July 26, 2018

Good morning, I follow a couple of veggie growing sites for Far West Texas on Facebook. It was sad to see that a fellow gardener had acquired Root Knot Nematodes (RKN). I have found that this has complicated my gardening experience but by no means is it the end of this experience. There are a number of things that can help mitigate this nuisance, what follows are a number of things that I have done.

The first thing is to note what areas of the garden are infected. These areas need to be treated different than the rest of the garden so that the spread can be slowed. Washing gardening equipment between beds is very helpful towards this end. This is most likely the easiest thing that can be done.

One thing I have found that really sets them back is to solarize the bed. The bed is prepped for planting and a 6-inch trench is dug around the bed. Very important the bed needs to be well watered, this is what will conduct the heat down into the bed. UV resistant film is spread over the bed and is drawn tight as the film edge is buried in the trench. It is recommended to leave the film in place for 6 to 8 weeks during the hottest time of the year. This will kill the RKN in the top 6 to 8-inches of the soil. This is good for a few years.

The addition of extra compost to the bed does have positive effects on RKN.

Planting as absolutely as early as you can guarantees a harvest before the RKN become too active. They become active when soils are 66 degrees and warmer.  

Crop rotations are a must.

I have found okra and tomatoes to be the most susceptible.

I have used a product called Promax that is distributed by Huma Gro. I have found that this product allows the plant to develop new roots and will allow the plants to mature and produce a crop. I administer this through my drip system. Along with Promax I also apply AzaGuard (an organic nemacide) a Actinovate (an organic fungicide that has shown some benefits of RKN reduction).

When I pull the plants at the end of the year I dispose of as many of the galls as I can. This is where the eggs can be found.

I highly recommend anyone with RKN to do a Google search to learn more about these pests. I have noticed diminished crop harvests but the garden remains quite productive.

And yes there is life after being infected with RKN, but maybe a little more complicated.

Follows is a list of what I am growing, please email as to availability and prices. Chard, kale, green onions, carrots, lettuce, okra, tomatoes, chilies (several varieties), eggplant, butternut squash, garlic, beets, bulb onions, cucumbers, summer squash, sweet potatoes, and beans. Also, there is volunteer basil and dill.

July 19, 2018

Good morning, all the rain has been real nice. I was just beginning to see some rain induced chlorosis. Since the rain stopped this has self-corrected. Looking on Weather Underground we may be in for another round of moisture in the near future. Be nice if this cycle would continue, even if it gives all the weeds a real kickstart, just can’t beat the qualities of rain.

I am going to see if I can match a summer snow pea planting with the next rainy period. Last year’s attempt was a reasonable success. It is worth trying a repeat. For some reason it appears that the first planting of cucumbers has just about petered out. The second planting has just started to bloom. My timing is impeccable. Same way with my summer squash succession. I suspect the decline of both these crops is due to root knot nematodes. I will know once I can pull some plants to look at the roots.

It is nice to see the strawberry bed putting out a lot of runners. This will enable me to plant out the bed very nicely. We have had the chance to taste test some berries. They are quite nice and they seem to be bigger than some other everbearing strawberries in the past. August is almost upon us and I will be digging a few sweets to see how they are sizing up. The amount of ground cracking is favorable.

Follows is a list of what I am growing, please email as to availability and prices. Chard, kale, green onions, carrots, lettuce, okra, tomatoes, chilies (several varieties), eggplant, butternut squash, garlic, beets, bulb onions, cucumbers, summer squash, sweet potatoes, and beans. Also, there is volunteer basil and dill.

July 12, 2018

Good morning, it was nice to have a say off from rain. Yesterday was the first day that we have not received a measurable amount of rain. The ground is saturated and I am beginning to see the signs of rain induced chlorosis. This is where the available iron in the soil has been temporarily washed away from the roots due to rainfall. This is a self-correcting condition with a day or two of drying. It was enough of a concern that I did not continue with by by-weekly root knot nematode chemigation. I felt there was no capacity in the soil to hold 2 ½ hours of drip irrigation to administer the nemicide materials. With a day or two of drying this will change.

I still plan to germinate some peas to sow for a fall crop of peas. This worked well until spider mites took them out. Last fall was so warm, which really gave the mites the upper hand. They very quickly took out the peas. With all the rain they may not spread as quick, especially since they thrive in hot dry conditions.

