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Simi valley, ca

I big question this yr is ? this is time of yr to add our manures & such ! But this yr i had problems with plants ,Im not sure i had desease or not ? my plants started out looking supper good then when pumpkins were aprox 22 days old they stoped growing , the vines rotted off under the main vine mostly ! I also thing it might have been a watering problem , First i had hugh vines like 850 & 950 sq plants Yes 26 ft long secondarys ea side , so i has over head water come on several times a day in heat but for short time only & i think only the water ran down stalkes & kept wet directly under vines BUT not most of soil , I found this to be true when i pulled them up all at once , The middle & most of patch was compleatly dry , Maybe plants thought they were done for yr ?? But not sure ?? ,So no question is ,Not knowing should i amend soil of do nothing or use cover crop ? just not sure what to do , Oya i solerized for the last months also with plastic , but too it up now as it dont seem to get that hot anymore , AnyADvice Or opinions would be greatly appreciated ??? thanks !!

10/27/2007 12:34:11 AM

Midwest

Fish: I'm not an expert and I can only tell you my experience. I feel for you about getting hit with an unknown that comes back year after year. I have had a similar experience. This year, I took action and bought a soil fungicide powder that I mixed with the soil. It was biological, not chemical. I mixed it in the seed pot and when I put the plant in the ground (the 'pit' I dug was about 3ft all around and 1.5 ft down). I feel that soils that have a history of problems (these soils may have conditions that favor fungus or other pathogens) are not going to be cured overnight or, in one season. I believe that we have to tip the balance in favor of good conditions and make it hard for pathogens to live. I think you're doing the right thing to grow a cover crop and that you tried to solarize. Let's face it, you had some huge plants and it is hard to manage that size plant. Maybe next year try terminating secondaries between 15 and 20ft and let the main go between 25 and 30. But, everyone has a different opinion on that one. I believe you would get a benefit by using a soil powder fungicide, at planting time and, maybe in mid-June. I assume you have a fungicide program picked out? I'm using three fungicides: Immunox, Aliette and potassium bicarbonate. Immunox and Aliette are systemic, potassium bicarbonate is contact. Worked good for me. Hope you have a disease-free patch!
Greg

10/30/2007 10:34:53 AM