More, or Less disease in 2021

[Dirtmechanic]

So the garden looks fab. I started thinking that I did something right. Then I laughed at myself for being silly. Surely this colder longer spring has had a part to play? We start seeing fungal pressures rise with the energy of hot humidity so common in the south. I have just seen the first leaf spot on the tomatoes and here we are in June already. I think even the squash borers missed the boat this year. What is your experience?

 

[flowerbug]

it's been so dry here the fungi have been scarce. i don't think we saw any morels in the yard at all and some of the usual spring mushrooms besides those haven't shown up much either. the plants look ok so far that we have growing. i suspect this would be the best year for tulips we'd had in a while too. except for the frosts that came along later.

tomato diseases here are normal every year, i don't even bother trying to fight them any more it was a waste of time and effort no matter what i did. if the greenhouse carries a good beefsteak variety we can usually get enough of a harvest before the plants give up in the fall cooler weather and shorter days. that's good enough for me.

the squash borers and bugs i also try to work around by planting resistant or tolerant plants. we have a lot of stinkbugs this year so it will be interesting to see if they make any difference to any of the squash we've planted.

 

[digitS']

Stress.

Of course, there are favorable and unfavorable conditions for all life - human, insect, plant, microscopic. Weakened organisms because of unfavorable conditions become vulnerable and if it isn't one pest or disease to take advantage, it's another.

@heirloomgal posted pictures of her mountain bluet cornflowers. I also have them in the yard. They have just begun the usual rapid decline because of mildew.

Humid conditions? Well, I run the yard sprinklers twice each week. Atmospheric humidity? You gotta be kidding! The WS reported 8% afternoon humidity the other day. Stress - dryness, wind, normal senescence ... rampant mildew every year at this time, they are on their way out.

Steve

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I don’t think I’ve seen any of the usual diseases this year because of the cold dry weather but most of my plants were stunted by the weather instead.

 

[Zeedman]

Too early to tell here, since the gardens are still young (many things are just now germinating). The only thing I've noticed is an early appearance of flea beetles on some of the transplants. As @digitS' suggested, I attribute that to stress from our current heat spell, especially in plants which are newly transplanted. Hopefully as their root systems become established & the plants get stronger, the flea beetles will become less of an issue.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Too early to tell here, since the gardens are still young (many things are just now germinating). The only thing I've noticed is an early appearance of flea beetles on some of the transplants. As @digitS' suggested, I attribute that to stress from our current heat spell, especially in plants which are newly transplanted. Hopefully as their root systems become established & the plants get stronger, the flea beetles will become less of an issue.

The flea beetles killed all my eggplant this year.

 

[heirloomgal]

Well, I don't really have a direct contribution to make here, but I will say I've learned that my own growing conditions are not as singularly troublesome as I imagined, before joining TEG. I always thought that I lived in such an 'non-ideal' location to garden, being rather Northern. But I think now that though we do have a relatively short frost free period compared to other locations, every location seems to have it's own set of challenges. This has been a huge surprise to me - I honestly thought all areas south of me (and the border) had perfect, zero challenges growing conditions. It has been such an education to learn about issues more southern gardeners face with things like disease, seed saving, or even growing hybrids out of necessity.