Leaf issues with bugs watering or disease?

[Donna nola]

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie here and I have some problems in my garden. I'll first share the background of my planting.

I have some vegetables growing from the ground and others in containers in the same area. The plot of ground is new and is/was majority clay. I tilled it and added some compost I made over the previous summer and winter. I also added some MiracleGro organic garden soil. I transplanted the seedlings from indoors successfully. I added my own pine mulch between the rows to control weeds and deter worms. I figured the needles and the crushed egg shells would be a mine field for soft critters. The pot containers were filled with the organic garden soil. The last garden container I planted got the royal treatment of hummus and manure (store bought ready mix) and the organic garden soil. The bottom of this container is open to the natural ground which is clay about as hard as cement. I fertilized everything with organic granules fertilizer from a big store. One bag was listed for tomatoes and vegetables, one was just all purpose organic, and the last one was for citrus trees. I planted marigolds on both sides of the garden to deter mosquitoes.

My garden flourished with huge green leaves and no bugs. I was a happy camper. Everyone that passes by admires the success in our hard to grow area. Well, just when it was close to time for all the veggies to appear and be harvested, the bugs showed up with the ants.

My first two issues I resolved. My carrot leaves had a white powder on them. I sprayed them once with a vinegar solution and the problem was immediately solved --at least as far as I know above ground. The second issue was when the lettuce was ready to be harvested, some of the plants had black aphids in the center leaves. I sprayed them off and harvested and triple washed. And I lived to tell about it.

Now my problems are bigger. Two things happened before the problems appeared. It rained very hard for two days in a row. Between the garden rows flooded but not the plants. It takes a long time for the water to dry up. The plants were beat up. A few of the huge squash leaves got torn. The beets were about a half inch and an inch in diameter and were uncovered. Then after that, the mosquito truck came by and sprayed. I was happy not to get eaten the next day by mosquitos, but wondered what affects, if any, the chemical would have on my garden.

So, the next morning when I did my walk through, I found:

1. The egg plant leaves (all three of them/young plant) had tiny holes all in them. I assume flea beetles but haven't seen them. I guess they ate and left? What can I use to kill these guys or repell them?

2. The beet leaves (beautiful about 14 inches tip to ground) were no longer all standing. A few looked darker in color and crinkled and others were soft and fallen to the side like they were wilted. I added some hummus manure around the base of the plants to cover the beets again. It was all I had on hand. Surprisingly, the beet leaves perked up the next day. But, when I watered it again, the outter beet leaves got upset and wilted soft again. When I sprayed a soap mixture with alcohol on the leaves for bugs, the leaves got mad again. They are very tempermental all of a sudden. Another thing is the plant grew leaves for a long time, struggling initially because it was still very cool when they were transplanted. They have been in the ground for almost three months now and the beets are only an inch in diameter. Should I just give up and harvest the tiny things?

3. I have a yellow squash and three zucchini plants in a container with a water reservoir. The plants were beautiful with huge soft leaves like elephant ears and thick healthy vines. No bugs, just small flies. I got my first yellow squash and my first zucchini prior to this rain incident. The first sign that something wasn't right was a leaf started to lose it's soft flexible look. It appeared crinkled and a few leaves were jaggedly torn almost like something ate it or other leaves tore through it. I gave it some more vegetable fertilizer. It had been a while. But each day, I noticed more leaves hardening, broken jaggedly, and then the spots of yellow and brown edges. I kept looking under the leaves and saw nothing. The only thing around was small normal colored flies or mosquitoes. Today, however, I saw a bug that was pale yellow with black spots. After I looked it up and figured it wasn't a good bug (cucumber beatle?), I couldn't find it again. The same bug had visited my tomato vine which appears to be healthy at the moment. So what is causing my container zucchini leaves to crinkle, break, get yellow spots and brown edges? There are zucchini buds on there and I don't want to lose them. For now, in a panic, I cut off the discolored and torn leaves. The plant is not so covered anymore. Also the marigolds and green onions are neighbors in the ground next to this squash container but do not appear to have any bugs on them.

