Do my Plants look Healthy?

[DrGreenThumb]

Hello I have been gardening since the beginning of October. I am located in Los Angeles. I have been wanting to start a garden for a long time, but my yard was a mess, full of weeds, sod and rocks. I am 22 years old. The reason that I wanted to start a garden is because I like to eat healthy and being a full time student I can't afford to eat that healthy. After 6 full weekends of digging, sifting, pulling stuff out of my yard, I put 700 pounds of new soil into the ground and mixed everything up and made raised beds. I am only into organic gardening, not using harmful pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers that harm the earth. I have tried to plant watermelon and cantaloupe in my garden, I started using Miracle Grow soil and then attempted to transplant them outside. All of them died except a couple of them which are not doing too well. Since then I have learned not to use Miracle Grow even if it says 'organic' since I only garden organically.

I have purchased many things from Earth Juice, Kelp, Neptune's Harvest Fertilizer, Humates, Neem Oil, Bat Guano and Worm Castings. I have since then researched organic gardening more extensively and I'm trying to figure out the best way to put together a compost bin, the best and most reasonable way to make a worm bin and purchase worms so I can extract the castings. I am also trying to find the cheapest and most efficient way to make compost tea, I have looked into professional equipment which is too expensive and have read articles on fish air pumps and air stones to make the tea, but I still need lots of help.

I planted three weeks ago today: Zucchini that seemes like they are pretty strong as of today; Cucumber which out of 8 seeds only 2 seeds germinated, the others rotted; Swiss Chard, Mustard Green, Broccoli, Onion, Carrot, Sunflowers and Cantaloupes which are doing well. I also planted Sweet, Snow and Sugar Peas; Green Beans. In pots I have Serrano chili, Jalapenos, Cherry Tomatoes, Mint, Parsley, Oregano and Coriander. When everything starts looking healthier I plan to plant Lettuce, Tomato and Bell Pepper.

I have many things I need to learn and figure out, but some of the things that I have noticed as of today do not look to promising. Can some of you help identify if anything is wrong or what I have to do better, etc.

Below is a picture of one of my green beans, the one that germinated a week ago. I noticed that the edge of one of my leaf is yellow and I think it may be Mosaic Virus or Mildew. Can anyone tell if I'm correct.

Green Beans
https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4811/dcfc0102yz2.jpg

These are the only two Colossal Cantaloupe that have made it. They are four weeks old, is it natural for them to be leaning like this? Do they look mature for the four weeks that they've been there? I have never seen one of my plants get to the bloom stage, so I'm not sure how the flowers are supposed to look.

Colossal Cantaloupe
https://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8031/dcfc0106cn9.jpg
https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6308/dcfc0107wb2.jpg

I planted my Carolina Cross 5 weeks ago and it didn't germinate until way past its germination date. I gave up waiting for it, and suddenly this came up in the area that I planted it. Not sure if this is the way it's supposed to look or if it's just a weed.

Carolina Cross Watermelon
https://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1584/dcfc0110xh0.jpg
https://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9242/dcfc0111hc7.jpg

This Zucchini germinated with a hole on the leaf, the other leaves are begining to slightly curl, they are not straight. I wanted to know if this hole might pose a problem and if it's natural for the leaves to curl downwards toward the soil.

Zucchini
https://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4750/dcfc0117sf6.jpg

This sunflower germinated with a chunk of it's leaf missing, will that hinder growth later?

Mammoth Sunflower
https://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5017/dcfc0112ng4.jpg

My Snow Peas came out way before their germination date. They look strong, however today I noticed both plants have small brownish blotches, and some leaves have translucent whitish lines on them. Should I be worried? They are planted next to my other peas.

Snow Pea
https://img144.imageshack.us/img144/421/dcfc0100gu1.jpg
https://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5830/dcfc0124fb4.jpg

Thank you so much for reading this post and I hope to learn a lot here.

[pixelphoto]

the holes or chunks of leaves missing look more like insect damage to me.
Its really hard to tell good from the pics as most look blurry. I think your auto focus on your camera is focusing on other things than your intended subject.
Try manual focus or try harder to get the subject in focus.
Plants are rarely ever perfect in nature so some flaws are allowed From what I can tell they look good to me.
Sometimes leaf curl in certain plants is due to a mineral or something the plant is missing in the soil.
I know all of my suggestions arent much help as they are all a bit vague but maybe you will get something out of them. I wish you luck and keep plugging away sounds like you are off to a good start. I farm organically here in Georgia and I learned by trial and error and asking other farmers and my grandparents who had a big farm and others close to me.
Thanks Mike

[DrGreenThumb]

Thanks Mike tomorrow I will retake all the photos and reput them up so you can clearly see them. As you said it might be nothing but I'm not taking any chances.

[Newt]

Hi DrGreenThumb,

Welcome to the Helpful Gardener and the wonderful world of gardening! It sounds as if you are off to a good start. You'll find that here at the Helpful Gardener we stress organic methods. With that we've learned there isn't perfection in nature. I think Mike said it well.

Your green bean picture is blurry but it appears that a bug had a snack. I wouldn't worry too much at this point about that. As to the yellowing, it looks like it could be yellow vein chlorosis to me. That can be caused by a lack of nutrients. Have you had a soil test done? Here's some helpful info on beans and their diseases and deficiencies. The second site has better pictures but can take a while to load.
https://www.uga.edu/vegetable/bean.html
https://learningstore.uwex.edu/pdf/A3374.PDF

The yellowing can also be caused by an insect that causes bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV). Distorted or crinkled leaves that often curl under are usually associated with this virus which is caused by aphids. Do you see any aphids? Here's some info on BYMV.
https://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ppa/ppa13/ppa13.htm

Your cantelope may be leaning towards the sun.
https://www.uga.edu/vegetable/melon.html

Here's some helpful info on growing watermelon.
https://www.uga.edu/vegetable/watermelon.html

Zucchini and squash are prone to many insects and diseases. It may be a bit too early to tell if there is a problem with yours. Sometimes overwatering or underwatering can cause leaves to curl under.
https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Viruses_Cucurbits.htm#Click

Your sunflower should recover. Check to see if the same insect might be chewing on the green beans. Look for ladybug look alikes as well as these bean pests.
https://www.uga.edu/vegetable/bean.html#insects

I can't see the blotches on your peas from the pictures. This site is out of Canada but you can click on the pics to see if anything matches.
https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/prm7819

You might also find this California site helpful. They offer biological and organic measuers if they are needed.
https://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/crops-agriculture.html

Newt

[DrGreenThumb]

Here's the newer pictures that I promised.


If you notice on the pic there are brown blotches and small white spots.
What could that be?

Snow Pea

https://img442.imageshack.us/img442/4807/peapic1yt8.jpg
https://img116.imageshack.us/img116/4076/peapic2in3.jpg
https://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8431/peapic3hq0.jpg
https://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5737/peapic4li2.jpg


Here is a clearer picture can anyone tell me if this is just a soil deficiency or a virus?

Green Beans
https://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7633/greenbeanpic1wk3.jpg
https://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5866/greenbeanpic2ub1.jpg


The Zucchini in the first pic has a serverly curled leaf, The second picture
shows that hole that I mentioned yesterday. it germinated with it. The third shows the leaf curling a little towards the soil, is that natural? I also have been finding little red spiders around my garden and one on my zucchini are these harmful?

Zucchini
https://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2250/zucchinipic1sd7.jpg
https://img151.imageshack.us/img151/7310/zucchinipic2wr0.jpg
https://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7770/zucchinipic3ub3.jpg


I have not got to the flowering stage in any of my plants. Can anyone tell me if mine are getting close to the flowering stage. It's been 5 weeks for them. They are also starting to lean, I hear this is natural because they are deveolping vines?

Cantaloupe
https://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8388/cantaloupepic1ag1.jpg
https://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4402/cantaloupepic2er8.jpg



Can anyone tell me is this is a weed or my seedling. To top it off earlier this afternoon I was watering it and I noticed white bugs (aphids?) that hopped, so I moved the soil around and in pic 3 noticed were the bugs were that it looked very unhealthy like a type of rot, if it is indeed my seedling and not a weed.

Carolina cross watermelon
https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7769/carolinacrosspic1xw1.jpg
https://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1127/carolinacrosspic2jpgsc0.jpg
https://img410.imageshack.us/img410/8638/carolinacrosspic3ir6.jpg


Heres a clearer picture of the sunflower mention above. In the second image it just must have happened, the leaf was ripped off. Can anyone tell if this is slug damage or possibly another bug that might just rip off the leave without eating it? If a slug what can I organically put that won't harm my sunflowers and that will kill or repell the slug? I Have neem insecticide/fungicide.

Sunflower
https://img339.imageshack.us/img339/771/sunflowerpic1to8.jpg
https://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7011/sunflowerpic2slugdamageoh3.jpg

Thanks again for being patient.

[Newt]

I haven't looked at all your new pictures, but I'm wondering if you've looked at the sites I gave you. They should answer many of your questions.

Newt

[DrGreenThumb]

Hi newt I will look at the rest of the sites today. Thanks

[Newt]

You are very welcome! I'm sure the sites will help you to figure out what it going on.

Newt