|
| I got slammed pretty hard by some sort of fungus this year. Leavesstarted turning yellow then dying in June and took the whole plants by Aug 1st.
I grow 20 plants in the same holes each year due to limited space. I dig the holes deep (2 ft) and compost, etc but I keep getting the fungus (worse this year). To help next year I want to remove the top 4-6 inches of soil and replace it with new soil. 2 questions: Does anyone know how deep a fungus "lives" in the dirt ?
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Which fungus? Different fungal diseases have different life spans, different methods of spread (many are even airborne not soil borne), different survival rates and methods. And fungus in and of itself isn't necessarily bad. There are many good fungi that live in the soil and are beneficial to the garden. So back-track a bit and focus on exactly what the issue is/was rather than just assuming that replacing all the dirt in the garden will fix the problem. Very expensive, lots of work and likely won't fix the problem anyway. Many plant tomatoes in the exact same place for decades with no problems. So what efforts have to made to ID the exact problem? Taken samples to your local county extension office for diagnosis? Post pics on line for assistance in diagnosing? Provided specific details of the symptoms? Leaves turning yellow and then dying could be lots of things, even just over-watering. Explored the many tomato disease diagnosis sites on line to compare the pics to your plants? Contacted other local gardeners for diagnosis assistance? And if you decide that you simply must replace all your soil then do some reading of the FAQs and discussions over on the Soil & Compost forum here first. Lots of relevant information there. Dave |
|
| I have had the same problem in NW NJ.I would get the blight every year too but could not change the soil.This what I did and I can get nice crop of tomatoes.I turned the soil by hand not my Mantis and turned as deep as I could go.Next I would buy seeds from a seed house like Tomato Growers Supply Co,not a Chain store garden center. After I planted I always put down Mulch, salt hay or straw so after a rain storm you would not get any splash up from the dirt. and I think most important,I would spray after every rain storm with an anti-fungal. I have had good luck with Serenade.Like I said this helped me and this year and has staved off the the Blight which is heat breaking after spending so much time to get fresh tomatoes I am still picking nice toms |
|
| i doubt changing the dirt will do any good / you need to start spraying early / start spraying when u plant you want to prevent not try to cure the fungus / mulch helps alot too |
|
| Spray if it's a disease. But .... Other than OP's guess at the underlying problem, no diagnosis has been made. Cultural problems are more common than disease. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Growing Tomatoes Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.