Stem problem

[lumierefrere]

Am I having a crisis here? I noticed this condition a day or so ago and when I cut the truss back, it doesn't look right inside. What is it and do I have to rip this huge Noir de Crimee out? The whole plant is not doing this, the rest of it looks fine. Just this one (large) truss. I should add the reason I noticed this was that the truss was withering/wrinking like.

[Suze]

Originally Posted by lumierefrere

Am I having a crisis here? I noticed this condition a day or so ago and when I cut the truss back, it doesn't look right inside. What is it and do I have to rip this huge Noir de Crimee out?

Hard to say -- what do/did the leaves look like? You mentioned wilting, but any yellowing or other symptoms?

And, did you try the stem test -- putting stem in a glass of water to see if there's any cloudy 'ooze'?

In any case, I wouldn't be in a hurry to rip it out. How's the rest of the plant look today, still fine?

[lumierefrere]

Suze, thank you so much for replying. My ignorance is staggering. I never heard about the stem in the water test. I'll try that. What does ooze tell us? What would make the stem compress/wither/turn brown this way?

I just dashed out and took a close-up and a as full a shot as I could easily do. It looks excellent. I've looked at the stem and tried to follow it down to the bottom, it doesn't appear to be cracked or split. It also looks like it's the main stem for about 1/2 the plant. I ripped out the Purple Haze (this one's neighbor so I've been studying this one closely for any signs of the tiny leaf but that hasn't happened) but I won't do anything radical until someone with actual knowledge ;-) tells me to. I'm just concerned about this whatever it is going thru the whole garden--I'm sure that's a common fear.

[lumierefrere]

Keith, are those seed borne diseases?

Does fermenting the seeds have any impact on the transmission of those?

[Suze]

Barb, yes, bacterial diseases can be seedborne. Fermentation, bleach, heat, TSP treatment, etc. will help to remove most (and even all) pathogens from the seed coat if done properly, but they can't really get all of the pathogens out of the seed embryo.

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne..._Bacterial.htm

[lumierefrere]

Okay. I don't know what this is so like a pilot I will just hold what I got for a little while. The seeds came from someone who did a lovely job of fermentation and everything had great germination. He says he's never had any of these diseases up in his garden. So I don't know. I'm going to Cornell tomorrow and will ask them, if I can get info without paying $50 for a test.

[Tomstrees]

if the disease is seed borne -
and your plant gets it ...
(sorry if this is a dumb question)
does it effect your soil from there on ???

~ Tom