Bell Pepper spots, better way to treat than copper spray?

[noodles777]

My bellpeppers and I think one of my tomato plants has that spot bacteria. I've read up on it and pretty much everyone says to use fixed copper sprays and maneb 80 wp. . I'm really not sure exactly what any of that is. I'm assuming it's not very earth friendly, anybody have other ideas on what I can use? I know I need to avoid splashing the water on the leaves too, apparently that is a major problem My bell peppers are still growing but the poor plant looks terrible and weak.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Even the copper will only prevent further infection, and that could be accomplished with milk. Mix 1 to 10 with water(you could add a teaspoon of yogurt if you wanted specific cultures) and spray plants regularly, like once a week. This sounds crazy but the scientific principle, called antagonistic biological counterculture, has been used for organic apple production for years. In this case we are using Lactobacillus cultures (very naturally occurring) to colonize leaf surfaces and ward off fungal infection. The Aussies have been using this on grapes; their own Ministry of Agriculture recommended it... a fine low level fungicide right in the fridge...

Infected plants will look bogus, but flower normally. Don't expect miracles from it; it is a diseased plant now, but it would live and bear fruit. Calcium can sometimes help, calcium carbonate or powdered shells. But it would be time to decide if you want to nurse these along or get new starts...

Water in morning, try not to splash up from the soil, put dry plants to bed at night, maybe some more calcium in the soil, spray your milk...

HG