Total garden re-work ... any experience?
I have been working hard to save my garden from varied bugs & fungus; the bugs are at bay and the fungus is slowly but steadily taking over. My small tomato crop is suffering a bad case of late blight, the peppers are more or less holding ground, and the zucchini looks mostly great on the top (slight verticillium wilt?) but the veggies are not developing. This has happened in years past also. Remediation includes brief spray nozzle root watering, thinning leaves, past use of Neem oil, Daconil, Sevin dust and even cinnamon sprinkle. It's not working. The local gardening guru says it's time to pull all the plants, dispose of the composed dirt (it's too contaminated), clean the pots & beds and start anew. Sounds a little excessive but probably necessary. Does anyone have any experience with this type undertaking? Please advise.
I hate to say it, but I agree with your local guru. Fungus can be difficult to get rid of in the best of times, but if it's rampant enough to be spreading quickly, it's in the soil and either replacing or sterilizing can get rid of it. Sterilizing is the worst of the two as you won't be able to use it at all for at least one growing season while you work hard to revitalize the soil. Also, I would get rid of any compost material you are using in case that is the source of the fungus. Any pots that are very porous, like terracotta, should probably be trashed as well. Any other pots should be cleaned with bleach (wear gloves). Metal raised beds can also be cleaned, but wooden raised beds/pots are going to be a bit more difficult. You may be able to get away with sealing them with tung oil or something similar, but remember that fungi spores can live for years, so wooden planters/beds should be sealed yearly before planting.
Sorry to hear about your troubles.
Keep gardening nude
The Nude Gardener
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