I was recently told that when leaves begin turning brown on the edges,
the leaf actually draws more water than if the brown dead parts are
trimmed off. That didn't make much sense to me since the brown parts
are, well, dead but am I missing something?

Thanks,

-jd

In article .com,
JayDee wrote:

I was recently told that when leaves begin turning brown on the edges,
the leaf actually draws more water than if the brown dead parts are
trimmed off. That didn't make much sense to me since the brown parts
are, well, dead but am I missing something?

Thanks,

-jd

I am going to add to your excellent post because I do not know either.
My addition to the post --

If the leaves are brown at the edges, how do I know if it is a
fungus starting on the leaves or just over watering?

Can over watering cause the entire leaf to turn brown?

I have also trimmed off the brown leaves also, still the some of my
plants have continued to turn brown and die. I have also used those
stick in the ground water dryness testers to know avail.

From some garden books I have read, it is a good thing to place
marigolds around the edge of ones garden. Applying too much water my
marigolds look awful and my tomatoes look great. Less water marigolds
look good and tomatoes seem to suffer - I cannot seem to win

My sincere apology to the original poster if I wrecked your thread.
Please answer the original posters questions first.

Enjoy Life ....... Dan

--
Email "dan lehr at comcast dot net". Text only or goes to trash automatically.

Edge browning is usually a water relations problem. Don't cut off the
browning leaves; the plant
can salvage nutrients from it.


I am going to add to your excellent post because I do not know either.
My addition to the post --

If the leaves are brown at the edges, how do I know if it is a
fungus starting on the leaves or just over watering?


Mostly edge browning indicates something like too many mineral
salts in the soil. Usual cure is leaching, especially with potted plants.


Can over watering cause the entire leaf to turn brown?

Yup. Sog out the roots and the plant dies.


I have also trimmed off the brown leaves also, still the some of my
plants have continued to turn brown and die. I have also used those
stick in the ground water dryness testers to know avail.

How hard is your water, and what are you using for fertilizer?

Kay







From some garden books I have read, it is a good thing to place
marigolds around the edge of ones garden. Applying too much water my
marigolds look awful and my tomatoes look great. Less water marigolds
look good and tomatoes seem to suffer - I cannot seem to win

My sincere apology to the original poster if I wrecked your thread.
Please answer the original posters questions first.

Enjoy Life ....... Dan

In article ,
Kay Lancaster wrote:

Edge browning is usually a water relations problem. Don't cut off the
browning leaves; the plant
can salvage nutrients from it.


I am going to add to your excellent post because I do not know either.
My addition to the post --

If the leaves are brown at the edges, how do I know if it is a
fungus starting on the leaves or just over watering?


Mostly edge browning indicates something like too many mineral
salts in the soil. Usual cure is leaching, especially with potted plants.


Can over watering cause the entire leaf to turn brown?

Yup. Sog out the roots and the plant dies.


I have also trimmed off the brown leaves also, still the some of my
plants have continued to turn brown and die. I have also used those
stick in the ground water dryness testers to know avail.

How hard is your water, and what are you using for fertilizer?

Kay







From some garden books I have read, it is a good thing to place
marigolds around the edge of ones garden. Applying too much water my
marigolds look awful and my tomatoes look great. Less water marigolds
look good and tomatoes seem to suffer - I cannot seem to win

My sincere apology to the original poster if I wrecked your thread.
Please answer the original posters questions first.

Enjoy Life ....... Dan


Thank you Kay for responding

I think you may have hit at least my problem. During our early drought,
I have used my "Hard Line" an awful lot from my well. The TDS level on
my hard line is 2300. As for fertilizer - only compost / cow manure.
If I use the soft line, salt usage will go up some and also I thought
the soft line would be worse for the plants.

I am wondering now if I should have used my soft line instead?

In the past, my rain barrels has always provided plenty of good water
for my garden during the dry times. In the thumb area of Michigan I have
had only four good rainfalls this entire summer including yesterday. It
would be cheaper to buy my veggies than use the RO water. My pond is too
small and would drain fast as it is also very low. I can add a low cost
sediment filter to the hard line if this drought continues years to come
or use the soft line. So far my well has done well has never gone dry -
yet.

I am also not alone, almost everyones gardens and farm crops are not
doing very well around here.