4. One of the yellow squash planted in the ground has new yellow squash buds on it. Some look healthy and others are wrinkled like they are going to shrivel and die. I pulled those off. How can I prevent the yellow squash from dying off before they mature? Could this be a too much water issue? The leaves of this plant are starting to yellow. I pollinate these squash myself even before the flower opens. I brush the pollen over the green flower buds.

5. Oh and it appears that the pumpkin leaves are now being affected by gray spots on a few leaves and one leaf turned dead fast. This is the container that was premixed with hummus manure and garden soil. My radishes were harvested out of the this container before the pumpkin vine got big. The radishes did beautiful as they were harvested early on.

So experts in any of these areas with advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm so close to a successful garden. I just need to make it to the harvest. My pictures are on my phone. I'll have to post them in a new post. I'll take pictures of the problem areas tomorrow if that helps.

Thank you!

[applestar]

I'm just going to comment on a few items. It sounds like you tried to do a lot of things and have the right idea, but didn't quite get everything exactly right. I think you are headed in the right direction, though, so don't be discouraged.

The pot containers were filled with the organic garden soil. The last garden container I planted got the royal treatment of hummus and manure (store bought ready mix) and the organic garden soil. The bottom of this container is open to the natural ground which is clay about as hard as cement.

Container shouldn't be filled with garden soil but with potting soil/mix. When you say the container is open to the clay ground, did you fracture the clay ground so water in the container can go somewhere, or leave it to be a solid bottom?

I fertilized everything with organic granules fertilizer from a big store. One bag was listed for tomatoes and vegetables, one was just all purpose organic, and the last one was for citrus trees. I planted marigolds on both sides of the garden to deter mosquitoes.

Did you mix them up or did you use the different fertilizers according to what they were meant for? It's possible the NPK balance was not suitable -- too much nitrogen which encourage green foliage growth can be detrimental for fruiting crops and root crops and keep them from completing their development. Organic fertilizers are slow release by nature and more nitrogen become available to the plants as time goes on.

My garden flourished with huge green leaves and no bugs. I was a happy camper. Everyone that passes by admires the success in our hard to grow area.


2. The beet leaves (beautiful about 14 inches tip to ground) were no longer all standing. A few looked darker in color and crinkled and others were soft and fallen to the side like they were wilted. I added some hummus manure around the base of the plants to cover the beets again. It was all I had on hand. Surprisingly, the beet leaves perked up the next day. But, when I watered it again, the outter beet leaves got upset and wilted soft again. When I sprayed a soap mixture with alcohol on the leaves for bugs, the leaves got mad again. They are very tempermental all of a sudden. Another thing is the plant grew leaves for a long time, struggling initially because it was still very cool when they were transplanted. They have been in the ground for almost three months now and the beets are only an inch in diameter. Should I just give up and harvest the tiny things?

I have trouble growing beets. I think my problem is that my soil tends to be acidic and beets don't seem to like that. I try to add dolomitic lime, and when I have added what it feels like WAY more than I should, beets turn out much better. The other issue might be the fertilizer balance like I mentioned above.


4. One of the yellow squash planted in the ground has new yellow squash buds on it. Some look healthy and others are wrinkled like they are going to shrivel and die. I pulled those off. How can I prevent the yellow squash from dying off before they mature? Could this be a too much water issue? The leaves of this plant are starting to yellow. I pollinate these squash myself even before the flower opens. I brush the pollen over the green flower buds.

I'm afraid you are not hand pollinating correctly. The pollen need to be applied to the correct part of the female flower anatomy on the same day AFTER it opens BUT BEFORE IT CLOSES -- this is the only time the female blossom is receptive to being pollinated.

