My pumpkin plants, planted in a 15' x 4' raised bed, have been a bit a of failure. The appeared to have been attacked by downy mildew, black rot, and cucumber beetles.
I've gotten a few good fruits of them, and I'm ready to be done with them, given it's almost September anyways. My question is, then, is there anything I can do to "clean up" the soil so that I can plant tulip bulbs?
Thanks so much!
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Cleaning up the soil the best you can won't hurt. I'd try a baking soda solution with a little bit of soap added as a soil drench.
But I'm guessing (really a guess, it was only this summer that I heard of downy mildew for the first time), that your tulips will be a lot less susceptible than the pumpkins. Cucurbits (pumpkin, squash, cukes, etc) are very vulnerable to mildews, downy and powdery (and presumably whatever else is out there). I've never seen tulips get any kind of disease.
But I'm guessing (really a guess, it was only this summer that I heard of downy mildew for the first time), that your tulips will be a lot less susceptible than the pumpkins. Cucurbits (pumpkin, squash, cukes, etc) are very vulnerable to mildews, downy and powdery (and presumably whatever else is out there). I've never seen tulips get any kind of disease.