Enjoy Life ..... Dan

--
Email "dan lehr at comcast dot net". Text only or goes to trash automatically.

I think you may have hit at least my problem. During our early drought,
I have used my "Hard Line" an awful lot from my well. The TDS level on
my hard line is 2300. As for fertilizer - only compost / cow manure.
If I use the soft line, salt usage will go up some and also I thought
the soft line would be worse for the plants.


Well, I've gardened with a lot of chewy water over the years... the only
place I've really had trouble was in S. California, and you could taste
the salt in the water.

When you let soil dry out, does it form a white or brown crust on the
soil, like you see in houseplants that haven't been repotted for a
number of years?

If you're not seeing that, I doubt your soil is heavily salinized.
I was sort of expecting to hear something like you used 2x the recommended
concentration of Miracle Gro twice a week. g On the other hand,
some manures can be quite loaded with soluble salts.

I can think of a couple methods to check this... one is to actually send
in a soil sample for analysis, and the other is to do a quick and dirty
bioassay.

Timothy is fairly intolerant of salinized soils, so you could take a couple
pots of soil, leach one with copious amounts of water, and then plant
timothy seed in both. If both pots do about the same, salinization is
probably not the answer. On the other hand, slightly salinized soils
and heat stress could be causing the issues you're seeing. So can
bad heat stress. But edge browning is not typical of a fungal disease
in about any crop I can think of (though I'm not a pathologist, just
a general-purpose botanist). Typical fungal problems show up as rusts,
mildews, scabs, pustules and downright wilts and blights.

Anyhow, were I you, I'd submit a soil sample this fall. Or a plant
sample now to the extension plant path folks.

Kay

I am also not alone, almost everyones gardens and farm crops are not
doing very well around here.

Heat stress has been bad around you, as well as drought, right?

In article ,
Kay Lancaster wrote:

I think you may have hit at least my problem. During our early drought,
I have used my "Hard Line" an awful lot from my well. The TDS level on
my hard line is 2300. As for fertilizer - only compost / cow manure.
If I use the soft line, salt usage will go up some and also I thought
the soft line would be worse for the plants.


Well, I've gardened with a lot of chewy water over the years... the only
place I've really had trouble was in S. California, and you could taste
the salt in the water.

When you let soil dry out, does it form a white or brown crust on the
soil, like you see in houseplants that haven't been repotted for a
number of years?

If you're not seeing that, I doubt your soil is heavily salinized.
I was sort of expecting to hear something like you used 2x the recommended
concentration of Miracle Gro twice a week. g On the other hand,
some manures can be quite loaded with soluble salts.

I can think of a couple methods to check this... one is to actually send
in a soil sample for analysis, and the other is to do a quick and dirty
bioassay.

Timothy is fairly intolerant of salinized soils, so you could take a couple
pots of soil, leach one with copious amounts of water, and then plant
timothy seed in both. If both pots do about the same, salinization is
probably not the answer. On the other hand, slightly salinized soils
and heat stress could be causing the issues you're seeing. So can
bad heat stress. But edge browning is not typical of a fungal disease
in about any crop I can think of (though I'm not a pathologist, just
a general-purpose botanist). Typical fungal problems show up as rusts,
mildews, scabs, pustules and downright wilts and blights.

Anyhow, were I you, I'd submit a soil sample this fall. Or a plant
sample now to the extension plant path folks.

Kay

I am also not alone, almost everyones gardens and farm crops are not
doing very well around here.

Heat stress has been bad around you, as well as drought, right?

I have not noticed any white or brown crust on the soil. However, it has
been much warmer here than usual, in the mid 90's for most of the summer
and very little rain. I will make some changes next year, gardening is a
learning curve, at least for me. I will probably take soil samples next
spring and make adjustments. Somehow I think it is just too late for
changes at this time. I do like okra and I have heard okra loves hot
weather.....

Hmmmm .... Okra in Michigan, Global Warming ..... hmmmm.
I just might have to take good look at those southern vegies.

Thank You for your help Kay. So I am now thinking it may not be over
watering. Time to put away my Computer, Calculus and Physics books and
get some books on horticulture. I see need to do more reading on keeping
a healthy garden and how to leach a plant.

Where did the original poster go, sooorrry.
Enjoy Life .... Dan

--
Email "dan lehr at comcast dot net". Text only or goes to trash automatically.