Fusarium Wilt

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

A tomato is a tomato! And, you need to grow what you and your family enjoy or there's no pleasure or reward for all your efforts.

As for the rabbits, if you're not raising them for food, make sure you don't end up with both a male and female...

I have been writing it for three years - My family and friends like cherry tomatoes. Your reply hit the nail on the head so-to-speak. Why grow large tomatoes when I can't give them away?

I'm not sure about rabbits - they're just a thought for the future - maybe. All I really know about them is that they produce ready-to-use fertilizer.

Raising some chickens should be fun as long as we can keep them safe from predators. There's a lifetime supply of bugs/grasshoppers out here for them to eat. A lot of neighbors have free range chickens. They must be something like tomatoes - people around here with chickens have a lot of them. I am thinking more like 5 or so chickens would be enough.

The thought of building a minnow vat is our older son's idea. He loves to go fishing. If he wants to put the money and effort in on building a vat, I'll help him.

[Worth1]

Chickens, you start out with 5 or 6 you end up with 100 plus ducks.
You can grow hair rabbits comb out the hair get a spinning wheel and make balls of rabbit fur yarn.
https://youtu.be/ex1Atx1tQPk

[AlittleSalt]

Worth, does the spinning wheel come with the woman in the video? She could teach us about our Scottish heritage, and we could teach her how to talk Texan.

[HudsonValley]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

The Pink Ping Pong plant (Say that fast 5 times) looks really good.

-- have you tried any biological controls/inoculants (beneficial bacteria and fungi) on your plants?

No, but here's a search http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=...A_wQgQMIrQEwAA I would need to go back to college to read it. .

Thanks! PPP is a sturdy plant that's been fun to grow so far; it looks like it will be productive, too. And I love the name!

As for biological controls/inoculants, I'm no expert, but according to my husband, a biochemist, a few products I use to feed my seedlings contain some of the same beneficial microbes that have been shown (in the dreaded scientific literature) to help plants resist soil-borne illnesses like fusarium as well as reduce nematode populations. When my husband tries to explain how these things work, I probably look like this:

One is Espoma's Start! liquid concentrate for small seedlings; when they're bigger, I switch to Espoma's Grow!. At plant-out, I sprinkle some Bio-Tone granules, also from Espoma, in the hole; it contains microbes, too, as does Tomato-Tone, which I use to amend the beds along with mushroom compost. Anyway, it appears that WM sells Espoma products nationally, if they're of interest. Other Tomatovillians might be able to tell you more about the various inoculant products on the market, since I haven't yet tried them...

Best of luck developing your new gardening strategies!

[AlittleSalt]

There is one called Yellow Ping Pong too. I haven't grown it myself. http://www.tomatogrowers.com/YELLOW-...ductinfo/5116/

I will research biological controls/inoculants soon. (I'm on day 3 of a summer cold - info doesn't stay in my head - I think I sneezed it out?)

[Worth1]

Salt, grow what you want and forget the rest.
If you like small tomatoes then so be it.
Best said, "A bird in the hand beats two in the bush".

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

We passed by a roadside home that for years sold vegetables. They are now selling flowers instead. The house is about 5 miles south of ours. There's not much reason for us to go that way as it is mostly farming country. Every field growing had corn in it or weeds. This area used to grow cotton. There was a cotton mill in the small town to our south. I often wondered why all the local farmers quit growing cotton.

I just looked up Texas plant diseases for Cotton http://plantdiseasehandbook.tamu.edu...cialty/cotton/ A lot of things can effect cotton including RKN and Fusarium.

So I looked up Texas plant diseases for Corn http://plantdiseasehandbook.tamu.edu...al-crops/corn/ Again a lot of things effect corn including Nematodes, but with one mention about Fusarium.

"Ear and Kernel Rots (fungi – several species): Corn ear and kernel rots are a greater problem in areas with high rain fall from silking to harvest. Symptoms range from pink mold on ears with Fusarium to green mold with Tricoderma."

To me, that says that corn has a better chance of producing a sellable crop than cotton does.

I'm not interested in growing either corn or cotton. I'm thinking it's the fusarium that changed what crops are grown commercially here.

[My Foot Smells]

There is no money in small farming is the basic reason. The kids can move up to Dallas and drive a nice bmw. Most small farms are subsidized by off farm income.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

There is no money in small farming is the basic reason. The kids can move up to Dallas and drive a nice bmw. Most small farms are subsidized by off farm income.

There is a small fortune or at least a darn good living to be made in small farming but you have to think outside the box.
Plus shuck off the yoke of old ways.

