tagetes getting killed off!

21 years ago

hi, something is and has been killing off my tagetes.

they are (were)all either the small tricolor of medium bushy yellow and orange ones. ironically, i scattered them in dif spots for pest control, which also creates another prob since they are near edibles.

didn't see anything during the day and at night, arrmed with flashlight i did find ONE small brown hard shelled bug (about a centimeter long) on a bloom. am not sure if this is the source or a coincidence.

covering edibles with plastic bags, i sprayed the plants round below them with a spray containing garlic and pyrethrum; the only supposedly 'safe' spray i could find.

why am i taking care of it so late? well, at first i thought i had been overwatering or it was the HEAT ...... but now i have a feeling that the same'whatever' killed off a lot of my callibrachoa as well. (they were near each other in one bed.

this is just so weird- i always plant them by seed or seedlings and never have this trouble. save for mild signs of slugs and the usual august fungus i rarely have pest problems that require spray - and this is a first with the tagetes. they always bloom beautifully till sep-oct and are healthy!

any ideas /recommendation /tips re all of the above will be appreciated. thanks in advance

dory

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Comments (6)

Vera_EWASH
21 years ago
Hard to really see the leaves in your pic, but from what I CAN see it looks like a possible Fusarium Wilt

Vera
lovesgardening
Original Author
21 years ago
thanks vera...if this is the case (have been reading up a bit) i could be in serious trouble... i seem to recall now similar phenomena in dif areas... am going to find out which plants are resistant to this and keep reading up on what i can do. will pull one out and examinine roots plus cut main stem in half- there are then tell tale signs.
got any tips in general?
TIA
all the best,
dory
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Vera_EWASH
21 years ago
Fusarium wilts are host specific while Verticillium has a very wide range of hosts.....for sure if you find out that it really is a wilt then DO NOT plant Tagetes for several years (4-6). Pull and destroy plants and all residues.. including some of the soil if possible... Find resistant varities or other companion plants for the garden and practice rotation.

Good luck,

Vera
lovesgardening
Original Author
21 years ago
Vera, many thanks! Tomorrow I am going to pull them out and see what I can find. Was reading up on the Verticillium as well and discovered it is quite nasty and can even be harmful (in rare cases) to humans!!!!!
You know, I think the best bit of new advice is the idea of rotation which I do not practice but will. For example, I have quite a large area with zinnias though I have not planted one in years. In 3 dif places, they have just seeded and bloom profusely from April/may through mid to late august. I always wait for them and they never disappoint me and add so much to the garden without any effort on my part to boot! Don't get me wrong, am not a lazy gardener but this is a plus! And I always think that the ones that seed themselves know just where and when is good for them so I let them do their thing. Every year they do get that fungus at the end of the season on the leaves (it does not spread in my garden though everyone here I know with zinnias gets this and sometimes it does spread which has caused many people to stop planting them. I cut flowers ever week and then I always have more for an extended period. Mid august I pull out most of them and let the rest seed. do you think it would be a good idea to pull out the new ones next year and plant something else? I don't mind... I really like your point re rotation- you are right. logic stands to reason that just as the farmer makes sure to plant dif crops in the same field to put back nutrients etc absorbed by others, so it probably is with the flower garden.
Truth is, in general I have had a leaning towards changing both the content and style of my beds by putting in a few more perennials and dif plants that would give the yard more color round the seasons + a bit less work for me!
I would like to hear your thoughts re the zinnia fungus and pulling out the seedlings next year.
Say good bye to my tagetes- they will come out tomorrow and won't be back for quite awhile!!!
Cheers and thanks again,
dory
Vera_EWASH
21 years ago
Your welcome, but it would really be a good ID to get a positive ID...just so you don't plant something else that may be another possible host while your trying to free your soil population.
Do you have extention offices in Isreal? Or resources you can consult?

Vera
lovesgardening
Original Author
21 years ago
i don't even know what an extention office is but there are people with whom i can consult and maybe they'd know. i pulled them out and cut the stems as instructed on a sight about these wilts. in my opinion, the inside of the stem was not discolored though it appears to be in the photo i took.they were actually quite white.
i checked the roots carefully-pulling them gently but thoroughly apart up to the stem (did not look rotten at all) but i did find something weird. Specs of light bronzieish /metallic bits. like little tiny pieces of foil. turned over the earth and didn't see this save for around the roots of tagetes . pulled out a pathetic salvia and found the same thing.
will seek advice at the local nursery re everything.
for now am going to forget about that problem and enjoy the fact that after waiting SOOOOOO long, the first of my MGs finally bloomed this morning and was open all day, nestled in a shady alcove of leaves out of the HOT sun, was open till 4!!!!
here are 2 pics - enjoy it too!
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