That all said, the garden is cruising right along. We finally harvested the first butternut squash. Presently they are curing and will be ready for sale. While weeding the sweet potatoes, I noticed that the soil is cracking around the root crowns. Avery good sign that the sweets will soon be ready to harvest. Finally, I have three of my five beds of okra mature enough to harvest. With luck I hope to have enough to enough for Deb to dry some and for me to pickle. Last year I was only able to put away 10 pints of pickled okra. And finally, it looks like it looks like I will have lettuce. The way the spring was hot and cold, the weather drove the lettuce crazy. It seemed if you looked at the lettuce cross eyed and it would bolt. I got some summer crisp to grow and it is looking pretty good. I have a second sowing that is ready to transplanting. Finally, I have cleaned the garlic and have set aside next years crop. The sizes have been graded and we will start by selling the smallest first since they do not keep as well. I do have bulb onions but I am going to keep them for bag sales and for canning purposes. They will not be available at market. I am hoping next years crop will be better.

That said all is pretty rosy in the garden.

Follows is a list of what I am growing, please email as to availability and prices. Chard, kale, green onions, carrots, lettuce, okra, tomatoes, chilies (several varieties), eggplant, butternut squash, garlic, beets, bulb onions, cucumbers, summer squash, sweet potatoes, and beans. Also, there is volunteer basil and dill.

July 5, 2018

Good morning, how surprised I was to see the first signs of Powdery mildew (PM). I was surprised because it usually does not start showing until the middle of August. What causes it to start showing at that time is hot days and cool nights along with high humidity. I guess these conditions are raising their head a little early. It has been a very strange year so why not add another surprise. Usually with PM there are some things that you can do to slow the spread. Most of these thing just slow the inevitable and the plants wither and die. I think the "whiting" of the plants inhibits photosynthesis, and the plant cannot supply itself with food.

I have discovered an organic control that actually stops the spread and prevents the demise of the plants. This wet able powder is called Milstop and has many out lets but I purchase mine from  johnnyseeds.com.. I was impressed at how well this product works.

There are two other pests that also start to show themselves around the middle of August. Fortunately I have not seen them yet. Both of these pests are in the lepidoptera (moths and butterflies.). These two pests can reek havoc on  squash and tomatoes. These are melon worms and tomato pin worms.

The melon worms are the larvae of a unique looking moth. this is a tropical moth that has to retrace its path each year because most of the US is too cold to survive year round. Ah, but this not the case of South Florida. Each year it takes several generations but it does arrive around the middle of August. The moth is a small 3/4 inch affair and has a very recognizable appendage  jutting out from the rear of the moth. it is the caterpillars that do the damage. Mature ones are about an inch long with green and white stripes that run the length of the body. They first start with eating leaves and then move onto the fruit (I have only seen them on summer squash). When they move to the fruit they bore holes into. The number depends on population density.

The pin worms are "supposed " to die out in the winter due to cold. I am suspecting that they are similar to the melon worms, because of their late summer arrival. These guys can very easily go undetected and the unfortunate gardener will be lulled into believing that their tomatoes are tired and just doing the the end of season death spiral.  It is paramount to notice that pin worm infected plants die from the growing points back word. A truly fading plant would wither from oldest to youngest. 

Things to look for when you notice the fading. Observe the outer most leaves, you will notice what appears to be leaf miners, they are.  You will need a hand lens and then you want to separate the area that appears to be mined. It is best to do this over some white paper (in case it falls out and you do not see it.) these guys are tiny around a 1/32 of an inch. Much smaller than the print on this email. they are darkish in color.

The cure is simple. Bt will work on both of these guys. other contact sprays will work too, but Bt will target these bugs specifically. With the melon worm, the squash need to be bee pollinated so covering is out of the question and spraying will need to continue as needed. As with the pin worm, once sprayed if the tomatoes are covered and then continue the spray program for at least 2 more weeks, this should take care of them. Of course keep a vigilant eye for more pin worms. 

I encourage gardeners to google pictures of these bugs so that you will be ready for them.. Good luck and happy gardening. 

Follows is a list of what I am growing, please email as to availability and prices. Chard, kale, green onions, carrots, lettuce, okra, tomatoes, chilies (several varieties), eggplant, butternut squash, garlic, beets, bulb onions, cucumbers, summer squash, sweet potatoes, and beans. Also, there is volunteer basil and dill.