I suppose I could resurrect my old garden spot. I covered it over with a huge stack of barn wood after I gave up on using the space as a garden. Maybe I'll line it out with utility poles and call it a raised bed/pit composter. Then I can use it for the vast quantities of oak leaves I always burn that don't get shredded and dispersed by the mower.
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- Thread starter DWB
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DWB said:
Agreed. Wilts are notoriously hard to get rid of, and are often present in the soil, many years after letting it lie, unplanted. So, if this fungus is effective in eliminating by outcompeting the fungi that cause wilt, pony up the proof. If what you say is true lek, then millions of farmers around the world owe you a debt of gratitude. You could even make a great living for yourself by doing agricultural consultation on the subject.
DWB, are you opposed to growing hybrids? Many of them are resistant to wilt. Your state is the testing ground for many varieties. I've gotta believe that some variety could bring you some joy.
solid7 said:
It's been so long I don't remember most of the tomatoes I planted. I do recall using very common things such as early girl and better boy, some sort of yellows and something like beef heart. I wouldn't think these varieties are heirloom but sorry, I honestly don't know. Suggestions are welcome.
I'll ask my neighbor and see what he's been using.
DWB said:
I would suggest trying the variety "Patio", just as a single season test. It is extremely available at just about any big box store or garden center. (as a bonus, they also taste great)
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Being that this is one of the toughest little hybrids that I've ever seen, I'd say with relative confidence, that if you can't grow that one, you probably shouldn't try growing tomatoes in-ground.
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As an alternative - check your local extension office, or local farmer's market growers, and see what the local varieties are. Often, there are landrace varieties that have been grown for so long in your area, that they have resistance, even if it isn't inherent to the variety, itself.
Thanks Solid7
I'm not sure how widespread the problem is but as far as I know, no one can grow tomatoes or peppers on our section of land. Many people do grow some fine tomatoes in Baldwin County and great tomatoes are available for sale dirt cheap in farm markets and roadside stands. The main reason I don't bother is it's just so much easier to buy great tomatoes rather than go though the seemingly never ending ordeal of trying to grow them here.
Since I'm doing a lot more containers this year, maybe I'll grow a few tomatoes that way and dig in a hole for a couple of the patio variety to see how they do.
I'm not sure how widespread the problem is but as far as I know, no one can grow tomatoes or peppers on our section of land. Many people do grow some fine tomatoes in Baldwin County and great tomatoes are available for sale dirt cheap in farm markets and roadside stands. The main reason I don't bother is it's just so much easier to buy great tomatoes rather than go though the seemingly never ending ordeal of trying to grow them here.
Since I'm doing a lot more containers this year, maybe I'll grow a few tomatoes that way and dig in a hole for a couple of the patio variety to see how they do.
Moving along to a growing test using official potting mix vs growing in cheap top soil + my compost + horse manure + perlite.
These two virtually identical Trinidad Scorpion plants are grown from seeds out of a mammoth randyp pod. The plant on right is now planted into the gallon pot with hanging tag and the ho'made pookie. Plants will remain in the inside grow chamber for a day or two and then move outside to the hillbilly winter shelter.
A few weeks should tell the tale.
(by volume)
Mix one:
75% Miracle Gro Nature's Care potting mix
25% perlite
Mix two:
38.5% Hyponex Earthgro topsoil ($1.67 for 40 pounds)
23% unground, unsifted horse manure
15.5% unground, unsifted compost
23% perlite
These two virtually identical Trinidad Scorpion plants are grown from seeds out of a mammoth randyp pod. The plant on right is now planted into the gallon pot with hanging tag and the ho'made pookie. Plants will remain in the inside grow chamber for a day or two and then move outside to the hillbilly winter shelter.
A few weeks should tell the tale.
(by volume)
Mix one:
75% Miracle Gro Nature's Care potting mix
25% perlite
Mix two:
38.5% Hyponex Earthgro topsoil ($1.67 for 40 pounds)
23% unground, unsifted horse manure
15.5% unground, unsifted compost
23% perlite
DWB said:
there are many kind of wilts. your neighbor has to identify it first whether it's a wilt that caused by fungus or bacteria.
If it's the wilt that caused by fungus, e.g. Fusarium oxysporum, you can use Trichoderma Harzianum.
If it's the wilt that caused by bacteria, e.g. Ralstonia solanacearum. this one is popular and very difficult to control. You can treat it with Bacillus Subtillis. Of cause you need to know how to grow healthy plant too. Avoid chemical as much as possible. Going against nature, bad things will happen later.
... or stop growing tomato and/or pepper for 5 years. grow something else that can resist to wilt. After 5 years you get a chance to grow tomato again.
solid7 said:
Hey this is not new. So many growers know how to control this kind of disease. Pepper/tomato plant is super easy to grow. I don't think I can make a great living... LOL
You know, you just keep saying this, without defining what you mean, or what you allege are the consequences. I've defined chemical, but you don't seem to want to commit to a definition. (for fear of being refuted?)lek said:
The market says otherwise. Yes, there are tons of studies which show the inhibition (albeit, not total eradication) of said fungal strains. But where are all of the consumer products? Here in the US, tomatoes and eggplants are hugely popular in summer gardens. And yet, rather than sell us varieties which are better tasting, they keep giving us hybrids, and regional varieties, rather than a fix for what ails our soil? Doesn't make sense. We have bugs, they throw a product at us. We have foliage fungus, they throw a product at us. But yet, we have a problem endemic to the soil that is so easily fixed, and nobody wants that share of the market? Hmmm...lek said:Hey this is not new. So many growers know how to control this kind of disease. Pepper/tomato plant is super easy to grow. I don't think I can make a great living... LOL
We have a product called "Rootshield" which is commercially available, but not prevalent, by any means. I'll try it. I live in a place where you can't grow certain tomatoes, due to any number of different fungi or blights. I'll be able to tell you within 3 months if it's "so easy", or not.
DWB, on 03 Feb 2017 - 11:08 PM, said:
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DWB, on 03 Feb 2017 - 11:08 PM, said:
If nothing else, at least you've provided a good explanation of why it's so difficult to grow tomatoes in an infested area. No matter what you do to get rid of the wilt, something always brings it back.
DWB said:
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DWB, on 03 Feb 2017 - 11:08 PM, said:
DWB said:
lek said:
If nothing else, at least you've provided a good explanation of why it's so difficult to grow tomatoes in an infested area. No matter what you do to get rid of the wilt, something always brings it back.
solid7 said:
I found this yesterday. They claim one $8 pill will treat a quarter acre.
http://living-soils.com/product/biotamax/
This is absolutely false. I have always used tap water, and have had beneficial fungus colonies spread rampantly, to the point that they appeared ossified in the potting mix. I recently posted pictures of this. The myth of tap water killing significant enough numbers of microbes to inhibit plant growth, has been thoroughly debunked.lek said: