Gardening Hygiene
chickencoupe
8 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (28)
chickencoupe
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agoRelated Discussions
tiny, sooty dots EVERYWHERE
Comments (8)Black Sooty Mold grows on the upper surfaces of leaves where other overhanging foliage above them have sucking insects on their reverses. As the insects suck the plant sap, they excrete sugar water which falls on the tops of the underlying foliage. Sooty, black mold grows in the sugar water making the surfaces black and 'sooty', but not in dots. What you describe sounds like old rust where the orange pustules have lived their useful lives. Rust often turns black toward the end of the fungus' life cycle, and it can be "sooty" feeling. I agree, clear photos would certainly help. Here is an image I found on line of "old rust". Kim Here is a link that might be useful: old rust...See MoreHVX is not a great threat to your gardens.
Comments (46)Since bleach or Dawn dishwashing liquid will kill HVX I would think swishing the shears in between plants in a Dawn / water solution would be a good precaution. Personally I just pick up the previous leaves in the Spring. I realize that some cannot stand having dying or dead leaves hanging around all Winter so I suggest the sanitation between plants to safeguard the hosta and satisfy the desire to have a meticulous garden even in the winter. Jon PS- I prefer Dawn because it is a detergent and will wash tools as well as sanitize, is not as stringent as bleach and dumping it on the ground anywhere and washing the tools and bucket is easy....See MorePlants for Nematode Reduction?
Comments (9)Bon, Do you have sandy soil? Sandy loam? The looseness of those soils combined with low organic matter allows the nematoes to easily move around, and then they seem to multiply like mad. In clay soil, even in the absence of much organic matter, it compacts so tightly they cannot move around. As much as I hate the dense red clay, we did choose it. We almost chose another place when we were looking for land to buy, but it had very sandy soil---like sugar sand---and I was really worried that I'd have a constant nematode issue. The last thing on earth I wanted was to buy a place that had the kind of soil that allows nematodes to multiply and spread. High phosphorus was indeed on my mind when I suggested a soil test, but you'll never know if it is high phosphorus until you get the soil tested, so we're just guessing that might be part of the problem. It really is impossible to correct problem soil when you don't know what the problem is. Nematode-infested soil is problem soil and, while adding lots of organic matter (and clay if you can get it) will help, it may not correct the soil enough if you have a major nutrient imbalance. Or, if your pH is very high or very low, organic matter will not necessarily be able to correct that on its own either. Generally, if you have the kind of soil that allows nematodes, there's also nutritional deficiencies or something else going on as well because rainfall leaches nutrients out of fast-draining sandy soils very quickly. So, when you have a problem in your soil that manifests itself in poor plant growth, there's normally multiple issues occurring and you kind of have to work your way through correcting them bit by bit. There's normally not just a quick fix. WIth the band of sandy soil at the west end of our garden, I not only added lots of organic matter to it to deter the nematodes I thought might be there, but I also added clay soil whenever we did some excavation (for example, when they dug out the clay soil to put in the tornado shelter, we were able to move all that excavated clay elsewhere). I've often thought that if I could take a giant mixer and blend together our clay areas with our sandy areas, we'd have great clay loam, although I'd still have to add organic matter every year. Dorothy, I've solarized in fall and winter using heavyweight (6 mm) clear plastic. It takes a lot longer in fall/winter than in spring/summer because the temperatures are lower and the daylength is shorter, but I did feel like it worked. Or, you could plant Elbon rye there where the okra grew. It is a good cool-season cover crop that helps fight nematodes. Bon, In our climate you have to try really hard to achieve "too much" compost in your soil. Because "heat eats compost" and makes it break down very quickly, we seldom run into the issue of having too much organic matter in the soil here in our climate, though it can be a more common problem in some milder climates. To get "too much" organic matter in your soil, I think you'd have to add more than 6-8 inches of organic matter all at once, and even then, I think you;d be shocked at how quickly it all breaks down. I have added tons and tons and tons of organic matter to my soil since we moved here and never once have had any sort of problem that could be linked to having too much compost or organic matter in the sol. It breaks down so quickly, in fact, in our insanely hot summer months that some years I look at the soil in the fall and wonder if I'll ever get enough organic matter into it. Organic matter simply breaks down faster than I can add it, long-term. Larry, I could say that my garden is suffering from drought, but that is not even an accurate-enough description. My life is suffering from drought. : ) Not only are trees defoliating constantly, a few have begun dropping large limbs just like they did in 2011. At the rate we're going, our 10 acres of woodland will vanish in the next 20 years if we keep having drought years back to back to back. On the bright side, there's beautiful soil there in the woodland so maybe someday it will become a garden. You must have had my cucumber beetles at your place this year because II