Is there any hope for my moldy yard? (with pics)

16 years ago

This is our first year of organic gardening. We had a rocky start; we've got lots to learn, our yard was a jungle, etc. -- but I'm wondering if there's much hope.

We've got more diseases (deficiencies? symptoms?) than I can count. I thought we'd made some progress initially -- we've got lots of earthworms, predatory bugs, skinks and snakes, and I think we've improved the soil a lot. On the other hand, this area is challenging -- we've got an acre close to a river in Virginia Beach -- humid, hot, shady, (lots of trees) and very buggy. We've tried our best to use the techniques I read about on this forum -- we're composting and adding lots of it to our yard and garden, avoiding chemicals, using anti-fungal remedies on the garden plants (vinegar, oil, milk, etc.) with limited success, fertilizing the garden with fish emulsion -- but it looks like a mold bomb exploded over our yard.

I've tried to diagnose what's ailing our plants and I'll be darned if I can tell the difference between some of the diseases or deficiencies I've read about -- the photos showing symptoms look so much alike. I'm hoping someone with more experience than I can take a look at these pictures and tell me what's going on and whether or not I should be putting this much effort into a possible lost cause... So many plants are affected (and I don't think it's just my yard) that I don't know how I'd ever successfully overcome something this widespread.

These photos show some of the plants and fruit that are showing symptoms. I included one photo of a tomato plant from early July -- I thought it might show the early stages of whatever we ended up with. We've also noticed what I think is blossom-end-rot on some tomatoes and peppers; I'm not sure if that's a symptom of another disease. Oddly enough we've had some success with the tomato fruits -- some are catfaced (I think that's what it's called) and have other blemishes, but most taste good and the plants have been pretty prolific considering what shape they're in.

I'd appreciate any and all comments! We may need to rethink what we plant -- so far basil is about the only thing that's thriving... Thanks. alliemack

This picture is from mid-July -- I thought this was blight.

I planted a few zinnias and they all wound up looking like this...

I wasn't sure if this was a fungal disease or a mineral deficiency. However, many of the leaves look healthy (those green ones are on the same plant), so I have no idea what's wrong...

Another photo of the same tomato plant

This is what most of our back yard looks like. Our soil is very compact and needs help -- but I've never noticed mold growing like this before. It's all over the place (even in the areas that seem to drain better than most).

I'm not sure what this plant is (a volunteer squash or cuke?), but I thought this might be powdery mildew...

This is a jalepeno pepper plant. A sunflower next to this had many more tiny spots on its leaves (I thought it was rust) -- not sure about this...

This tomato plant is inside our raised garden (the grayish-purple one shown first is located in a different bed) -- different problem?

Another photo of the same tomato plant.

I forgot what this plant is called -- looked great for a few weeks, but now it appears to be rotting away. (I've got some thyme and Irish moss doing the same thing).

This is what the majority of the Yellow Poplar leaves look like as they're falling from the trees in my yard.

This is what our dogwoods look like -- a few small ones have died after their leaves become covered in this stuff...

Leaves from one of our Sweet Gum trees...

These photos show a tomato that came from the healthiest plant we've got (well, at least it's growing and the leaves are green!). It looks like it could have multiple illnesses...

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Comments (5)

tclynx
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
None of the pictures seem to be showing up for me so I can't see anything that you are talking about.

One thing you mentioned was blossom end rot. Just so you know, this isn't a disease. Blossom end rot happens when something keeps calcium from getting to the developing fruit fast enough. It is a calcium deficiency but don't let it trick you into thinking that your soil is deficient. It seems more common on earily fruit and plants often grow out of it. It is sometimes due to irratic moisture or letting the roots get dried out which impairs their ability to take up the calcium that is in the soil. There are some sprays out there that can help keep developing fruits from suffering the problem though once a fruit has the rotted blossom end, there is no cure for that particular fruit, you might as well pull it.

You noted that this is your first year trying organic gardening. Hang in there, most people seem to think it takes 3 years to really get the soil improved.

You also mentioned that you think it isn't just your yard. The weather will play a huge roll in certain maladies. In some areas this year it was powdery mildew (dry weather mold which I had back in the dry spring.) Wet humid weather will bring on a whole different set of problems, (as it starts pour down rain here as I type.) Don't be too quick to blame your troubles on organic gardening when the weather is at fault. Especially if this is your first season. It does take a while to transition from chemicals to organic methods.

Some of our tomato plants look a bit strange. The ones we grew back in the spring did too. They still produced some good tomatoes but probably not as many as they could have. What the tomato looks like is not so important as long as they taste good, unless you are into competitions or selling them.

Have you had soil tests done? Your local extension office should be able to tell you more about soil testing, it doesn't cost very much. It is possible that you could be adding something that is throwing things out of whack. You mentioned using vinegar, if your soil is already on the acidic side, the vinegar could be causing the pH to get out of the ideal range for many of your plants. On the other hand, many people add lime just because it seems to be the thing to do. Problem is, pH greatly affects what nutrients are available from the soil. Also, an over abundance of some nutrients may make other nutrients unavailable to the plants. Getting the right balance for your soil, climate, situation, and plants can take a while. Building up a micro-herd of soil microbes takes time. Composting takes time. Even adding tons of soil enhancements to your dirt will take time before they produce the desired results.

I am new to organic gardening too. I used to use lots of Miracle Grow. This first season my soil is still basically sand. Most of my veggies are growing in "raised" beds (my few layers version of lasagna gardening.) My verson for most of them this season was a layer or two of cardboard with a mound of mushroom compost on top with a thick layer of wood chip mulch over it all. This is working well for squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and pumpkins so far. The tomatoes were planted into the ground where the sand had mushroom compost mixed into it. I've also planted into cardboard boxes filled with the free compost from our county. This makes a quick raised bed that will last a season, when it's done just pull the sides of the cardboard box away, spread the compost around and hoe out any weeds.
I've had pretty good (not perfect) luck with these methods for my first couple seasons. It takes a very large amount of organic matter to properly amend sandy soil in hot humid climates since the microbes break the stuff down very quickly and much of the nutrients will leach away fast through the sand.

Sorry I'm not of much help on your specific problems but I wish you luck and I hope you will hang with it for a couple more seasons before you say it doesn't work.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Is anyone able to see the images? I'm really curious to have a look at them.
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jean001
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I want to see them but I can't!
:
cboy
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
mcaren 8
I saw your post on the test forum and I posted a reply
and I will do so here so your pictures can be seen.

Try resizing your pictures to 40 KB using irfanview
IrfanView
Than upload using TinyPc
TineyPc
OR
PhotoBucket
PhotoBucket
and than paste your pictures here.
You will need to copy the link from the upload
to paste here.
Kimmsr
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This is your first year of organic gardening, if your soil was not a good, healthy soil before it will take more than this year for things to change. The presence of earthworms can be an indication of good soil, since they do not exist in soils with little organic matter, but they are only one part.
Contact your local ofice of the Virginia State University/Virginia Tech USDA Cooperative Extension Service for information about having a good, reliable soil test done since a number of things, nutrient imbalances and soil pH, can influence what you are seeing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia CES offices

Is there any hope for my moldy yard? (with pics)

Comments (5)

tclynx

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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jean001

cboy

Kimmsr

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