Update on Aspirin Tomato Experiment

Well, the nuts and bolts is, the salicylic acid (SA) in aspirin promotes a defense response in tomatoes. The idea is the aspirin bath protects the plants by setting off an alarm of disease presence. SA is naturally found in tomatoes and increases when disease sets in. We are fooling the tomatoes. I am putting 1 - 81 mg aspirin into a gallon of water. The response of the tomato is to strengthen it's defenses to make the leaves less hospitable to diseases. The disease I am trying to prevent is early blight.

So far, the three experimental tomatoes have been damaged by either or a combination of mosaic virus, insect damage or maybe even nematodes. Therefore, I can't fairly judge the aspirin on those plants. A long shot - the aspirin caused the leaf distortions. I doubt it though.

I will be sprinkling/soaking all my tomato plants with the above aspirin formula today and 1x weekly through July. The aspirin prevention will be done in addition to pruning 18 to 24 inches of leaves off the bottom of the tomatoes,  mulching the tomatoes to prevent splashing, and pruning to maintain air circulation.

Original Blog Entry on Aspirin and Tomatoes