23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
I would absolutely remove the mulch. One year I went to a friend's house to harvest some free horse manure. That manure was contaminated with herbicide. Of course, I did not know this before incorporating it into my garden. The 3 families that seem to be most susceptible are legumes, nightshades and the spinach family (I forget what it is called). I second Dave's advice of trying to flush it out and I would also recommend amending with lots of compost too. For next season, to do a quick test to see if it is still active, plant peas. If the plants look deformed, you know not to plant any of the susceptible families there. For some of our plants, once they pushed through the zone of contamination, they began to recover, slightly. It has been 3 years now and I think that next season most of the locations will be ready for nightshades again. Good luck.
If you can keep them well watered and very heavily mulched so the soil stays cooler they will do fine. I pile 6-8" of hay and leaf mulch on mine. Otherwise it's probably best to pick now - assuming they have enough growth to worth harvesting.
Dave
I'm not too sure about tomatoes as I only occasionally grow them but I believe that most tomato varieties have flowers that are self pollinating. I could be wrong though. When I do grow tomatoes, I've never had a problem with pollination. If you're wondering if tomato blossoms have fruit attached to them, then no, they don't.
Rodney
Do tomatoes work that way as well?
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The answer is : NO
Tomato belongs to nightshade family(peppere, potato, ..) and the have the so-called perfect flowers; meaning each flower has both male and female parts an so they are sef-pollinating.
My garden looks wonderful have squash already on the plants but I am noticing yellowing on the outside of the squash cucumber and zuch. I am thinking maybe I am over watering not sure. I am in Oklahoma for the past 2 weeks we have had 90 and over temps. I have been watering everyday. This is my baby and Im scared I am messing this up. Please help me before I lose my baby.
Am having the same problem with yellow leaves but it looks more extreme than a water or nutrient thing. This is a summer (pattypan or sunburst) squash plant. The bright yellow starts at the end of the leaf and moves upward. (Removed some of the most yellow leaves, the picture doesn't show it at its worst.) I have a lot of squash plants and would hate to lose them all. Usually these are so easy to grow.
With all the rain cedar rust is a problem for many this year. It is a fungus so your spray should control it - won't cure it but just control it - until the weather dries out some. Once it dries out and warms up the pepper plants should pick up.
However, I have to agree that it sure sounds like you are awfully heavy on the fertilizers - especially in a manured bed. Too much causes far more problems than too little fertilizer so I'd back off on it if I were you. ;)
Good luck.
Dave
I have, what seems to be, the same problem. I took some leaves to a local knowledgable nursery for identification. She said it appears to be fungal in nature but couldn't identify it for sur. probably rust. She recommended I send samples to the State entomology lab here in Maine for free identification, which I have done. Suggest you do the same in your state before applying haphazardly.
I assume you mean bacterial wilt. If so, then the only way to protect your plants from it is to not let cucumber beetles munch on your plants. You must kill every cucumber beetle you see because the beetles are what carry and transmit the wilt. You might be able to protect your plants if you cover them with either floating row cover or with tulle. However, you'd have to take it off to allow bees in to pollinate which could also let in the beetles or you'd have to hand pollinate yourself. Also, I believe that the County Fair variety of cucumber is resistant to bacterial wilt (haven't grown it though).
Several years ago there used to be a very interesting discussion about homemade cucumber beetle traps on this forum but for some reason it's not on gardenweb anymore. So traps might be something to look into.
In my own experience, I have found that I don't have a beetle problem if I grow cukes on a bi-yearly basis. If I grow cukes for two years or more in a row, I have a major problem.
Rodney
Sounds like my black walnut challenge some years ago.
They sound more like gourd than squash.
If they taste good, the I is worth the challenge. Here is what I would do:
Drill them ( upside, as they stand firm) === heat your oven to 300F === bake as many of them as you can , to make it pay for the electricity. You can also put some water at the bottom of the pan to soften the rind a bit., === after cooking, split, take the meat use it === if too much freez for pie making
AND FINALLY, NEVER , EVER AGAING BE TEMPTED TO PLANT THEM...hahaha
Could the seeds have been switched? I found a reference to "Cannon ball gourds" for crafters - picture attached.
Here is a link that might be useful: Cannon Ball Gourd
Save it and eat it! I hear it's put in quesadillas sometimes. I think I've also heard it has a strong, perhaps acquired taste, but I can't find any corroboration via googling, so I might be wrong about that. Anyway, if you can do something with it, why toss it?
"the mulch has a hard solid feel to it and only loosens up when you dig into it with your fingers"
That's the statement that I was basing my previous comment on. The only way to know if it allows water through is to check your soil under the mulch. If the soil under the mulch is moist then water can get through it and it should be fine, the fungus isn't a problem. And/or you could sprinkle a small amount of water on the surface of the mulch and see if it soaks in. If it soaks in then it's fine. If the soil isn't moist underneath the mulch then I'd remove it.
Rodney
Thinning them down to a couple plants will help the remaining plants grow better. So will the addition of some nutrients.
And no, you shouldn't have separated them when you planted them. Even as seedlings they don't like their roots being disturbed too much.
Rodney
I have the same thing - we are in the same area. It's some type of leaf blight which a fungicide would help control but with the CONSTANT deluge of rain it is next to impossible to spray and have any lasting effect.
I am harvesting what I can, removing the worst leaves and chalking it up to a very, very, very wet summer.
Here is a link that might be useful: Cucurbit Leaf Disorders
Yes, it's a slime mold. But the name is very misleading because these unique organisms are not molds nor are they fungi. As a matter of fact, they aren't even related to molds or mushrooms.
Not harmful in any way to you or your plants and they are not toxic.
yes that can happen, it doesn't seem to cause any issues, like mushrooms it is living off rotting material in the soils.
len
Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page
Where do you live that you are taking it in for the winter already?
Dave