A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Soo many problems...

I went out to my garden this morning and was stricken with horror! My tomato plants have what looks like, maybe, early blight and it also looks like something might be munching on them. The leaves have round brown/tan spots, with yellow discoloration spreading from there. The main leaves affected, for the moment, are the lower leaves. The holes are round and near the edges of the leaves--with a distinct edge. These are mainly the upper and possibly younger leaves. I did a check for aphids, but didn't find anything, except some spider webs near the stem of the plant.

My yellow squash look like they've been squashed, literally. Some of the leaves and stems are starting to wilt and fall outward.

And, finally, my pumpkins are in trouble. One plant was doing wonderful. It was huge and even had a good sized pumpkin. For 3 days last week, we had horrid winds--I'd guess upper 20 mile per hour winds and my pumpkins were unprotected. It was very wilted every evening, so I'd give it some extra water to help reinvigorate them. It now has a perpetual wilt and are on the brink of death. I'm almost sure that it's a goner. Is this possibly bacterial wilt?? I haven't seen any of those cucumber beetles around.

I have pictures of all my problems loaded into photobucket--but I don't know how to post the album for everyone too see!

Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah,

I am a total newbie gardener so I cannot help with that... but maybe I can give you some photobucket advice (its what I use).

to post a picture IN the post:

Go to your photobucket album. In the first line where it has your URL, highlight everything in that window and copy it. Then (using the full reply form) when typing a post in this forum click the "Image" button and paste the URL This will put the picture right in the post (make sure to delete the http:// already in the Image input box.

To post the link to the whole album, first make sure you've got the album on shared or public in photobucket under the album options. Then find your url under you options. Click on "url" in the reply/full reply form on this site and just paste your site's url.

Hope that helps

20 miles and hour!!! Thats normal for where I live. As for you plants I don't know but the tomato plant problem sounds the same as mine.

Well as a fellow Kansan, I'm sure you do. I wasn't sure what our winds were--so I gave a low estimate. It was so unusually windy. Blowing up wind for all those storms--that probably hit you guys in Hugoton and missed us completely. We have a large, heavy picnic table for our children out there and the wind kept blowing it across the yard like it was a trash bag. Off the subject, but does hugoton still have that cat in the library?? How are your tomatoes producing? I'm a little worried that the blight is going to interfere with the production...

Here is my attempt at posting the album. I went ahead and made it public just am not sure I got the right url for it. Album??

Sarah

The link works fine for me Sarah

I did a little checking and we were under wind advisory's for most of last week--that's sustained winds over 30 and gusts over 40 mph. And it was very gusty (but when isn't kansas gusty?).

Sarah, first off, I wouldn't worry too much about your tomatoes just yet. A few holes in a few leaves is not something that will affect the plant. Just keep an eye out for the possible cause, maybe tomato hornworms, etc., and kill anything you find on the plants. Second, it's a little early for blight in you zone. That doesn't look like blight to me. Early blight does not come early as it's name suggests. Blight most often occurs in prolonged periods of wet, humid weather. Just keep an eye on it and maybe remove and throw away affected leaves for now.

The pumpkin plant problem may be squash vine borer. Maybe take a close up of the stem where it enters the ground where the SVB may have entered the vine. It's possible for vining curcurbits like pumpkins to recover from SVB damage because they have the ability to root along the vine and be able to sustain the plant because of the new roots. The winds you speak of are probably not a problem. Unfortunately there's not much you can do but wait and observe.

I looked at my pumpkin stem, near the ground and found long, slender grooves in it. On top of the grooves was what looked like a very fine dried sawdust. I'm guessing that is the chewed-up goop from SVB. What can I do to keep these nasty guys off my other pumpkins?

I went ahead and trimmed off the worst leaves from my tomato plants. It really opened up the inside of the plant--maybe the increased air circulation will help. I did notice, however, that about half of the leaves have some little brown spots on them. I suppose I'm just gonna have to keep an eye on them and hope it doesn't get worse.

Sarah

They are very difficult to control. The enter the stem and tunnel through the vine eating the soft tissue inside it. Before you realize it the damage is done.

Would you say it is a good idea to cover some of the main stem (in areas further away from the base) with soil to encourage root growth? I've noticed that almost all my pumpkins (about 15 plants) have got at least one hole, both my zucchini, and 7 yellow squash have got multiple SVB holes. What about slicing a hole and digging out the larvae? That just sounds like a bad idea to me...

Sarah

That's a good way to ensure the survival of your plants. Just be sure to cover the vines at nodes where the leaves grow from as they will root easily there. Slicing the vine to find the borers to remove or kill them is recommended also.

Yes, covering them stem with soil will encourage new rooting. I wouldn't recommend slicing the stem looking for the little buggers. They are difficult to find in my experience. I seem to get them every year.

I lost my tomatoes to 'blight' last year and got a tip from an old time gardener . He recomended copper spray or dust. I am using it this year and so for so good. It is a 'natural' remedy and controls many insects and desease. That being said, it is toxic, when first applied so you must be careful about children and pets. I have cats who love to prowl in my garden. I spray and don't let them out until I am certain that all the plants are dry. I would love to hear what the more experienced gardeners here have to say about this remedy.

I'm beginning to think this is some sort of bacterial problem, instead of fungal. Also, wouldn't it be dangerous to put something so toxic on something you plan on eating? I have no idea, was just wondering... Where would you even get that at?

Sarah

Daconil is safe to use up until the day of harvest and also provides control of late blight which copper based sprays do not. Late blight is a far more devastating disease and was actually the cause of Ireland's potato famine in the 1800's that ended up in over a million people dying.

I wish I had gotten my 'blight' advice from you John rather than my old farming buddy, Yours seems more up to date.
But...... not too late
Thanks

LakeGran

I too have cats and they do LOVE to prowl in the garden. They think it`s there own personal jungle. The bad thing is they also think it`s a giant litter box as well.

OZ hate to hear about your problems. Hope you get lots of produce. My garden is just really starting to grow and produce here. Got my first tomatoes, cukes, and squash in the last week. Tomatoes are looking good now. Have two problem children but out of around 70 plants that isn't bad. It is hard to tell from pictures but I would be like John and think your tomatoes might be fine. Just keep an eye on them.
We had wind gusts with the one storm recorded at 80 mph. But surprisingly my garden survived fine. And here in Elkhart I have no natural windbreaks.
Best of luck and keep us updated. JD