the soil into a good healthy place for plants to grow. so you do not need those products.

kimmq is kimmsr