This is turning into the worst garden in years

[gumbo2176]

Not that I haven't had some successes this spring, but for the most part, I'm feeding bugs and much is succumbing to disease.

My cukes, onions, yard long beans, peppers, figs and blackberries are all doing fine but my tomatoes, beets, eggplant and squash are a waste of time.

I've picked a few dozen tomatoes but I've thrown away at least 4 times that many due to BER and pests.

Our mild winter that allowed me such success is now heading into a brutally hot summer where it seems pests that wouldn't normally live through winter are here with a vengance and a huge appetite. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress.

I'm ready to forget about all but a couple crops and concentrate on my okra, beans and peppers for the rest of the summer and hope fall gets here earlier than normal. Like that is going to happen!!

[rainbowgardener]

My garden has been great so far this year, but that is a lot due to the success of all my fall planted stuff that over-wintered wonderfully with the mild winter.

But yes we here are about to go into brutally hot and dry. And yes, I'm seeing some fungus problems crop up early. My tomatoes usually get septoria or something by the end of the season, but some of them seem like they are starting it already.

Lots of weeds, diseases, bugs keep moving north that never were here before. I am fighting a mulberry weed that never used to be in our area, used to be a southern thing. I noticed it for the first time last year. After someone here id'd it for me and I looked it up, I tried to be very diligent about eradicating every single one, but it is back worse this year.

We are not supposed to talk about the fact that the climate is changing, because every time I mention it, some one gets mad and thinks I'm being too political, but in fact the climate is changing...

[SPierce]

I'm sorry you're having a rough time There are times and there are times, I guess. Don't give up, though!

I've noticed it here, too, but (knock on wood) I can't encountered too many problems yet. So far so good, but the hot heat is about to it, and while the peppers love it it's going to cause problems later this year. Noticing spots on the leaves of my pumpkins, but no bugs nearby. ugh!

We have, however, had an invasion of some crazy ground cover plant that's, well, covering EVERYTHING! No idea what to make of it yet- butterflies seem to like it

however, yes, the climate IS changing, and it's worrying ;(

[jal_ut]

Our mild winter that allowed me such success is now heading into a brutally hot summer where it seems pests that wouldn't normally live through winter are here with a vengance and a huge appetite. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress.

There are things to discourage insects. Even if you are in the strict "Organic" group. You need to get after those critters that damage your plants if you want a harvest.

Diatomaceous Earth, Pyrethrins, soaps, Rotenone, are things many find acceptable. If you can tolerate chems on your garden, Sevin definitely takes out the insects.

You will have to decide for yourself what you will tolerate in your garden.

[mattie g]

It seems that a lot of people are blaming the mild winter on a greater influx of pests. I think we're more attuned to it, but the fact is that we won't automatically find different bugs infiltrating our local climates after one mild (albeit *very* mild) winter.

Earth's climate has changed since there ever was a climate - it's all about how we deal with it. If it turns out that the change is enhanced by humans, then we have to come up with a way to lessen our impact in any way we can.

[gixxerific]

I feel ya Gumbo. I'm sorry you are having a bad time I really am.

Got the same stuff going on here. Already ripped out 5 of my most anticipated tomatoes due to possible Leaf Curl. Maybe 2 more rows will go down, maybe more than that. I am hoping this isn't a total loss myself.

Good luck to you and everyone else. I have a feeling the bugs and disease because of the bugs will be bad this year. I have already felt it.

[treehopper]

I've said it before, I'm all about organic...until the bugs get the upper hand, then all bets are off!!!

[PunkRotten]

Yeah I got off to a rough start myself. I got peppers and tomatoes just barely in the ground now an all are no bigger than a foot. Before that, earlier in the year everything I planted earwigs and other critters munched on. I tried DE and it seemed to help a little. I even would go out at night with soap spray and kill tons of earwigs. I almost gave up before that. Also I am lucky to have a Toad patrolling my garden out night.

[orgoveg]

Have you tried copper fungicide to combat the diseases? I think it really helped me get a harvest last year. I just treated my tomatoes today as they are showing some spots.

[cynthia_h]

I think the dreadfully COLD northern California "summer" of 2010 changed my viewpoint on what to grow and when. That's the year I really and truly gave up on growing warm-weather veggies at my house; I had to turn on the heat a few times during June/July/August while wearing multiple layers of clothing *in the house*!

To my amazement, just a few months later, a rental garden box became available in a warmer part of this small city/town *with* a southern exposure so that the box receives reflected sunlight.

Here at the house, it's greens and other cool-weather crops. Permanently. And tons of aphids. Also permanently. And tons of snails, with the occasional smattering of slugs. Yep--also permanently.

I mean, when zucchini and tomato plants die from cold in September--traditionally the warmest "summer" month in the Bay Area--and have only reached 18" of growth in any direction by then, it's time to hang it up. 2010 was the coldest Bay Area summer in 40 years, according to the professionals.

Climate instability here, warming elsewhere, bizarre bugs; it's all part of the same Big Picture....

I'm still organic. I have to be. I started off organic in my early gardening days in college b/c of migraines, back when all this info about soap sprays, milk sprays, diatomaceous earth, cinnamon, etc., was either unknown (well, *I* didn't know it) or hard to find (or I would have known it). Any products with "inert" ingredients like VOCs, SVOCs, or other chemicals with vasodilating effects are incredibly potent migraine triggers; I might as well hit myself over the head with hammers as use such products--the pain will go away sooner.

