Well, the rain finally arrived and with it brought a multitude of new problems in the garden! We have gone from dry to wet in just a matter of days and vegetable plants are showing us the signs... Here are few things happening in Greene County gardens this week! TOMATOESTwo major fungal blights that regularly wreak havoc on tomatoes are Septoria leaf spot and early blight, caused by the fungus Alternaria solani. Both of these fungal diseases are present this year throughout the state. A third disease, Late Blight, is caused by the fungal-like organism, Phytophthora infestans. These three tomato diseases are spread by spores that require dew or rain to infect the plant and thus they are most severe under wet conditions. Septoria leaf spot is caused by the fungus Septoria lycopersici and usually appears on the lower leaves after the first fruits set. Initially the fungus causes numerous, small, roughly circular spots, scattered randomly over the leaf. Spots enlarge to a size of approximately 1/16 to 1/4 inch in diameter with dark brown borders and tan or light colored centers. Septoria leaf spot is sometimes confused with bacterial spot of tomato. The presence of fruiting bodies of the fungus, visible as tiny black specks in the centers of the spots, confirms Septoria leaf spot. The fungus is spread by splashing water and by working among the plants when they are wet. Heavily infected leaves will turn yellow, dry up, and drop off. Fruits are rarely infected however, defoliation due to infection by Septoria leaf spot may result in sunscalded fruit. This fungal disease overwinters on diseased leaf material. Early blight, caused by the fungus Alternaria solani, also appears on the lower leaves, usually after fruit set. The spots are dark brown to black and distinguished from Septoria by their larger size and concentric rings that develop in the spot forming a bull’s eye. The leaf area around each target spot turns yellow, and soon the entire leaf turns yellow and drops. Early blight fungus also infects stems and may produce stem cankers. It occasionally attacks the fruit, producing large sunken black target spots on the stem end of the fruit. Infected fruits often drop before they mature. This disease is most common late in the growing season. The fungus overwinters on old tomato vines. Late blight, caused by the fungal-like organism Phytophthora infestans, occurs in moist weather with cool nights and moderately warm days. Dark-green to nearly black wet-looking areas develop on leaf margins, spreading in from the leaf edge. In wet weather, the spots produce a downy, white growth of mycelia and spores on the lower leaf surface. Fruits also become blighted. Late blight is usually seen first on shoulders of tomato fruit as gray-green and water-soaked lesions that enlarge and turn dark brown and firm, with a rough surface. When conditions are favorable, the disease may progress very rapidly. Management of these tomato blights includes both cultural as well as chemical measures:
Click HERE for more info!Well, the rain finally arrived and with it brought a multitude of new problems in the garden! We have gone from dry to wet in just a matter of days and vegetable plants are showing us the signs... Here are few things happening in Greene County gardens this week! Downy MildewNoticed your cucurbits (squash, cukes, cantaloupes, watermelon, or zucchini) exhibiting these symptoms? Click the photo for additional info... Bacterial WiltAll of these symptoms are due to the cucumber beetle culprit! |
Where's the Rain? It's dry folks!!! But just remember to water deeply and thoroughly a couple times a week...NOT every day a little bit at a time (you will promote shallow roots that way, and cause stress on your plants)... Fruit Pest Alert Spotted wing drosophila (SWD) has become widespread in Tennessee and elsewhere. This pest starts out each spring at a low number and it builds in the spring and summer on many types of small fruit both wild and cultivated, cherries, and other plants that produce thin skinned fruit not consumed by humans. Strawberry crops escape most of the damage because they occur early in the growing season when SWD numbers are low. Unfortunately, even low amounts of SWD damage can make fresh fruit unmarketable. SWD numbers build rapidly as blueberries, blackberries and raspberries start to mature. Small fruit crops in the late summer and fall have the highest SWD pressure. Protective insecticide sprays need to begin when immature fruits start to turn from green to a color indicative of maturing fruit. The sprays kill the SWD adults that rest of the sprayed leaves or fruit. Some insecticides will kill larvae soon after hatching but it is best to prevent the adults from piercing the skin of fruits and laying eggs. IPM/Production guides for blueberries, organic blueberries, caneberries, bunch grapes, muscadines, and strawberries in the Southeast are available at the Small Fruit Consortium home page: http://www.smallfruits.org/ Note that it is currently unclear how significant SWD will be as a grape pest (F. Hale). | For accurate diagnosis and appropriate control measures, contact us at the Extension Office, open Monday-Friday (8:00 am-5:00 pm)! Master Gardeners staff the lab on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 10:00 am-3:00pm. Bring a sample or a photo of what ails your homestead, and we'll find an answer... Melody Rose, UT Extension Agent Lydia Sweatt, Master Gardener Volunteer, Monday Jeanne