Feel like giving up gardening in the south.

From south Alabama, just about everything in my garden is facing some kind of disease. I have completely butchered a lot of my plants and sprayed copper fungicide and chlorathalonil relentlessly. Every tomato plant has septoria leaf spot, several peppers that were beautiful last week are getting crown rot and dying, watermelon plants covered in some kind of ugly fungus. Even with drip irrigation and plastic mulch, everything still seems to be getting beaten by disease.

I even bought 12 replacement tomato plants that I haven’t even set out yet are already covered in leaf spot fungus.

Gardening here is really difficult..so much time and hard work down the drain. We aren’t forecasted any rain for awhile, hoping and praying some of it will be able to bounce back.

in vegetablegardeningby Traditional_Wind_940

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PensiveObservor

60

8a or 8b, PNW

14d

I’m sorry for you. Some years gardening is heartbreaking.

Maybe you can just forget the tomatoes and have an amazing bean crop this year? Throw down all kinds of beans and then freeze them or shell and dry them. 2025 will be your tomato year!

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

17

14d

Thank you..it’s not all bad, it’s my first year growing green beans and I have had great success with them, cucumbers and squash too.

You’re right, it can be heartbreaking, but I think that goes for anything you pour your heart and soul into. If I had just planted a couple tomatoes or something and didn’t put much effort into the entire garden, it wouldn’t really bother me.

2

13d

So I live in central Mississippi. It gets very hot. I can make a few recommendations.

1 by seeds from places in the southern us. I like southern exposure.

2 grow more rugged variety’s in general. I grow cherry tomato’s mostly instead of larger varieties.

If all else fails buy some shade cloth
We are in a dry area and we swapped to really low raised beds and that helped a lot.

35

14d

Grow a tomato that is known to have good disease resistance. I'm in central Alabama and am growing Hossinators (STM2255) this year and they are doing very well so far. Have some large green tomatoes already, all of the plants look healthy and I haven't used a drop of fungicide on them. We did just get several days of rain in a row though so I will be keeping an eye on them just in case.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

18

14d

Unfortunately that’s what I did..all the tomatoes I grew are disease resistant hybrids from hoss..hossinator, red snapper, celebrity+, Shelby, Florida 91. The plants that are doing best believe it or not, are better boys from the farm supply that I bought.

I think the problems I am having are less to do with variety, and more to do with the plants not being big enough when I put them out, and the diseases were able to get established early. I should have started the seeds at least a month earlier and let the plants get big and healthy instead of just putting seedlings in the ground.

Oh well, it’s the first time trying to grow them from seed. Now I know, systemic preventive program for fungus, and good size transplants. I wish it was just the tomatoes that were suffering..

It’s just really deflating knowing how much work has went into all of it just to watch it fall apart. My little boy loves going out there and being in the garden, so that makes it suck even worse.

3

13d

Wow... I know it's super humid/rainy down there so it doesn't surprise you have so much disease pressure, I just thought those varieties would be able to handle it better. I guess this year is a wash but knowing that some fungal diseases are soil based if you are growing in the ground then maybe try growing in raised beds next year? Truck in some fresh soil and see if things do better.

Here's video of a guy in Sarasota, FL growing Hossinator tomatoes in 20 gallon grow bags, likely for the same reason.

Florida Tomatoes in Grow Bags Hossinator vs Big Beef+

If it's working for him then I think it'll work for you.

Also, I just noticed one difference between us. I didn't start mine from seed, I bought the Hossinators as plugs. I wonder if some how the fungus is setting in when you start them?

EDIT: Added the video.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

2

13d

I thought the same thing about peppers, because last year most of them I had planted in the ground died due to phytothropia, or collar rot. Planted all my pepper this year in raised beds with completely different soil, and a few of them have already died from the same thing lol. I think it’s just the weather.

3

13d

To go off of the comment below me - where did you get the dirt you started them in? That might be the problem. You might have already starred out with contaminated dirt.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

The dirt I started them in was some that I had made from mostly peat moss..I guess it is possible that the dirt was contaminated though

3

13d

Did you add anything else to the soil? Peat moss retains so much moisture, it could be contributing to the fungal issues

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Traditional_Wind_940

OP

2

13d

I’m definitely going to do this..I’m going to try a cover crop of mustard to try and get help the root knot nematode issue I have, and heavily armed the soil with compost. My soil is very sandy and everything is planted in hills, I haven’t watered anything in awhile due to all the rain.

I think the leaf spot is largely because of the excessive rain and heat/humidity

7

US, Zone 7B NY

14d

I just to wanted to say that I feel your pain. I leaned a little too close to the soil today and it literally stinks from always being wet here. A vaguely "low tide" smell. I know rain is a gift, but it never stops.

I don't know if this helps at all, but I found this list of some disease resistant tomato varieties. I'm sure there are others.

https://www.burpee.com/blog/disease-resistant-tomatoes_infographic.html

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

7

14d

Thanks, yea everything was looking pretty decent until we were flooded 2 times within a few days. Then the sun comes out and it’s 90 degrees again, apparently it’s the perfect environment for fungus to thrive.

Responsible-Skill-25

7

14d

I absolutely feel you.

I grew up in Northern California and never wanted to help my family in the gardening.

Now I live in Georgia and am literally battling squash borers with an exacto knife. Zucchini and squash are the two things we love the most from our garden and we get like one per plant before it's destroyed

6

13d

Texas here, Curcurbita Moschata varieties are resistant to the vine borer. Their vines are a lot stronger and harder and the borer cant eat their way through. Last year I was still harvesting squash in September. I would recommend looking into the Korean Aehobak and Bat Put varieties. Tatume is another but I haven't tried that one. The young fruits are just like zucchini, though I prefer them. I was never able to get C. Pepo varieties to live for very long with the vine borer pressure here but C. Moschata eliminates that problem.

4

13d

If I can find it I’ll link it, but someone posted a video at one point of a gardener who tried pruning the lower leaves of cucurbits, then used stakes or tomato cages to trellis the plants once they got big enough. Any he did that to did not get borers. I found that an interesting tactic. It makes the stem get woody near the ground, and getting the leaves and fruits up off the ground helps too. I know that doesn’t help this year but maybe next.

Responsible-Skill-25

1

13d

I don't know how much this will help as we till the soil every year. Our biggest issue is the actual bug laying eggs on the stems/leaves. I think next year we're going to net them

1

13d

Does tilling make the bugs worse? I don’t follow.

Responsible-Skill-25

1

8d

No tilling preplanting can help remove the adults dormant in the soil.

Here is their lifecycle:

Squash vine borer adults emerge in late June or early July, from cocoons in the ground.

After emerging, squash vine borers lay eggs singly at the base of susceptible plants.

Eggs hatch in about one week and the resulting larvae bore into stems to feed.

Larvae feed through the center of the stems, blocking the flow of water to the rest of the plant.

Larvae feed for four to six weeks, then exit the stems and burrow about one to two inches into the soil to pupate.

They remain there until the following summer.

So there's 2 forms of attack: terrestrial; coming from the soil itself and aerial; as these bastards can also fly around to find the ideal plants.

So I don't know how much getting the leaves and much of the plant off the ground will do, seeing as they can fly and all, and prefer the base of the plant to begin with.

1

13d

We inject the stems of our plants with Bacillus thuringiensis (bt) and it helps a lot.

Responsible-Skill-25

1

13d

Inject the stems?!! Hardcore

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

11d

I did this yesterday to all my squash plants! First time ever trying it, heard it so many times and decided nothing can hurt to try and deter the instant death from SVB

5

14d

Just a comment to say I'm really sorry, that sucks.

Hopefully it's just a particularly bad year and the next (or even your fall planting) is better but another way to hedge your bets or try another way would be hydroponics. If you're not familiar, an aerogarden is an easy introduction and quick reward... And then setting up a home system on a bigger scale is easy and fairly cheap. It does need space but it's doable.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

8

14d

I’m familiar with hydroponics..was quite successful with it in my younger years 🙃never tried growing veggies that way though

2

14d

Greens, herbs and tomatoes are really easy. I've seen peppers, peas, and strawberries done a lot, too. There are a bunch of subreddits if you're interested.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

2

14d

Thanks, I have learned a lot this year, and at the end of the day, that’s what really matters and can make a difference in the future.

5

13d

I'm in the Panhandle and getting destroyed by bugs. Seriously, squash vine boarers, pickle worms, cucumber Beatles, aphids, beet army worm, stink bugs, leaf-footed bugs and thrips so far this year. Those are just the ones I've seen. I spray BT like it is my job. It is exhausting.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

I’ve actually been able to get a pretty good handle on the bugs this year, spinosad and pyrethrin are excellent for controlling most of what you mentioned..have to monitor very closely for squash bugs and spray them while they’re small, hard to deal with once they get bigger

5

13d

I’m so sorry! Last year I lost my entire garden except some herbs and a small handful of other things. I’m in New England and first we had a late frost, then Memorial Day Weekend it was in the 90’s and dry, all my early season plants fried. Then the rest of the summer was so wet and cool I gave up. Thats not normal weather for us. This year we had a pretty normal spring, but now suddenly this week it’s going to be in the 80’s and dry for several days. I feel like I’m going to lose everything again, I have a lot of seedlings and babies I just planted out. Usually we have to worry about cold/wet this time of year so it is difficult when we get this sudden heat. Again, it’s not normal for us so it’s hard to know what to do in spring. I’ve lived in this growing zone my whole life, but now everything is different I guess. We used to not even try to put more warm season tender plants outside until after Mothers Day to avoid freezing, but suddenly now that’s maybe too late? I don’t even know anymore.

I wish I had suggestions for you. I feel your pain.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

3

13d

It’s just a tough pill to swallow sometimes. Gardening can definitely be a challenge..we had a storm a couple weeks ago that just about flattened everything I had planted

RebelWithoutASauce

3

US, Zone 5b

13d

Oh, that was a rough season in New England! I was in NH and my tomatoes and other plants got obliterated by two unexpected late frosts. I had backup seedlings but still...pretty rough. Even the backup tomatoes got messed up by various diseases because it was so wet last year.

It seemed like everything that wasn't an onion was beset by mold or some other kind of rot.

1

13d

Yup! Onions and chives were pretty much all I had left in summer. I did do some late season plantings and got some cilantro, spinach, mesclun and things like that using row covers as it cooled in fall. One thing I didn’t struggle with was spider mites, as I had in the drought years.

4

13d

I'm originally from south AL, now in NC and I feel you! I'm leaving things in containers until they're really big so that I can rush them out of the rain after losing 2 previously very robust and healthy pepper seedlings to "overwatering" (courtesy of the sky. I did not water them at all after it started up). Having to be an absolute freak with pruning, copper fungicide, insecticidal soap, and mulch, and half my strawberries have leaf spot anyway 🙄 I'm trying to be "radically accepting" (as my therapist would say) about it 😂 since I would never survive Real Winter and have other advantages living where I do :P

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

3

13d

It’s hard to be accepting of your hard work going down the tubes..on the bright side, I have several different things planted, cucumbers, squash, and green beans are all doing pretty well.

AdhesivenessCivil581

3

14d

I'm in SC in 8b. I start tomato seeds inside at around Feb 1. and pepper and eggplant 2 weeks earlier. I usually do have issues with the leaf spot eventually even with copper spray, I never have august tomatoes. I've had those years.

2

13d

SC 8b here as well. Although i do great with most vegetables, Tomatoes and i don't know what it is - I've never had success.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

I’m going in fully armed next year with different fungicides, last year it was bugs that drove me crazy, this year it’s diseases.

Virtual_Bug5486

3

13d

I have a similar issue in Savannah- I think the only real solution is a greenhouse with a pretty aggressive fungal control.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

3

13d

I have a hoop house that I haven’t put up yet, I think I’m going to try this and replace the clear greenhouse cover with shade cloth once it gets hot

itsintrastellardude

3

13d

I feel you. I gave up on summer squash two years ago and was recently sold on the pest resistance of Seminole pumpkin. I put down seedlings in a garden I usually leave barren for the mid-late summer so we'll see how it goes. I'm a big fall/winter/spring gardener now.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

3

13d

I have a couple Seminole pumpkins growing right now..they are looking pretty good!

2

13d

You just had a bad year. Most fungal diseases are airborne and you can’t do much to avoid them. Soil based ones you can only trim the lower branches when transplanting but that is not any guarantee. Last year we had a July hailstorm which devastated everything. Anything that survived was killed off by disease. Your pants have probably taken a beating by excessive rain which leaves them open to infection and pests. Sprays and fungicide are effective sometimes but usually they are outdated within a few years of being released. A lot of the stuff sold in retail is either bogus or obsolete. Focus on the next seasons crops and try again next year. Don’t give up!

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

I hadn’t thought about the fungicides possibly being outdated or bad, the ones I’ve been using are from last year. I have a couple new ones being delivered today, doing all I can to try and make it happen

2

13d

At this point anything is worth a shot. It's a bit of a mindgame because fungicides typically work best as prevention. But then if you use it and never get a disease you'll never know if it was because of the fungicides or not. If the disease has already taken a hold it's very difficult to stop (depending on the specific species of funghi). Some funghi/mold just look ugly but don't do much damage. As long as there are mostly green leaves on the plant it can photosynthesize. Powedery mildew will always show up on your curcubrits later in the year but you should have already harvested a lot by then.

Disease-resistant cultivars follow the same rule as fungicides. They are disease resistant for a couple of years and then they aren't. Unfortunately diseases and funghi adapt quickly and so what might have been resistant a few years ago is now up for grabs.

In my belief the main culprit is simply climate change and irregular weather. Abnormal amount of rain + varying temperatures give disease their chance to spread earlier than usual. As gardeners the best thing we can do is to grow a wide range of crops and cultivars and experiment changing things up frequently both in variety and timing. In your case it might be a good idea to investigate on crops that thrive in your type of wet/humid climate and avoid crops that are more suited to the drier/colder climates.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

2

13d

Yes it’s definitely a mind game! And you’re right about the weather/climate. I do think a big mistake I made with my tomatoes was setting them out too early in their life. Instead of letting the plants get really well established, they were little seedlings. I was thinking, oh these are hybrid disease resistant varieties, they’ll be fine.

Of course the one thing they aren’t resistant to, they got.

2

13d

As long as you have nighttime temperatures above at least 50F you should be fine. Of course smaller plants will be closer to the ground and will always be under transplant shock so if they get nasties attached to them they might not have the defences to repel them. Transplanting older plants is fine but has it's downsides too (you might get a crop before the plant has had time to grow).

For tomatoes I usually start seed 6 weeks before transplanting. Do ensure you let them harden off on your balcony/porch for 1 week before putting them in the ground, slowly increasing exposure. If you don't harden them off before transplanting they are very vulnerable.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

They were well hardened off, and temperatures were fine, I just think that the plants may have been a little too small and were susceptible to getting disease..I could be totally wrong thinking that but it just makes sense that because their leaves were so close to the ground, fungus was able to get on them pretty early.

2

13d

There are some varieties that have some septoria resistance. I’ve not yet grown them, but we get bad septoria pressure here too and want to try them. Iron Lady is the one that comes to mind first.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

I’m thinking of trying this as well, most varieties don’t have resistance to it. I need to find some Peppers that are resistant to phytothropia as well, had a few fall victim to that due to all the rain I guess

Badgers_Are_Scary

2

7A central Europe

13d

We got very humid 2 months before and after a drought. Since I am dead set on growing pumpkins, I am seriously considering solar powered fans. Maybe something to consider.

baldeaglesezwut

2

13d

Naw don't give up try lettuce too

Quick_Secret2705

2

13d

I feel this. Moved from the north to NC which is soo humid compared to where I’m from. The last few years have been a learning experience for sure. when I get diseases under control then I get these giant super southern bugs I’ve got to deal with but when you do get a few tomatoes it’ll feel like a huge victory 🤣

Avocadosandtomatoes

2

13d

Don’t fight the seasons. Once you grow what grows in your area it will be on easy mode.

Check out David The Good on YouTube.

2

13d

I feel for you. We start off full of hopes, then something sets us back, and we end up with only a fraction.

For the last 2 years I watched my bush tomatoes grow, bloom, develop fruit, and get killed off by bllight before a single tom turned red. This year, only 2 plants managed to get past seedling, especially soul rendering as one variety was supposed to be a disease resitant paste bush varierty.

There is only so much green tomato chutney a man can handle

On the other hand I have excess of winter squash plants which will take up the space.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

I’m beginning to see that unfortunately, that is what gardening is in a nutshell..starting off full of hopes and ending up with only a fraction. I went with expensive, disease resistant hybrid seeds, that in my mind, were going to be the secret to successfully growing tomatoes.

Next year, I will be really thorough in my attempts to prevent any type of fungus from establishing in my plants. However, I will keep my expectations lower than they were this year.

2

13d

I know how you feel. I'm down in 9a in north FL and we stopped trying for corn when all of our ears were ripped off the stalk and eaten in one night, maybe a week before they were ripe. No sign of pests prior to that. No warning, no way to prepare.

We stopped with tomatoes because of the same thing, except eaten when they were all still green.

Every cucurbit we ever planted here eventually got powdery mildew, even with being preventatively sprayed with copper fungicide. We always got a harvest or two in before we had to rip the plants out though.

There have been some successes though, which may work for you!

Green beans conquered all, though, and the sweet potatoes are apparently unkillable. Even when I try to kill them. I wanted to repurpose the bed we had sweet potatoes in last year but the potatoes are informing me that it's their bed now and they won't be deterred. Three inches of mulch over the bed that I thought I had fully removed all the roots from hasn't worked lol. I keep pulling sweet potatoes the size of my fist out that I apparently missed last year?!? Or they have just grown that fast from the tiny shreds of roots left behind...

Also, look up Seminole pumpkins. Make great pies and soups and they LOVE the heat and humidity. They even sneaky produced 3 hidden bonus gourds that I didn't find until frost finally killed the plants. Beautiful plants and beautiful and delicious gourds with absolutely zero effort.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

2

13d

Your corn situation sounds like coyotes..my green beans have done awesome, and now that you say that about sweet potatoes, I am pretty sure I seen some from last year growing near my watermelons (that also have fungus)

I do have a few Seminole pumpkins planted, hopefully they do good! Never had any luck growing pumpkins

2

13d

Probably not coyotes for us, we're on 1/4 acre in suburbia with a fully fenced yard. We think rodents probably.

Hopefully the pumpkins and sweet potatoes do well for you! I was shocked at how hands off the Seminole pumpkins were

2

13d

I’m a transplant to the south and what you say is achingly close to my experience as well. The number of things I’ve planted, only to have them die a slow fungal death or be consumed by various creatures has had me pulling my hair out. However, I have had luck a few plants that required very minimal maintenance: blackberries (just made jam last night) strawberries muscadine (I never had these as a kid and have found that I really like their flavor) blueberries (I have two bushes and do nothing to them and literally get thousands of berries) pear (it’s a baking variety) okra (not crazy about the flavor, but they are bulletproof) peppers (not red, and only occasionally green, but anything like a jalapeño or spicier does well) bush beans radishes (excellent pickled) various lettuces (spring only) sunflowers some tomatoes (cherries do the best, or larger varieties in pots. I have to keep the plants well separated to minimize fungal growth) All of my annuals are in raised beds and I add new soil and fertilizer each year. My soil is sandy like yours, and we also get a lot of rain and humidity out here. So, it can be the worst of two worlds - you are trying to keep the roots from drying out due to quickly draining soil and occasional weeks without rain while dealing with the diseases of high humidity! Oh, well, I do love growing things…

2

13d

Nebraska here. I’ve also lived in Alabama. In the previous property I lived at, disease was rampant. I was in a bit of a valley which led to more moisture than perhaps was good.

I’ve learned a lot since then.

Pathogens can live in your soil. -try rotating where you grow your crops -can always go the route of raised beds to replace the soil you’re growing in (tall would be great -solarization of the soil -as others said, consulting with an extension office is a great idea too

2

13d

Have you tried to contact your local extension agent? They should be able to help and guide you through this problems. In Alabama, the extension group is really great, and they work with the universities to improve grower’s productivity. Look for the Farming Basics app to download on your phone. Once you install it, you’ll have some tools in hand that might be already helpful. If you want to contact your regional extension agent, on the Contacts tab you’ll find the map with AL counties. Selecting your county will give the contact for the REA. Good luck!

Psychological-Star39

1

13d

Plastic mulch?

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

Weed barrier..I’ve heard it called different things

AcaiCoconutshake

1

13d

Damn. I have leaf spot on all my berry bushes and tomatoes. Why keep gardening in the south? It’s pointless. We had a drought last summer and the summer before that it rained every day and exploded my watermelons and muskmelons. Every year there’s some type of destructive environmental behavior.

Traditional_Wind_940

OP

1

13d

We had a really bad storm a couple weeks ago that nearly flattened my entire garden. A ton of rain came with it, which started a lot of issues. Then it rained a lot again a few days later. Tons of issues now 😟