Help! Plants are dying!
I have tested my pH and it is neutral. I have a raised bed and something is taking over my plants! Slugs were eating them but I go out every night and morning and get them out...but, as you see in the pictures, this is not from slugs. It is happening to my peas, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, and squash. I honestly have no clue what this could be. I don't think it is from white flies because I applied beneficial nematodes and haven't seen any of them in the garden. I also spray with neem oil and Dr Bronner's Suds for an organic pest free garden. I really want to learn better gardening and how to prevent/fix these issues and have a successful garden this summer! Thank you!
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- Squash
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- Tomato
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Slow down and quit spraying stuff until you know what it is you are trying to treat for. When you say you sprayed with Dr. Brunners, was that undiluted? Soapy water spray is good against aphids and other soft bodied insects, but it is usually made up a tsp of soap to a gallon of water. If you sprayed undiluted soap, that could be the problem.
Your pictures aren't real sharp, so it's a little hard to tell, but I can think of a couple possibilities. Are these plants that were just recently set out? Where were they before? Plants that have been inside a greenhouse or other protected location, need to be gradually hardened off. Some of the damage might be just sunburn from not being used to direct sun. If that is the case, the old leaves will never heal, but the plant is fine and new leaves that appear will be fine.
Another possibility is thrips, which are teeny little insects you never see. Thrip damage looks like this:
https://badger.uvm.edu/xmlui/bitstream/h ... sequence=1
Most often thrip damage is cosmetic, but doesn't seriously harm the plant, unless it is a major infestation. Healthy plants can do fine despite them. Don't over fertilize with Nitrogen - lots of tender new growth just encourages them. Both the Neem oil and the insecticidal soap are treatments for them, so you may have already taken care of them. When you are spraying stuff like that, be sure to spray the undersides of leaves.
Your pictures aren't real sharp, so it's a little hard to tell, but I can think of a couple possibilities. Are these plants that were just recently set out? Where were they before? Plants that have been inside a greenhouse or other protected location, need to be gradually hardened off. Some of the damage might be just sunburn from not being used to direct sun. If that is the case, the old leaves will never heal, but the plant is fine and new leaves that appear will be fine.
Another possibility is thrips, which are teeny little insects you never see. Thrip damage looks like this:
https://badger.uvm.edu/xmlui/bitstream/h ... sequence=1
Most often thrip damage is cosmetic, but doesn't seriously harm the plant, unless it is a major infestation. Healthy plants can do fine despite them. Don't over fertilize with Nitrogen - lots of tender new growth just encourages them. Both the Neem oil and the insecticidal soap are treatments for them, so you may have already taken care of them. When you are spraying stuff like that, be sure to spray the undersides of leaves.
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 31062
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
OK you need to tell us where you are located and what the temperature has been like and what kind of weather. Considering the other plants, I think peas could be just getting stressed from being too hot.
Others could possibly be fungal issues. Is it hot humid season for you now? I'd hate to suspect downy mildew, and I don't have enough experience with it to readily recognize the symptoms.
But it's a bit odd that all of them are showing damage. Any chance something else has been sprayed in the vicinity recently?
When spraying make sure not to spray in direct sunlight or when direct sun will be on the residue on the foliage.
Others could possibly be fungal issues. Is it hot humid season for you now? I'd hate to suspect downy mildew, and I don't have enough experience with it to readily recognize the symptoms.
But it's a bit odd that all of them are showing damage. Any chance something else has been sprayed in the vicinity recently?
When spraying make sure not to spray in direct sunlight or when direct sun will be on the residue on the foliage.
Oops! I'm in North Florida and it has slightly humid, however, a couple weeks ago we had 5 days of rain and no sun and temps went down to about 63F then straight to 80F and sunny. The sun out here is definitely piercing. Before the rain though, we were at about 75F-79F and the past few days it has been as high as 93F.
As far as spray goes, the only neighbors close enough that spray might effect it is my brother and they garden organically as well.
As far as spray goes, the only neighbors close enough that spray might effect it is my brother and they garden organically as well.
Some of it looks like it could be chemical damage from whatever you are using. You should not be spraying in the heat of the day and afternoon. Some plants will be sensitive especially if your concentration is too strong.
You should not spray until you find out the problem. Most of the problems will be on the underside of the leaf so spraying the tops don't help that much.
Check under the leaves for insects.
Once they are identified determine the threshold for treatment. If the damage is slight and they are only a few, use a blast of water to dislodge them.
Try to keep your plants as healthy as possible, give them the space, light, and soil conditions they need and they will be poorer targets for bugs.
You should not spray until you find out the problem. Most of the problems will be on the underside of the leaf so spraying the tops don't help that much.
Check under the leaves for insects.
Once they are identified determine the threshold for treatment. If the damage is slight and they are only a few, use a blast of water to dislodge them.
Try to keep your plants as healthy as possible, give them the space, light, and soil conditions they need and they will be poorer targets for bugs.