barely saw any here and usually they are all over everything 24/7. I have some ugly, cucumber mosaic virus-infested Armenian cucumber plants that look pathetic but are still alive and still producing about a dozen very large Armenian cukes per week. I've been feeding them to the deer. I don't think I've ever had spring-planted Armenian cucumber plants survive this late in the season. Usually the cucumber beetles spread the disease around over and over and the plants die. I like to plant plain old rye grass around the house and other structures for winter fire protection, but it is too dry to do that this year. With moisture levels in the soil being incredibly low, the seed wouldn't even sprout unless I watered every day. The deer are so hungry right now that I think they'd devour the rye grass before it could root in well even if it sprouted. In prior drought years, as soon as the rye grass sprouted in those years, they yanked it out of the ground while eating it. I wasn't a happy camper. I reseeded the big bare patches, and they yanked it out as it sprouted so I gave up on having green winter rye grass around the house that year. One year I planted a food plot for the deer. It wasn't fenced in and they had free access to it, but they ignored it and ate our shrubs instead. The rabbits did enjoy the deer food plot though. The seed for the food plot was one of those mixes you buy in bags in late summer to plant for a fall and winter deer food plot. and I remember that it had mustard, collards, turnips and clover in it. The rabbits were particularly fond of the clover. Bon, I'm going to link a page that shows the effects of different mineral deficiencies on tomato plants. You might see something there that resembles what you observed in your tomato plants this summer. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Color Photos of Mineral Deficiencies inTomatoes...See MoreTomato hygiene
Comments (3)If the plants were surely diseased, I would pull all the bamboo supports and toss them, but if you can't or don't want to toss them, you can soak them in a dilute bleach solution to try to sterilize them. Then I would pull all the plants and clean up as much of the fruit / plant debris as I could find, bag it up (plastic trash bags) and put it to the curb for pickup. That said, in general, I'm not a huge "garden hygiene" fan. When you know the plants were diseased and you don't know what it was, it's best to exercise caution because certain pathogens can survive in dead or rotting plant tissue - so the less you have lying around the better. In cases where the plants were not diseased, I'm not so particular with clean-up. I'll clear the garden enough that I can get through it - get the bulk of the dead top growth and then I'll mulch over top of the rest. If the pathogen is a soil borne disease, moving your garden probably won't help unless you can really put some significant distance between the old and the new; and even then, it's possible it could be spread by simply tracking it around on your shoes. If the pathogen was wind borne, it'll probably just come back next year anyways....See Morechickencoupe
8 years agochickencoupe
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agochickencoupe
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agosorie6 zone 6b
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agosorie6 zone 6b
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agochickencoupe
8 years agohazelinok
8 years agoluvncannin
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agoluvncannin
8 years agochickencoupe
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agostockergal
8 years agochickencoupe
8 years agochickencoupe
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years agostockergal
8 years agoluvncannin
8 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
8 years ago
Related Stories
GARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGLuxuriate in the Calm of a Minimalist Garden
Immaculate, orderly and serene, minimalist landscapes can inspire soothing quietude
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESPut Out the Welcome Mat for Leafcutter Bees in Your Garden
Provide a diversity of flowering plants from spring through fall for these charismatic native bees, and you won’t be disappointed
Full StoryEDIBLE GARDENSHow to Add an Apple Tree to Your Edible Garden
Readily available, beautiful and fragrant, apple trees offer four-season interest along with crisp, juicy fruit
Full StoryBACKYARD IDEAS7 Backyard Sheds Built With Love
The Hardworking Home: Says one homeowner and shed builder, ‘I am amazed at the peace and joy I feel when working in my garden shed’
Full StoryFURNITUREGreat Furniture Pieces That Work Indoors and Out
Look to garden chairs, nesting tables, kitchen carts and more to serve double duty inside and outside your home year-round
Full StoryBATHTUBSWorld of Design: 12 Soothing Bathtubs in Rejuvenating Settings
From baths with ocean views to tubs set amid lush gardens, these spaces are designed to relax mind, body and soul
Full StorySAVING WATER11 Ways to Save Water at Home
Whether you live in a drought-stricken area or just want to help preserve a precious resource, here are things you can do to use less water
Full StoryFARM YOUR YARDHouzz Call: Show Us Your One-of-a-Kind Chicken Coops
Do you have a fun or stylish backyard shelter for your feathered friends? Post your pictures and stories in the Comments!
Full StoryHOUSEKEEPINGHow to Fix a Stinky Garbage Disposal
No plumber’s fee or even a trip to the hardware store is required with these easy solutions
Full StoryBATHROOM DESIGNWindows That Expose Your Bathroom to Light Without Exposing You
Enjoy the best of both worlds with window tricks that give you privacy along with the views and natural light
Full Story
stockergal