Sulfur and thiocopper are the basic materials traditionally used by growers for the ecological plant protection of vegetables. Sulfur and thiocopper have mainly a preventive effect, and less therapeutic.
What is sulfur, thiocalcine and what is their action?
Sulfur is a contact fungicide that protects plants from powdery mildew, while it also has a moderate acaricidal action against blackleg which poses a great risk to vegetable crops. Sulfur, as a powder of application, can be applied on the leaves, but also around the root of the plant, as it releases vapors due to heat that envelop the plant and protect it without having to come in direct contact with the foliage of the plant. Of course, there is also the wet sulfur, which is the sulfur that can be used to spray the foliage of plants. Last operation for sulfur for all horticultural crops is 7 days before harvest.
Thiocalcine is a mixture of 40% sulfur powder, together with 4% copper metal in the form of oxychloride. Thus, copper for downy mildew and sulfur for mildew and tetranychium are also active in thiocopper. With thiocopper, we dust all the plants of our vegetable garden except the squash (zucchini, cucumber, melon, watermelon) which show some phytotoxicity to the thiocopper especially during the flowering period. The last operation is the 7 days before the harvest for tomato, eggplant, zucchini and cucumber and the 21 days before the harvest for melon, watermelon and potato.
Optimal temperatures
Sulfur and thiocopper do not work effectively at temperatures below 18 ° C, while they work best at temperatures between 20 ° C - 26 ° C. At temperatures above 28 ° C they can become phytotoxic and cause burns to plants. This is why we often prefer not to dust the leaves but to throw them near the roots.
