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Pulaski Tn [email protected]

Well all is not good on the home front..i have (had) 6 plants in my main patch..the one where i'm able to water them..and with in a week 3 of them have just fell over and died...they seem to get about 3-4 feet long and just up and die..no apparent reason..i have been using a little miracle grow and spray with sevin every 5-6 days until my merit comes in..i've found several cuke beetles and stink bugs but they are all dead and lying all over the leaves..cant imagine why they are dying..i wish there was some where i could send them to get a full autopsy done before the rest of "me patch" is gone..

6/3/2004 10:04:22 AM

Brillion Wisconsin

The first thing I would do is dig up one of your dead plants. I would check the roots and the portion of stem below the soil for insect damage. It might be that something ate the roots or cut your plant in two below the soil.

If everything looks fine I would send the plant in and have a tissue analysis done. Someone evil person may have given your plants a drink of who knows what and killed them.

6/3/2004 10:25:00 AM

Arizona

hows the plants in your truck? would like to see then vine! that way you can take them with you anywere you go.

Best of luck!

Jeff

6/3/2004 1:42:32 PM

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

hmmm.. where would i send the plant? how long does it take for results? any idea of the cost?? i did notice on the first one when i pulled it up that the root looked sorta rotted...thanks,keith

6/3/2004 2:39:34 PM

Brillion Wisconsin

www.seedswest.com/pdfs/PSIsl.pdf would be a good place to start.

6/3/2004 3:17:24 PM

Kenyon, Mn.

Don't know if it will affect pumpkins or not(anyone)? But sounds like a problem that a feller up the road was having with his vegetable patch...Planted where a huge Walnut tree had been.?

6/3/2004 4:41:47 PM

Kenyon, Mn.

Oh and as far as the dead bugs, good Golly man, You know how much you could earn if you can reproduce what ever is knockin em OUT :~)

6/3/2004 4:43:40 PM

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

i just pulled the plant up and the root..all 3 inches of it reminded me of my socks..wet,moldy,rotten and smelled like shit...any idea of what has happened??

6/3/2004 8:04:56 PM

Arizona

over watered. what else causes mold and rot?

6/3/2004 8:09:22 PM

[email protected]

Cutworms may cut the plants away from the roots. If some time passes, the roots will fade.

But if the roots are wet & pythium or phytophthora set in, then the blacked roots go down before the still attached top wilts.

So this becomes a question of timing. Which went down first & were the tops still attached in the end?

6/3/2004 9:05:52 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

at the risk of sounding rude, but did you ever think to *really* prep your patch/planting soil?

6/3/2004 11:27:14 PM

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

Jeff, it for sure wasnt over watering..we havent had a drop of rain in 3 weeks here until those storms came through sunday night.i had given it a total of about 1/2 gallon of miricale grow in the previous 2 weeks about a 1/4 gallon each time.
Tremor, one day it looked fine the next day it just fell over..the whole plant..it looked like it all went down at the same time..
Southern..i though a bunch about preping my patch..so last year i changed my feeding routine and fed about 10 round bales of hay in my patch..all about 30 feet apart. the center of the feed circle is where my plants are now..i've had pretty good luck in the past growing stuff where i have fed round bales.
back to the mold and rot..i wonder if the straw i mulched with caused this problem, the 3 i mulched have all passed on.the other 3 are still trucking..well i wouldnt say trucking but maybe..car pooling..

6/4/2004 9:22:03 AM

Appalachian Mtns.

cloud....could the straw mold and rot, causing the problem?

6/4/2004 4:56:11 PM

[email protected]

Keith,

Do you have an ag-station nearby? If so, & at least a sizable chunk of semi dead/green stuff still exists, they might be able to make a slide & examine under the scope. If so, they can check for Pythium &/or Phytophthora. Neither is likely reversible once the seeling falls over. But those still alive, & the remaining planting holes, could be Subdue treated to keep things moving.

6/4/2004 6:46:45 PM

In the shade - PDX, OR

All that straw supports fungal growth.

Pumpkins like the bacterial conditions.

I have heard of other growers that used too much hay in their patch and caused some problems. Unfortunately, I do not know the details.

I suspect this could be a partial clue to your loss.

6/4/2004 7:19:27 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

I'm not saying that the following is the cause of your troubles but I think you should bear it in mind.

Round up label (Glyphosphate);
Area of use-pre harvest wheat Barley and Oats,
Application guidance-straw may be used for any purposes except a horticultural mulch.

Break down and following crops;Occasionally,a slight check to crop growth may occur,particularly after direct drilling when crop seeds germinate amongst a mass of decaying foliage,stolons,rhizomes or roots.Thorough cultivations are necessary to disperse or bury the decaying organic matter.

Scythe label (Paraquat);

Scythe should not be used on organic based growing media.

Gramoxone label (Paraquat);

Notes on application 'Gramoxone' is quickly inactivated on contact with the soil.Crops can normally be sown or planted immediately after spraying.However,on very sandy or immature peat soils allow three days between spraying and the expected crop emergence or transplanting.
Do not use 'Gramoxone' on straw or other artificial growing media.

I mention these points because I know you like to use sprays I have this picture in my head of you spraying your patch with generic roundup then spraying it again because it wasn't working fast enough maybe at a stronger rate and using scythe as well so your weeds got a triple dose of weedkiller and are sitting on your patch all dried out just like straw.

I'm probably just imagining things.

6/5/2004 6:00:18 AM

[email protected]

Paraquat?

6/5/2004 7:42:17 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Steve,

Don't tell me your Scythe is something else is it?

6/5/2004 7:58:12 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

LOL,the penny drops my comments above on scythe refer to an older formulation I do not know anything about straw treated with Pelargonic acid.

Why can't they think up a new name when they bring out a new chemical.

6/5/2004 9:19:26 AM

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

axc..you have pretty much hit the nail on the head..say, your not the one who has been leaving those footprints in my patch are you???

6/6/2004 12:34:14 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Hehe,it might not be the problem but to be safe you could easy move the dead weeds out of the way when the plants get close.
Looking on the bright side at least you will have more time to look after whats left.

6/7/2004 5:30:44 AM

Colo.Spgs.CO. Pikes Peak Chapter @ [email protected]

Paraquat? thought that was the stuff that used to be used in the north american drug war ( D.E.A.) against mexico..central america..and parts of south america..and some secret islands..who knows where...distributed by aircraft...they say bad side effects become lots of creatures when in concact with this stuff ........es-pecially people doing it in many different ways it could be harmful......

6/7/2004 6:03:26 AM

[email protected]

Scythe Herbicide has no Paraquat in it. The active ingredient is Pelargonic acid as stated. It is the potassium salt derived from fatty acids. The same thing as Horticultural Soap, only different. It is a "reduced risk pesticide" that is allowed in some Organic Agriculture programs. It has no residual or soil activity of any kind.

Sometimes a product that is marketed in the States under one name will be marketed in Europe as something else even though the chemistries may be identical. Me thinks this is where the confusion lies.

6/7/2004 6:56:20 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Yeah Paraquat can kill if swallowed,I have to sign a poisons book every time I buy it.
I found out the scythe I was talking about was discontinued 3 years ago I thought I was on safe ground because I had actually used the product and am holding the label in my hand at the moment just goes to show thats why we should always use the chemical name.

6/7/2004 3:31:41 PM