Vine plants seem to be dying
On 2004-05-05, downtime null wrote:
I planted some "Little Marvel" peas in my garden a while back. I planted
them
in a raised garden. The garden box is 1 foot deep and filled with a mix
of
turkey manure and loam. I don't know the ratio; I just bought the
Planter's
Mix. They grew really, really well for a little while. Some of the
plants
climbed as high as 2 1/2 feet in a short time. Then I noticed that the
leaves
at the bottom of the plants started turning brown around the edges. This
contiued on all plants, working its way up the plant. The plants are now
almost completely dead. Several of them had even started to bear fruit.
What
could have caused this. My other plants (except lettuce, but that a
diffrent
story) are doing fine. Could it be that the soil was just to rich for
the peas?
Too high in nitrogen or something?
Now some of my other vine plants seems to be exhibiting some of the same
signs that the peas did. I have pole beans, acorn squash and pumpkin that
the
leaves are starting to turn brown on the edges. This browning starts with
the
leaves at the very bottom and starts to work it's way up the plant.
Strangely, my onion, carrots, broccoli, collards, cabbage, lettuce and
corn
appear to be fine. It seems to only be affecting vine plants.
What am I doing wrong?
Have you had a soil test? Sounds like it could be a pH problem or an
overdose of phosphorus.
I haven't done a soil test yet. I hope to do that tomorrow. I'm fairly new to
gardening. Is there something specific I should be looking for?
Most likely from your description; Fusarium or pythium root rot. These are soil
borne diseases and a serious threat to peas and beans in particular. Soil Guard
(Gardens Alive) helps somewhat. Not much else available to the home gardener.
On a long term basis using a rye cover crop and or following a rotation of corn
decreases the population of pathegens.
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