[AlittleSalt]

Another crop that was commercially/professionally grown here was peanuts. I remember seeing one farmer's last harvest back in 1986. He was a friend of my wife's family. It was my first time to see RKN damage, but I had no idea that was what it was. The farm is located 53 miles west-northwest of us. The closest town to the farm is Tolar, Texas (Close to Comanche Peak Nuclear power plant.) The picture is from the internet, but his plants looked identical.

Today, I pulled a tomato plant that had a lot of RKN infected roots that were typical in size. It also had one short root about 3 inches long and over an inch wide. It was a RKN factory. Fusarium signs is why I pulled the plant. I did cut into the lower main stem. and yes, it was ridden with fusarium as well.

I have seen so many local professional farmers quit farming over the past 30+ years. Even more backyard gardeners quit.

Tomorrow, I will be pulling many tomato plants from the main garden. I could see the yellow wilting plants from 30 feet away. I didn't have to go out in the garden to know what I was seeing. It is disheartening to see the results of Fusarium and RKN.

Yesterday, I planted out 11 tomato plants in our onion beds. According to things I've read is that RKN doesn't like onions, but there is something called fusarium basil rot - Pathogen: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r584100611.htmlI have not seen that in our onion roots. I'm hoping the tomato plants planted directly in the onion beds have a chance. If the tomato plants grow and produce... We'll see.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by HudsonValley

Thanks! PPP is a sturdy plant that's been fun to grow so far; it looks like it will be productive, too. And I love the name!

As for biological controls/inoculants, I'm no expert, but according to my husband, a biochemist, a few products I use to feed my seedlings contain some of the same beneficial microbes that have been shown (in the dreaded scientific literature) to help plants resist soil-borne illnesses like fusarium as well as reduce nematode populations. When my husband tries to explain how these things work, I probably look like this:

One is Espoma's Start! liquid concentrate for small seedlings; when they're bigger, I switch to Espoma's Grow!. At plant-out, I sprinkle some Bio-Tone granules, also from Espoma, in the hole; it contains microbes, too, as does Tomato-Tone, which I use to amend the beds along with mushroom compost. Anyway, it appears that WM sells Espoma products nationally, if they're of interest. Other Tomatovillians might be able to tell you more about the various inoculant products on the market, since I haven't yet tried them...

Best of luck developing your new gardening strategies!

The Epsoma products do contain a few bacillus species that are beneficial for plants in more ways than one, but Fusarium and Root Knot Nematodes are problems that we would not likely see up North. Biological controls would require a broader range of beneficial bacteria and fungi to protect the roots, and that's a good thing no matter where you're growing or what pathogens and pests you may have to deal with.

Yes! The dreaded scientific literature:

Biological Control of Fusarium Crown and Root Rot of Tomato in Florida Using Trichoderma harzianum and Glomus intraradice

Efficacy of Various Fungal and Bacterial Biocontrol Organisms
for Control of Fusarium Wilt of Tomato

Evaluation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, fluorescent Pseudomonas
and Trichoderma harzianum formulation against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici for the management of tomato wilt

Biological Control of the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne javanica
by Trichoderma harzianum

Mechanisms Employed by Trichoderma Species in the Biological Control of Plant Diseases: The History and Evolution of Current Concepts

[AlittleSalt]

There is a raised bed that is so infected with RKN and Fusarium that growing in it is futile. I'm going to try some things that are unheard of according to the internet...

They will work or they won't. I'll know answers in about a year.

[My Foot Smells]

Maybe grow one of those root grafting seeds just to "test the waters." That'll be a real testament to bill's triple F, N & other graft stock.

You would give good testimony to validity of such claims considering all you have going on. Also, could probably sell grafted specimens for an upcharge price in the neighborhood to cover the cost and meet a few locals.

I'm sure if you contacted the vendor, they would probably mail you a few for free; esp. this time of year.

Heck, I'm curious to see if that root stock specimen can live up to the challenge as well. I also wonder what makes one deter wilt and todes, while others don't of the same species. Probably some biology above my pay grade.

[AlittleSalt]

My extreme idea/s is up to the weather conditions this upcoming winter. If we can get a few days in-a-row where the temperatures are below freezing...This sounds crazy, but I'll throw it out there anyway -

Could I water and freeze the soil in our raised beds to kill out RKN and Fusarium? Maybe use dry ice?

[Rockporter]

Have you thought about using the heat of summer to kill those things, at least the RKN?

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in856

https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Cultur...unwanted-grass