Thank God fava beans, potatoes, and some other yummy veggies aren't all that picky about temps! But tomatoes will only grow at my house along the north side of the driveway in containers (no dirt right there), so maybe six small plants.

And all organically grown and maintained. Because I absolutely, thoroughly, and utterly HATE HATE HATE migraines, and because it seems to be the depth of stupidity to knowingly inflict them on myself with--of all things--garden chemicals.

If I'm going to risk a migraine, dammit, I'm going to indulge in a migraine trigger worth the pain: gourmet chocolate, for example.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[applestar]

Well, knock on wood, but so far I'm seeing little praying mantis babies that hatched way early, ahead of still mostly full ooth/egg mass siblings, the normal abundance of spiders, absolutely tons of ladybugs wherever aphids are to be found, beneficial wasps and flies hovering over the grass left to bloom, vetch and clover in full flower... etc. (In fact, when ever I lean in close to look at an apparent aphid or sucking insect cluster, I end up eyeball to eyeball with hover fly, robber fly, mummy maker wasp, not to mention the ladybugs and larvae munching away. )

I think the predators as well as prey benefitted from the mild winter.

My nemesis four lined plant bugs are mature now and harder to catch, but I'm really hoping that after the infestation last year, there will be more predators that dine on them on the Garden Patrol roster as well.

I started spraying with milk solution. Hopefully, it will help to stay ahead of the fungal diseases.

[mscratch]

encouraging that I am not alone in this gardening mess I now have going! Spring was great with the early plantings of radish, lettuce, spinach and chard.. different scenario now..bugs and heat have arrived..had to dig all the new potatoes as the mole(s) were uplifting the plants! dogs and cats had a latrine going if I didnt keep the ammonia cups out! and I don't have animals..yesterday I was at the breaking point with bugs so I hunted up the liquid sevin and went for the hose..I know I know, but got to the point I was ready to kill!!!!!! pollination has been an ongoing deal..lack of.. picked 2 zukes so far and pulled up the carrots, tomatoes are iffy but the plants are strong but surely disease will attack yet lol..cukes are just beginning to blossom..so anyhow I did enjoy planting it all and reaping what I could once again this season.

[rainbowgardener]

Speaking of the garden patrol. I was out enjoying AM sun on the deck and training the vines to go up the "right" spokes of the trellises. I noticed one of the trellises had what looked like brown fuzzy stuff at the top. When I looked closely, it was a preying mantis egg case in the process of hatching out hundreds of baby preying mantises. So cute, just 1/4 inch or so long, pale yellowish brown fading to almost transparent at the head end, but with those big (relative to their size) black beady eyes...

They were hatching out on top of a metal trellis which seemed like a sterile and very exposed (to birds, etc) environment, so I induced some of them to walk on to mint leaves and used that to transport them to various flower pots. If enough of them survive, my garden will be well supplied with mantises!

Very cool to get to watch!

[gumbo2176]

Our mild winter that allowed me such success is now heading into a brutally hot summer where it seems pests that wouldn't normally live through winter are here with a vengance and a huge appetite. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress.

There are things to discourage insects. Even if you are in the strict "Organic" group. You need to get after those critters that damage your plants if you want a harvest.

Diatomaceous Earth, Pyrethrins, soaps, Rotenone, are things many find acceptable. If you can tolerate chems on your garden, Sevin definitely takes out the insects.

You will have to decide for yourself what you will tolerate in your garden.

I'm not against using things that will help with the pests and not destroy all the hard work associated with making and maintaining my garden. I'll do my best to keep using pesticides to a minimum but not at the expense of losing it all.

[Ruffsta]

yeah I started off with a bad start also... so I decided to just buy plants from nurseries - so far so good. I have one small jalapeno already starting to produce 2 peppers.. I think it's a little early tho..

don't know if I should pinch them or not... I never have before, but the plants are less than 3 feet tall..

I have ants running all over my lettuce..

[applestar]

Check your lettuce for aphids.

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@gumbo -- I'm sorry about the difficulties you are facing. I'm not trying to minimize it -- I should have mentioned that in my previous post. I hope things turn around for you and you'll have great results and harvest later on.

[Ruffsta]

checked, didn't notice anything..

[gumbo2176]

Check your lettuce for aphids.

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@gumbo -- I'm sorry about the difficulties you are facing. I'm not trying to minimize it -- I should have mentioned that in my previous post. I hope things turn around for you and you'll have great results and harvest later on.

Not a problem. I was just venting, and in a way letting folks know that after such a wonderful fall/winter/early spring garden, it seems nature has reached up and said enough is enough for you.

I pulled quite a bit out the ground and am leaning toward just putting in a few rows of okra while the cukes and yard longs do their thing for now. It also looks like the peppers and eggplant are doing OK and should be fine.

I just hate it that my tomatoes are not doing well, but I'm not alone. One of my fellow gardeners in the area told me the other day he pulled all 80 of his tomato plants due to disease and pests. Seems he was having the same issues I have had. Such is life when dealing with nature.