What's going on in my friend's garden?

A friend/coworker sent me some pictures of her garden. The plants are turning brown and the leaves on the peppers, tomatoes and potatoes are curling up into a tight little ball.

I know the photos don't show the plants close up, but perhaps someone might have an idea of what's happening and we can explore it further. Any suggestions would be appreciated. They just started this in the last week or so.

As far as she knows, the garden couldn't gotten a hit of herbicide drift. That was one of the first suggestions we received, and she doesn't think that is possible.

Second photo of the bean

rhubarb

tomato

A snipping of the tomato with the curling, browning leaves

Pepper

Potato

Bean - A magnesium deficiency would cause browning between the leaf veins.

Rhubarb - Don't know, it doesn't look too bad.

Tomatoes - A potassium deficiency looks a bit like this. Copper or manganese deficiency causes leaves to curl forward on potatoes (related plant). TYLCV (Tomato yellow leaf curl virus) looks like this and is spread by sucking "insects" like whiteflies and aphids. Other possible causes: too much water or irregular water, pruning, or transplanting.

Peppers - I think the tomato info applies to peppers as well.

Solution? You might try spraying all with a trace mineral fertilizer. If you have a virus, there is no cure and plants should be destroyed to prevent spread.

Does David47 have the same problem over in the Tomato forum? http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/877645/

This message was edited Jul 17, 2008 1:34 PM

To me it seems to be something in the soil because everything is infected with something and that is extremely rare. The soil must be tested first.

There does not appear to be anything wrong with the rhubarb.

The rest appear to be possibly virus-infected. While I can't think of a soil test that will show this, it still looks like they will have to forget this year, uproot and burn everything and try again next year. It happens to many of us. Just be glad we don't have to survive on our garden crops!

Except for the beans, which are, in any case, prone to some odd viral infections, often carried in the seed, not the soil, these are all solanum crops (and all seem to be similarly affected, differently from how the beans are affected), so, my 1st question would be: has this gardener been practicing rotation so that no solanum crop is grown in the same place that another one was last year? or the year before that? If not, ne needs to either begin to do so (potatoes, normally 3 year's rotation) or become a modern, big-crop, intensive chemical user. Solanums, especially, are subject to all kinds of diseases that do not "manifest" the 1st year but lie dormant in the soil and devastate the next year's crop. You eat potatoes that you buy from the grocery store that have been grown in the same Idaho farm fields thanks to chemicals that you probably don't want to hear about (and the same goes for those California tomatoes and Mexican peppers), so you may not want to use them in your home garden. But they work. These days, with the intensity of agriculture, almost the only alternative is rigorous rotation; and even that does not always serve,

Good luck/bonne chance!
Potagere

Thanks! I'll pass this information along to them and see if anything suggested here could be what they are experiencing. They really appreciate any and all suggestions. They are avid gardeners and want to figure out what the problem is so they can correct it. I know they will explore all of the suggestions.

Joan

I just got this reply to my email to her asking the questions above:

I suspect a Ph problem. (too acidic) Have the co-op do a soil test. $7-$12

The only whole plant shown is the bean. Very little root mass there, even for a young plant. There also appears to be significant insect damage. I'm mentioning this because there seems to be an excessive amount of branching on peppers and tomatoes, as well as the bean shown, for the size of the plants. That makes me think the main budding growths were damaged earlier and side growths have tried to compensate. The soil looks cracked and dry. Have you had especially dry weather this season? I don't know how one can diagnose virus in plants already browned out. Some strains of beans, such as yard longs, are notorious for carrying virus. You can usually see it early on with streaks, spots and light colorations in the leaves. Did your friend notice these symptoms? Plants exhibiting symptoms should be removed and burned or exported ASAP.

I would not blame the seed provider here. Beans, and many other plants can grow and look quite healthy but show later symptoms, poor production and contaminate soil. I might not be as good at rotating as some because I cram a ton of veggies into a relatively small space. problems similar to your friend's are usually related to drought and insects, not viruses. Your friend's plants looked challenged in several areas.

Thanks! She's not blaming the seed company at all. Her point was that these were newly purchased seeds and not some that she saved from previous years that could be passing along strange characteristics or harboring bad things.

We have been in the midst of a multi year drought. However, she waters regularly. This is the first year she's had this happen and she's gardened for many years, and it seems we are always in a drought.

Make sure, if they irrigate, that they have their water tested too (esp if the oil companies are drilling nearby).

They call it Fire Water and it burns like acid: http://aspocanada.ca/fire-water.html

This message was edited Jul 17, 2008 11:51 PM

Just a thought. Does your friend use a liquid fertilizer? Once I did not get it (Miracle Grow) mixed well and the last bit was concentrated. Although properly mixed fertilizer will not hurt foliage, this is one time that "extra strength" is not good. The plants you show look a little like the result of my doing this.

Joan. County agents ( agricultural extension agents) are available in every state in the USA. Our tax dollars pay them. They are not always right, but they do have access to the labs at the Agricultural colleges and the USDA. They can get answers, if you bug them.

Absolutely correct! The very first place to start is with the soil and there seems to be someting wrong with it .

Please check the pH. This is an easy test. A pH too high or low can cause nutrient deficiencies even if the soil contains needed nutrients.

If I understood correctly, crops have been successfully grown in the past. If that is the case, then only a major catastrophe would render the soil untenable. Beans, potatoes , tomatoes etc tolerate a very wide range of pH from 4.5 - 8 so I would doubt that it by itself would be a problem. Contaminants, soil borne diseases or virus would be my guess. But it is just that, a guess. Somebody is going to have to get down and dirty with those plants which is why I suggest the county agent. They can take the plants to a plant pathology lab in addition to soil tests.

Thanks! She said she is going to get a soil test. I told her to call the County Agent to see what she needs to do to have them do it, rather than buying one of those self kits at Walmart. :)

We cross-posted Dill. That's a good idea. I'll tell her to ask him about testing the actual plants also.

Joan, the standard soil test, just gives pH, N, P and K readings. Have her get that county agent involved. Let him come out and observe the plants and then go to the University looking for specific causes. Tissue samples may be necessary.

If the water is from a well, that's where I'd look. You say she's watering a lot and that the water can cause problems.

We are always in drought. My veggies usually look like that half-way through the growing season, but not this year! I planted late, June! I water the raised beds every day, as the weather is in the 90's now, but the plants look great and lush. Also, I used some micro nutrients from a liquid organic fertilizer, plus another one that increases the soil humus. I have not used MG, but one from Park Seed for tomatoes, and Superthrive at planting time. I never used these before. I thought that I would be harming them to water every day in the heat of summer, but it seems to work, so far.

I do not know if it is too late to try to correct these deficiencies, but maybe the county agent can tell her. I guess that the right fertilizers really do help. Please let us all know, so we can be better gardeners as well. One can never really "know everything" about gardening.

You might be able to just take a sample of the plant in a zip lock bag to the extention office - that's what we do. Call first to make sure someone's there that knows how to help you.

Please let us know what you find out.

If we find anything out I'll be sure to let you know.