This post has too many pictures to transfer over, but follow the link and you will see what I did
Subject: 2014 Spiral Garden Garlic Onion Pea Corn Squash Cuke Beet

First hand pollinated blossom is looking good:

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Hand pollinated a second female blossom in the tunnel.

image.jpg

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Funny how once you start, even the blossoms outside of the tunnel seem to NEED to be hand pollinated....

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. ...but actually, I found two females that had aborted their fruits, so I thought they might be needing some help.

(You are spared the photo of the female blossom in the spiral Garden that I also hand pollinated )

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[Donna nola]

Hi Applestar!

As far as the container, I should have said a raised bed, perhaps. I dug into the ground to remove the grass and loosen the clay before adding the garden soil and hummus manure mix. It is actually one of the healthier spots in the garden. No weeds comes up or grass.

I used the organic fertilizers on the appropriate type plant but I also added the hummus manure mix after the heavy rain washed some of the ground soil away. I'm guessing with all the green huge leaves, there is an abundance of nitrogen. The squash and zucchini keep producing, so I don't think they mind. The radishes were harvested and were on the small to normal size. But, the beets are taking a while to get big and the carrots aren't forming as I would expect them to either. How do I add just a root fertilizer, the phosforous, correct?

As for the polinating the squash. If I catch the female flower open, I do polinate it as it should be, but it seems I miss some and I don't have a lot of bees around. Mainly flies and mosquitoes. So are you serious, that if I miss the female flower being open the first day, it's too late to open that flower ...and polinate after the fact? The female flowers tend to not open until the fruit is already almost a couple inches long. I figured it was polinated to get that far in growth. Sigh, I guess that is why some continue to grow and others wrinkle up and die off. Sometimes there are only female flowers open. Can I cross polinate with the male pumpkin flowers or zucchini and squash?

The squash leaves are looking healthier now that I took the bad leaves off. However, the beets and broccoli are being attacked by flea beatles. And the broccoli leaves are also getting eaten by some tiny white larvae looking worms. The leaves have holes in them. I found a bottle of organic insecticide, fungicide, etc. that I used a couple years ago. It contains neem oil. I decided to spray that and see if it helps. I'm willing to give up a few leaves. I just want the plants to survive enough so to make the veggies.

My cherry tomato plants are in one bucket. Way too many to start and I figured the strongest would survive. The smaller ones have one by one started to wilt at the leaves. I just pull the whole thing of the pot and leave the bigger stronger ones. They are all at least two feet tall. I don't know if it is a space issue or if the littler ones are getting attacked by some sort of bug.

I'm going to see if I can attached some pictures in here of the problems I mentioned before.

white larvae looking worms under broccoli leaves

Flea beetle evidence on egg plant

One of the in ground yellow squash plants

I'll take some pictures of the healthier stuff. The beet leaves are recovering from the heavy rain, but the flea beetles have moved in. At least everything is starting to look like swiss cheese.

Thanks for your input.

[Donna nola]

Oh, and thanks for sharing your pictures. Cute little veggies.

[rainbowgardener]

About the pollination issue. Female squash blossoms come with the baby squash already present behind them. That grows for a little while even without the blossom being pollinated. Usually it only gets a couple inches long or so, but sometimes more. But it the blossom (which is now long gone) was not pollinated sufficiently (it takes more than one bee visit), eventually that baby squash shrivels up and dies. So the fact that it is there and growing for a little while, does not mean the flower got pollinated.

RE: " My cherry tomato plants are in one bucket. Way too many to start and I figured the strongest would survive." Doesn't really work that way. They compete with each other and they can all just be stunted. One bucket (hopefully at least five gallon size) is enough for ONE tomato plant. You need to get rid of ALL the rest. If you have other places to plant them, you can dig them out carefully and transplant. Otherwise just clip them off at ground level, to avoid disturbing the roots of the one you want to keep.

Flea beetle control: You can purchase on-line beneficial nematodes which prey on the larval stage in the soil and help keep the next generation of adults in check. Diatomaceous earth dusted on and around the plants helps control the adults. But the DE has to be re-applied after rain. If you live in a rainy climate like I do (is NO, LA your location?) that makes it very difficult. Plant radishes or mustard around your garden as trap crop. I haven't had to deal with flea beetles (so far?), but I have found trap crops very effective in controlling other pests (leaf miners, Japanese beetles). Plants are most vulnerable to flea beetles when they are young and tender and/or when they are stressed. So anything you can do to generally keep your plants healthy will help. Once they get through the first weeks, they will be less vulnerable. I don't think flea beetles generally kill plants. Organic gardeners need to learn to live with a few holes and cosmetic defects.

In the long run, though it won't help you right now, you need to think of your garden as an eco-system. When your garden eco-system is in balance, you will always have some pests, but they will never get out of hand and become an infestation or seriously damaging to your plants. In healthy garden systems, there are populations of beneficial predators and parasites that work to control the number of flea beetles and other pests. There is a native braconid wasp (tiny and stingless) that preys on the flea beetles. In order to have the braconids around (they are very useful, there are different ones that parasitize aphids, tomato hornworms, etc.), you need to have in your garden the kind of flowering plants they require. This is mostly things that have nectar in tiny florets. This includes all the members of the carrot family, if allowed to flower: carrots, dill, fennel, coriander, etc., as well as sweet alyssum, chamomile, feverfew, catnip and buckwheat, and others.

[Donna nola]

[quote="rainbowgardener"] I didn't know it takes more than one bee visit to polinate. I use a paint brush and do it myself. It's worked out pretty good. I realized after a friend looked it up for me that I couldn't cross polinate when I didn't have the same type male flower. Sometimes, I used the zucchini for the yellow squash or the pumpkin for the yellow squash. Apparently, according to my friend, they have a different chromosome count. That explains why some of them shriveled.

Yes, it rains a lot here in May. Just had a hard rain today and went out to discover the worms on the broccoli leaves are twice as big and now black instead of green. I thought I had picked them all off. They also laid black eggs. The mosquitoes were biting so bad, I didn't stay to pick off the caterpillars. We are expecting rain everyday this week, so the plants may have to fend for themselves. The DE label sounds harsh with warnings about breathing the powder? I became afraid to use it. It didn't sound like it would wash away. Perhaps the bag I had was a variant with other items in it as well? It was labeled for getting rid of bugs inside or outside.

The tomato plants are in a huge pot, the size for a small tree. I'd say there are about five left in it. Two of which are huge. I could transplant the others.

This is the plant before I took a couple out and pruned the bottom leaves to allow air to flow.

The flea beatles are not out of control. The neem oil may have detered them. The leaf eating worms have done the most damage. I can handle leaf damage as long as they leave the vegetable alone. But I understand these worms will eat the broccoli as well. I am trying to get them under control before the florets appear. I had radishes planted but they are already harvested. I have cilantro that has gone to seed and green onions as well. The basil is still growing. Most of my flowering plants are just starting to make their flowers. Marigolds and I think poppies. A squirrel discovered my garden today and got trapped in the netting. Not cool. He is going to tell his friends.

I do want to attract the beneficial bugs and creatures, bees, birds, and frogs.It would be great if I can get a balanced eco-system going. I saw a nice fat bumble bee visiting the tomato flowers. I was pleased.

Thanks for your input.

Donna

[rainbowgardener]

I would still get all of the tomato plants but one out of that container. The other big one can be transplanted to a different pot and the little ones may not be worth saving, if you don't have a ton of room for tomato plants.

The DE is a fine powder, so it is not good to breathe. Otherwise it is harmless. It is not a chemical/ poison; it is ground up shells of diatoms (nearly microscopic marine creatures). It does wash away in the rain (which is the main drawback of it). You don't know it, but you eat it all the time -- grain in silos is treated with it to prevent weevils and other critters. You do want "food grade" DE, not the stuff for swimming pool filters.