Reduce disease in veggie gardens
Q. Are there any preventive cultural practices that I can use to reduce disease in my vegetable garden?
Matt from Boardman
A. Yes, there are many. Here’s just a few that are easy to follow and will reduce the need for chemicals in your garden.
Choose disease-resistant varieties when choosing your seeds and plants. For example, on tomato plant tags, look for the letters V (verticillium wilt), F (Fusarium wilt), N (nematodes), and L (leaf spot or Septoria wilt) on the label. This means the plants are resistant to these diseases or issues.
In growing seeds, use a seed-starting mix. This mix has a fine texture that helps with seed to “soil” contact for better germination.
Space plants at recommended distances apart as stated on seed packs or plant label.
Use watering practices that keep moisture off foliage as much as possible. Do not walk in the garden just after a rain, or when foliage is wet. Doing this would spread disease-causing organisms.
Keep weeds and debris out of the garden to allow for good air circulation around the plants. Remove and destroy any diseased plants immediately. Do not discard these in the compost pile.
Practice crop rotation. Don’t put plants from the same family in the same spot next year.
Wash your hands after smoking and before gardening (to eliminate viruses spread by tobacco) and do not smoke in the garden.
Tomatoes and cucumbers are usually the most-diseased plants in vegetable gardens.
If, after following these cultural practices, your plants still get a disease, try to identify the disease and know its life cycle.
Some products are effective against many disease organisms. Others control only control one or a few.
Also, some preventive applications need to be applied every seven to 10 days during times when the infection is likely to occur.
The most-important thing is to read labels and follow the directions on anything you apply in the vegetable garden.
For more on suggested tomato cultivars and disease resistance, go to: http://go.osu.edu/resistanttomatoes
This week’s answer provided by Barb Delisio, OSU Extension master gardener volunteer. Call the office hot line at 330-533-5538 to submit your questions. Regular clinic hours are Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon.