my father has planted many gardens in the same location with great results. any help is greatly appreciated. i have spent hours trying to identify and figure out what the issue is. 😖😧

cucumbers- small hard and prickly. (spotted fire ants around)
cabbage- dies after about growing 3 inches basil does same
potatoes- leaves turn yellow

i finally broke down and sprayed some fungus daconil and sevin liquid this week. i had been using neem oil and potassum salt.

You don't know what the problems are or might be yet you have hit the plants with daconil, sevin, Neem Oil and potassium salt. Really?!
Without much experience you threw the pharmacy at these little plants. That can not be a good idea!!!

No matter what the ailment could be any remedy takes time to work.
I honestly think that you panicked
And went overboard. I would start over.

i was told to use NeemOil and PS as preventive weekly. i have started over 3 times. which is why i am humbly reaching out. when the NO didnt work i switched just recently and have not had time to see results yet, but was reaching out because this looked like a kind community and thought it couldnt hurt. i have not panicked and have kept records following instructions clearly and only treating certain plants trying to id the problem having a control plant as well. are you saying it take more than 3 months to fix an issue? adjustments i have made showed some results like my collards are doing well and my okra was able to get past that stage. i have checked ph, NPK levels moisture levels. again any changes i made was made to one or two plants each time until some progress was made. after months of starting new crops and trying the "natural remidies i finally this week used what my dad and grandfather have always used, the sevin and fungicide from gardentech.

BigBill said:You don't know what the problems are or might be yet you have hit the plants with daconil, sevin, Neem Oil and potassium salt. Really?!
Without much experience you threw the pharmacy at these little plants. That can not be a good idea!!! ???



No matter what the ailment could be any remedy takes time to work.
I honestly think that you panicked
And went overboard. I would start over.

But Neem Oil has its uses. I use it a lot indoors on my orchids. But it is an oil. If the sun hits the oil before it dries, it can cause burn spots on leaves or cook a seedling.

Sevin scares the death out of me. I used it briefly in the 70's because it was found to be a known carcinogen.

In coastal Carolina with all of the heat and sun, that plastic you are using could cause tremendous heat buildup. That could be a problem.

But what I am saying is that you could be throwing chemicals at you plants without any disease or insect present. That does not help anything.
I too learned so much from my Grandma, she was born on a Connecticut Valley Farm in 1903. She never had bugs. She just used Proper watering, tilled the soil, pulled weeds and rarely fertilized. I am the same. I have been growing for almost 63 years. I follow her methods, till, water and weed. No chemicals of any kind unless a serious issue develops. After 62 years, I am still waiting for a serious issue. I grew for 48 years on Long Island, 9 in Florida now 4 here.

Welcome to NGA, @oibgarden!

I thought Bill's reply to you was quite harsh - and is not typical of the site, so please don't be discouraged by it. I don't have any experience growing in your part of the country, but we have plenty of people that do and I'm sure some of them will be chiming in soon.

Could you tell us a little more about your garden? Have you added anything to the soil, such as fertilizer or other amendments? What type of cucumbers are you growing? Were the cabbage and basil plants ones you started from seed, or did you purchase the plants? Hold onto the positive thought that your collards and okra are doing okay - and realize that no matter how long we've been gardening, every year there seems to be something different to contend with, so you are by no means alone (it's just a little harder when you first start out). Best wishes - stick with us, we'll get you there

Harsh?
Everyone's entitled to their opinion.

You might want to check your soil temperature. You can use a basic kitchen thermometer to get an idea of how hot it is. The black plastic may be holding in a lot of heat. I think I see wood chips under the plastic, you might find that just using the chips holds the moisture and helps keep the weeds in check without the high heat.

And if I could ask a favor of all gardeners, it would be that no one ever uses Sevin. It kills the pollinators we all rely for our gardens.

oibgarden
Yes some people can be blunt here but all mean well.
Yay that collards and okra are going well. Cabbage on the other hand I think of as a cool weather crop.
I also wonder if the plastic is too hot, and I dont like how it blocks airflow to the soil.
There are a number of possibilities. Kind of need to think in more detail on each thing that failed.
Cucumbers look ok? Do they never develop after that tiny fruit and bloom stage?
I've had failures, just keep trying. And grow what works.

Oibgarden! Well, I think the plants don't really need that plastic stuff. A natural mulch would be much better. I would bet the sun is very hot there, it is here, and for veggies I use hay mulch, which keeps the roots cool and deters weeds. It also cuts down the need for watering so often. Other good mulches could be pine needles, wood chips, although there is some argument against this, and even newspaper.
Other than that, some of your plants look pretty good. I don't recommend using sprays as a preventative for anything, unless you are dealing with diseases well known to be a problem in your particular area or you have a definite ID to the plant issue. A helpful place to get more info would be your local extension office. They could tell you what disease and insect problems are endemic in your area and whether pre spraying would help your plants.
A lot of us have learned how to grow particular veggies not by our successes, but by our failures! So don't worry too much; I think your plants will be ok, and use this as a wonderful learning experience. 😁

Thank you all very much for the kindness. I didnt want to write a large post the first time rambling on about all of the different ways i have tried to combat this.

Bill i didnt explain it correctly at first, i have aspergers and sometimes i believe i am explaining things better than what i am. I started low and slow with nothing but dirt and water and seed. As things failed i made changes with new startups.

Weedwhacker i added some soil acidifier because my ph was over 8 and got it down to 7 even. i have been running an experiment trying to verify any data possible. With multiple plants in multiple locations and in buckets. I even had the same issue indoor when i started with my basil and cabbage.

Henderman i will check the temps and log for a few days. also, i dont like using any chemicals that harm us or them but have tried for months to resolve this, it was not out of laziness but desperation. what do you use to keep the cutworms and bad bugs away? i did verify that no bees were active and kept it off of the flowers of the plants. in fact it wasnt until after i sprayed that i have seen my first honeybee back.

Sally so far the cucs have gotten hard and almost dry and died with little prickles. i have watered some heaver and some lighter to determine if over/under watering was cause to no avail.

gardenfish i had fungus gnats which is why i started using the neem oil and am using bti on some of them. the potassium i really just use on my collards as it stopped the cabbage worms from eating it. i am open to using anything safe and effective. i love my garden and am constantly walking and looking and recording. what local extension office?

Thank you all again for the kindness and the information and feedback, it is greatly appreciated.

Case by case-

Cucumbers, I wonder if they are not getting pollinated and fruits are just drying up for that reason? Can anyone else give an opinion on this idea?
It was only last year that I learned to have cucumber plants spaced at least one foot apart. I had crowded mine for many years and didn't know it.

Collards, yes the cabbage worms love those. My favorite spray for that is one with Bt specifically for caterpillars. Check labels. It will very specifically kill the caterpillars on the collards (or any other 'caterpillars' you spray it on) and nothing else.

The general rule for watering is about an inch a week. Spot water new transplants or seeds or course, tender little things.

Oingarden, the website for the extension service is www.ces.nscu.edu. This will take you to some of the info that you need. I. Addition, there are local offices in all the counties of your state, and you should be able to find more info from the one in your county. 😁

sallyg said:Case by case-

Cucumbers, I wonder if they are not getting pollinated and fruits are just drying up for that reason? Can anyone else give an opinion on this idea?

I had this same thought - sometimes the early flowers just don't get pollinated and then later ones are fine (that happens with squash, as well).

As far as cabbage worms, I used BT for years, with varying amounts of success - last year I completely covered my broccoli plants with Reemay (aka floating row cover) so the cabbage butterflies couldn't get to them, and while I wasn't crazy about the way that looked in my garden I did get nice broccoli with no worms

thank you gardenfish and weedwhacker and all. i have been hand pollenating cucs with paintbrush. i will continue on and see what happens.

I've done that with squash, it works! Good luck.

Harsh? I'm an Aspy too that lives in my gardens. I'm with Bill. Been gardening the way my Grandmother did in her tiny Chicago yard for the last 50 years, without any need for chemicals of any sort. My gardens are lush & green. I use home made compost, & organic fertilizers like manure & fish emulsion before planting, and rarely add anything later in the season unless I decide to side dress with more manure or compost. If you create a good soil bed first, you won't need anything else. Chemicals cause way more problems than they solve, & can permanently poison your soil. Should ONLY be employed when absolutely necessary, as in clearing weeds from brick walks. I weed & edge my beds by hand too, it's the ONLY permanent solution. That's why I'm in great physical shape at 60, & I don't live on any big pharma poisons either, that cause similar problems in so many people. I spend as much time as possible in my yard, and eat from those beds. I don't want chronic chemical exposure. The only issue I have is with animal pests I can't fence out like squirrels that chew on seedlings & steal produce. A good pellet rifle controls that.