Hello everyone.... I was so proud of myself for starting and caring for my first garden, I thought I did well with my research and my attempt at growing my first crop of veggies and herbs. I planted companion plants, I followed the spacing guides, I have gone and turned the soil by hand to keep down weeds and grass from growing in the beds. I grew all the veggies from seed. And now I am being hit by everything........ My pole beans were the first to get a fungus, then when I thought I had that under control a group of worms/catapillers got to them, so I got that under control by hand removing them and the eggs. Now the fungus is back and in full force. The weather has been a little crazy here in south Florida, lots of hard rain. Now my corn has been doing so great.. Until today I went to check and they are being destroyed by something inside the stalks! the leaves are chewed and there is a dusty residue all inside the stalks. I haven't gotten the main part out of the middle yet. Will they even appear now? My squash is now getting white powdery mildew! I feel so defeated and I tried so hard!!!! My neighbor a veteran organic gardener said he is having the same problems. He lost his corn this season and he lost his squash and zuccini too. What can I do better? Is there any hope? I feel in a constant battle. I didn't think this would be easy, I just didn't know it would be this hard!! Oh and don't even get me started on the squirrels!!!!!! WAAAHHHHHHHHH
Welcome to the wonderful world of gardening! If it were all that easy, everyone would have a garden and we couldn't give zucchini away. A fungicide that won't hurt you or your plants is a tsp. of baking soda in one quart of rainwater (or tap water that has set out for a day to disperse the added chemicals) and a few drops of oil. Spray that on the affected plants to stop the fungus. Or you can put one cup of ground corn meal in five gallons of water; stir well and let it set overnight; strain out any solids and spray with that. I don't know what is attacking your corn. I've never seen a dusty residue inside the stalks. Take heart. We all face disasterous gardening years. If it isn't too much, it's too little of something, and no year is perfect. Keep trying--it does get better with experience, better weather, and finding resistant varieties.
Oh, dear, you're veggie challenged! *hugs* I can't help with any tips or remedies but I can offer you a shoulder to cry on. I know exactly how you feel, I was where you are last summer.
Thanks.... Wahhh I need that shoulder today!!! Ok a couple of questions, sorry I am REALLY new at this. As for the corn meal, is it the same kind that you can cook with? I have a bag that was given to me to try something with but I never got around to trying that recipe. And is veggie oil good? I really appreciate the help and shoulder....
OH....Mrs. G. So sorry to hear it has been a challenge. The corn problem is corn borers. You can spray with sevin for them, I know it isn't organic, but you are not eating the leaves and stem, unfortunately it is probably too late for this crop. It needs to be sprayed before the moths can lay their eggs and they hatch out and infest the stem. Once they are in the stem, they are protected from the spray. the melons and cucumbers can be sprayed with baking soda mixture before you even see a spot of mildew. 1t./2qts. water and a drop of dish soap. Sprayed weekly to control the mildew or a fungicide such as daconil every 10-14 days. The beans are a preventative or proactive spray, too. Start spraying with an insecticide before you see them or try to keep them covered so the bean beetles can't get to them, but they need to be pollinated so they can't stay covered all the time. Now. before you do anything else, go spray the squash maybe you can save it. Use the baking soda spray on them. Also pick off and throw in the trash any really bad leaves. New ones will grow. good luck, I hope things go better for the rest of the summer.
Yes, the cornmeal you cook with is what I was referring to. Also, vegetable oil is fine (just don't use olive oil). Carolyn, I can't believe there is a pest/bug that I've missed in the garden. Would you believe we've never had corn borers? Of course, now we'll have them in droves . . . . Mrs. G. if you have a dog, or can get dog fur, stick a handful of the fur into the toe of a nylon stocking and tie it to a stake. Then put the stake where the squirrels are attacking plants. You may end up with a garden that looks like a "wind sock farm" but the little bushy tailed rodents will smell predator and hopefully stay away. The fur needs to be replaced after a heavy rain or about six weeks.
Sorry to hear your woes Mrs. G. You can take a little stock in knowing the veteran gardener is having the same problems so its not just you. I'm suffering from a little garden envy right now. I don't even have the whole garden in yet! People have irises blooming down the road from me and most of mine don't even have scapes. I have to keep telling myself to be patient. They were just planted last year. I do primarily grow vegetables. So I know of what you speak. You'll find that every year, in growing veggies, something will do well and somethings won't. It's just the nature of the beast. Some good advice & good company here. Don't let it get you down. Happy gardening, Becky
Thank you everyone for your support... I removed my whole corn crop there wasn't 1 plant not affected by corn borers! =-( Next summer I will try corn again.... after much more research on preventative measures. And I applied the baking soda mix to my squash and cucumbers. I did remove 1 squash it wasn't growing very well and had the fungus the most... All the others I believe will be fine (fingers crossed)... You guys\girls made me feel better just having your help and shoulders!
Some great advice from marlin and carolyn. One other suggestion, is that every garden is different and although you can do everything in the books some veg are just a major headache to grow in your garden. This takes time to learn. After three years of trying i have given in on Brassicas in my garden. The time and effort they took to grow for the poor results are not worth the effort. So try and look on the positive side focus on the plants that are doing well.
Mrs. G-sounds like you had quite the frustrating time with all the stuff going on in your gardens. Some days it just seems to go that way. Glad others had such great advice and support. Another thing you can sprinkle around your veggie garden to keep the squirrels away is a product called Shake-Away. It is made out of dried fox or coyote urine. The critters think that this predator has set up home in your garden and will avoid it. We were having problems with the squirrels digging out our onion set plants. Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, and they left them alone. I need to reapply it as we have finally gotten some rain. Also our two peach trees got fungus so I sprayed them with hydrogen peroxide as I had found an article that said it was good to us to kill the fungus. Well after that all the leaves dried up and fell off. I thought oh no I killed them. But now some new leaves are reappearing on them. But we will have no fruit on them again. Oh well. Maybe next year. If you don't succeed try, try again. But it can be so discouraging at times.
Mrs G as I read your post, I was reminded of my first lab job after college. I was taught to do an experiment called a Western Blot, well mine would come out looking like an appaloosa, covered in spots! My boss was very kind and patient, she went over each step and each reagent and it kept getting worse! She was losing patience with me and I thought I was going to be fired. The only reagent we never checked was delivered 'fresh' every day -it was a radioactive protein. Well, after six weeks, I was a wreck. Then delivery arrived and the girl who brought it remarked how much reagent we were using, I said it was because I was a moron. She casually mentioned that they had to clean the mold out of the reagent each time they made a sample for me... I ran to my boss to tell her. She called the company and they had to refund about $20,000! of reagent. Why am I boring Mrs G with this story? When I finally got a good sample, my western Blots were the best ever seen! I spent so much time trying to improve something I was doing right all along, I became the Western Blot Queen! I even trained people and foreign students how to do a Western Blot. I would receive gifts of Godiva Chocolates and bottles of perfume or scotch from the people I trained. My point is you are starting out learning under extraordinary circumstances, a weird winter and spring has affected everything! Next year, you will be Gardening Queen So, keep doing the right thing! BTW, I put a lot of corn cobs, which are sold as deer food on nails and the squirrels were so busy stealing them or removing kernels -they left the feeders alone!
Mrs G, am more amateurish that you but I can suggest sprinkling chilly powder to ward off the squirrels. If it can salvage your crops from at least of the calamities you are currently facing, I'd consider myself lucky.
