plant-care Lots of problems :(

[HellfireFarm]

I'm having a variety of problems currently. Fortunately not across all crops, and not hurting my main peppers in the field, but frustrating. Pics of everything at the end.

First off still having problems with the tomatoes. I tried the vole repellent as I DID find some sign of voles. It seems to have helped but still having problems - a new plant in the old bed didn't last a week, one in a different bed is still doing good. But in a third bed with 4 plants, they started wilting/dying off this week. Each one going from looking good to badly wilted in 1-2 days max. Definite sign of Colorado Potato Beetles, which I treated for. Then a couple days later next plant was dying. After a week more beetles. My best guess is I'm somehow missing some of them?

In the field I'm seeing yellowing leaves on some plants, definitely not all. Starting at the bottom & working upward. Trying to keep lower leaves off so there's space above the ground surface, not sure what it might be though. Not causing any major problems so far. My leading suspect is overwatering - not from anything I've done, just we've had a LOT of rain. I have only had the drip irrigation on for maybe a week so far the entire year.

Finally, some late starts from seed are just not growing. Low germination, not unexpected since it was old seed. Planted over a month ago, what you see in the pics is all I've gotten and they're about the same as they've been for the last 2 weeks. Same starter soil as I always use so it's not a lack of soil nutrients. Maybe just because they're old seeds?

Pics:

 

[dragonsfire]

I find this stuff real good for regulating moisture and breathable soil since its loose. Dont know if available in US but the ingredients are common.
And it well maybe because of the Sun. I proved that in my location with Greenhouse. My neighbours are having problems like yours and not growing well if at all.

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[Harmonic_Heat]

I don't have much advice due to inexperience. Might the beetles be coming from another food source somewhat nearby? So far my peppers, herbs, and other flowers are ok pest-wise but budworms are decimating about half of my petunias so I can kinda empathize with the damage. I can't eat the flowers though heh.

Been having an unusually wet spring/early summer here too. 13th wettest since records have been kept. Mine were overwatered for a while and had some yellowing like yours on the lower leaves but also experienced what appears to be edema. Doing better, with any luck a little bit of neglect and weather cooperation will sort out your yellowing issue!

 

[HellfireFarm]

I find this stuff real good for regulating moisture and breathable soil since its loose. Dont know if available in US but the ingredients are common.
And it well maybe because of the Sun. I proved that in my location with Greenhouse. My neighbours are having problems like yours and not growing well if at all.

I'm not clear which problem you're referencing here, would you mind clarifying please?

 

[dragonsfire]

In regards to wilting etc. Stabilised soil with moss/cococoir the moisture is contained longer and the roots can breath in case over watering, like a sponge. Soil dries out real fast in my area and probably many areas.

 

[NJChilehead]

@HellfireFarm the soil looks very sandy so I assume that it drains rapidly, but it also looks somewhat compacted (at least what I could see in the cinder block bed). It looks to me to be to be a nutrient issue, which could potentially be caused by overwatering and exacerbated by a variety of factors. I'm not an expert at farming, but taking some gardening know-how to try to narrow things down, I would personally do the following to see what the results would be:

1) Measure out a test plot where you added an inch of very good quality compost as a mulch. If you've got some good homemade leaf compost that would be great. Obviously if you have a large area it isn't feasible to do the entire thing, but see if you can get a decent sized area where you can get a representative sample of crappy looking plants.
2) Feed it well with a normal strength liquid fish/kelp blend. I'm emphasizing kelp because it contains a lot of K and micronutrients that help with stress, and fish because it's got a good dose of nitrogen and that looks like it could be a part of the issue.
3) Optional, but I would personally also cover it with 30% shade cloth to reduce stress.
4) Try to water normally if and when needed. Of course you can't control the rain, but do what you would normally do any other time regarding watering.

Between all of these factors, I would watch for positive changes over the next few weeks. Good luck and keep us posted!