Driese, Master Gardener Volunteer, Monday Glenn Karuschkat, Master Gardener Volunteer, Tuesday Ken Harrison, Master Gardener Volunteer, Wednesday Black Cutworms Black cutworms primarily overwinter in the warmer Gulf Coast States. Each spring, the moths fly northward with the prevailing winds in storm fronts. Moth activity in the spring is usually monitored using pheromone traps. When moths are first caught, egg laying will soon occur. Moths lay single eggs on lush green weeds such as chickweed in fields. Note that black cutworms are also a pest of grass in lawns, sod farms and sports fields. When herbicides or cultivation are used for pre-plant weed control, the food source for the cutworms is lacking until the planted crop comes up. If crops are already present, they may lay eggs directly on the crop seedlings. Black cutworms are nocturnal feeders and one cutworm later instar larvae can clip and devour 3-5 small plants such as sweet corn and tomato. Scout for cutworms at dawn when they still may be active. Also count damaged plants and apply insecticides to prevent further damage if live cutworms and damage are found (F. Hale). |
Japanese Beetles have emerged!!! Squash vine borers are wreaking havoc! Black rot is showing up on grapes! Bagworms are crawlin! Nostoc! What's that? These are just a few of the things happening in Greene County gardens this week! Click on the images below for additional information! | For accurate diagnosis and appropriate control measures, contact us at the Extension Office, open Monday-Friday (8:00 am-5:00 pm)! Master Gardeners staff the lab on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 10:00 am-3:00pm. Bring a sample or a photo of what ails your homestead, and we'll find an answer... Melody Rose, UT Extension Agent Lydia Sweatt, Master Gardener Volunteer, Monday Jeanne Driese, Master Gardener Volunteer, Monday Glenn Karuschkat, Master Gardener Volunteer, Tuesday Ken Harrison, Master Gardener Volunteer, Wednesday |
For accurate diagnosis and appropriate control measures, contact us at the Extension Office, open Monday-Friday (8:00 am-5:00 pm)! Master Gardeners staff the lab on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 10:00 am-3:00pm. Bring a sample or a photo of what ails your homestead, and we'll find an answer...
Melody Rose, UT Extension Agent
Lydia Sweatt, Master Gardener Volunteer, Monday
Jeanne Driese, Master Gardener Volunteer, Monday
Glenn Karuschkat, Master Gardener Volunteer, Tuesday
Ken Harrison, Master Gardener Volunteer, Wednesday
Alan Windham, a professor of plant pathology with the University of Tennessee Extension, compares straw bale gardening to gardening in containers—minus the container. Flowers, vegetables and herbs can be grown in straw bales. Given that Windham studies plant diseases, straw bales seemed a perfect fit to avoid soil-borne pathogens like root knot nematodes. Windham spoke on straw bale gardening at a recent lawn and garden show in Dickson, Tenn.
“There are definite advantages to planting a garden in straw bales” Windham said. “First, you have an instant, rather inexpensive raised bed; second, there’s no cultivation or digging involved, and third, soil type doesn’t matter.” The primary considerations for a straw bale garden are a sunny location and a nearby water source. As the bales are essentially containers, they’ll need to be watered frequently during hot, dry weather.
Some bales are more preferable than others for gardening. “Bales of wheat straw work well as there are few weed seeds in the bale. Bales of hay are more likely to have numerous weed seed and may have pesticide residues that could be harmful to vegetables and flowers,” Windham said.
Before you plant into bales, they need to be conditioned. Windham says conditioning involves wetting the bale over a period of 12-14 days and adding a small of amount of fertilizer to soften the bales and get them ready for planting. “A few days after initiating conditioning, add a one-half cup of urea or ammonium sulfate to the top of the bales. At the end of the conditioning period if the internal temperature of the bale is 99°F or less, it’s time to plant. During the season, you can fertilize plants with fertilizers designed for container plants. Follow the label instructions to determine the amount of fertilizer to use,” said Windham.
Finally, insects and plant diseases, may show up on the foliage and fruit of developing plants. Windham recommends that you manage these as you would in a traditional garden. “As your bales weather and decay through the season, mushrooms and slime molds may appear from the wet straw. These are not plant pathogens and are not a problem,” he said.
For more information on gardening, you may call or visit your local county Extension Office. To view Windham’s presentation on straw bale gardening, go to the UT Soil, Plantand Pest Center website and click on the “presentations” link under the “publications pull-down menu. Alternatively you can input the complete URL:https://ag.tennessee.edu/spp/Documents/Alan%20Windham/Straw%20bale%20gardening.pdf
Follow the UT Soil, Plant and Pest Center on Facebook for timely discussions of gardening issues in Tennessee.
Through its mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. ag.tennessee.edu
They created and presented programs on Soil Testing Basics, Small Space Gardening, Garden Disease ID and Control, Culinary Herbs, Medicinal Herbs, and Growing Tomatoes.
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