I see a few red flags. How big were the plants that were started from seed when you planted? Were they hardened off for a few days? What fertilizer did you use before planting? Why did you have little bug on the baby seedlings if they were grown from seed? You may have killed them with whatever you doused them with. Did you start the seeds in a sterile grow medium? Were they planted on a sunny day? What was in the organic matter you applied? I can't imagine why you lost the store bought plants. I don't know your zone but, you may be able to replant.

In addition to the red flags pointed out by Shirley, was there a day of high winds? "completely shriveled up and dry" caught my attention as that sounds like hot, high winds effect. OR plants that were never hardened-off.

"Watering daily" is never a good idea with transplants but no way would that have killed everything. Excessive fertilizer in the soil can easily kill off young, small seedlings but shouldn't have done in the store-bought ones that quickly.

Nothing needs to be "doused" with Pyola or anything else - lightly misted maybe. What bugs?

Otherwise, if no weed killer drift from somewhere then I'd agree it has to be something wrong with the commonly shared factors: weather, water, or the garden bed itself to take out everything.

More details might help if possible.

Dave

I'm really sorry to hear that. It is very tragic for a gardener to have such a disaster.

It sounds as if you have done everything right and considered all the possible causes. Overwatering would be a good quess, but you have had two successful seasons previously, probably using the same methods. The "dousing" with Pyola was not done to all the plants. Everything was affected, not just one particular category.

Man, it's a mystery. Any guesses will by just that, guesses. What was the source of the organic matter you added. Could it have been contaminated with weed killer? Try to think of anything you did differently this year that is related to all the plants. I know you probably already have, but that is the only approach I can think of.

I wish you the best of luck with your next attempt. Maybe you should experiment now with a couple of direct seeded, quick growing crops just to see if the soil is OK.

Jim

This is terrible! Losing a few plants here and there is one thing, but this won't do at all. If it was me...

Fill a couple of containers with soil that was an accessory to murder. Fill another with potting soil. Plant seedlings. Assess.

Put more seedlings out in the garden. Use cutworm collars. Dust white flour or cornmeal on surface around plants before nightfall. Check for footprints first thing in the morning.

I don't think a disease can take down a wide range of plants so quickly, and most weed killers must be absorbed by leaves. Those applied as preventive inhibit seed germination, but usually don't kill plants outright.

The only time I've seen that kind of carnage in my garden, it was cutworms. Rabbits usually eat what they take.
Proceed with operation nematode.

Report back. We care.

One year I had the prettiest tomato plants in southern OK which is very hot. I decided that for them to stay pretty they needed to be mulched. We didn't have straw around but it was easy to get hay. Within hours of adding the hay the plants started to wilt and die. I never used hay again.

I appreciate your postings. The fertilizer used was Vigoro 13-13-13.

Something was needed to kill the aphids. Maybe I OD'd on the amount but it was only used on the tomatoes grown from seed that were infested with aphids. I didn't touch the peppers or the bought plants. It looks like 4 of those Pyola'd plants are struggling to shoot new leaves from stalks (existing leaves are brown).

I didn't harden the plants. To me, planting in TN in early May is like planting in MA in June. I moved to midTn several years ago and love the extended palnting season.

I had collars on all the plants to discourage cutworms.

The nematodes have shipped from Gardens Alive...

The organic matter was store bought - 1. I don't have the bag and 2. topsoil from local garden center. I'm still going to add peat moss - I'm constantly trying to improve the clay. The boxes we built last year have helped that a lot. Last year was a great garden.

Since the posting on Sunday a.m., I have spoke with a local prof from MTSU who alerted me to an aphid infestation - not just my tomatoes. He recommended Sevin; admired me for trying to stay organic but told me in TN, Sevin is needed.

Several tomatoes plants have sprouted from last year's droppings which must have been turned under. As happy as I am to see them, their presence confounds me more.

The purchased broccoli is struggling - dropping leaves. This was added after the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.

I have also gone to the Co-op. Fellow there took a look at the tomato stalk and said it wasn't bugs. Suspected a fungus and sent me to the extension service for a soil test.
Have brought soil sample from the beds to the extension service - results in several weeks.

While collecting the soil, (misty day), I found an 1" long black snail under a pepper stalk. Never saw that before - snails in the garden. At least I think it's a snail - had 2 horns but no shell.

Well, I went and bought replacement peppers, tomatoes and eggplant but am nervous to put them in. Also nervous about starting from seed in the garden but hope springs eternal. The seed is going on the flat ground, not the boxes.

your ideas are so appreciated

Do you have neighbors that use a lawn care service? or possibly they sprayed chemicals which the wind carried over? Sometimes the county in our areas sprays pesticides because of mosquito populations. Could it be something along those lines? Run - off from a farmer's field or local business? I'm really stretching.

I'm very sorry to hear this. It's so disheartening when you've done everything right.

I think it's bc they weren't hardened off, you can never assume that store bought plants have already been hardened.

I know it's hard to believe that too much sunshine would kill your plants, so just assume it did and start over. This time be sure they get properly hardened and I am certain you will see a difference.

Good Luck,
Gumby_CT
ps. when I 1st started gardening I never would have guessed plants needed to be hardened off.

Hi tennyeddy,

IÂm so sorry to hear about your loss. I know how much time and effort goes into starting your plants from seeds and to lose them all at once is terrible.

This total expiration is a little strange. It could be a soil amendment issue or simply not hardening them off as others have said - I donÂt know.

Since you asked for more ideas, I have one thatÂs not too pleasant. Have you made anybody mad lately? Is anyone jealous of how well your garden grows? Did you see any footprints that werenÂt yours? Do you have some mischievous teens in the neighborhood? The reason I ask is because you can create COMPLETE devastation of anything growing, in just minutes, with a jug of Round-Up with the built-in sprayer.

IÂm sure thatÂs not the case, but I thought I would bring it up in case you hadnÂt considered it.

On a brighter note, being in zone 6-7, youÂve still got plenty of growing season left. And if youÂre nervous about your current spot, donÂt forget about container gardening.

Good luck and have a great growing season!

Have you been rotating your crops? I'm wondering if your bed hasn't developed a creeping crud problem due to planting the same things in it three years running.

I bought a topsoil+compost mix in bulk a few years ago. Nearly eveything I planted in it died. I stopped using it immediately and just let the pile (4 cubic yards) sit. No weeds grew in it. No earthworms or bugs could be found. Then it was in the newspapers that many of the landscaping material companies bought compost from the local county composting facility, and the compost had been contaminated with the herbicide Clopyralid. The first weeds didn't show up for nearly two years. It is now outlawed in WA for use on lawns.

Is this herbicide in use in your county/state? Could the topsoil you bought have been contaminated?

The newspaper said there was a 'test' you could do: Soak some regular pea seeds overnight, then plant them in a pot of the topsoil. If none of them sprout, or if they sprout and then die, there is something seriously wrong.

You might also call your topsoil source and ask if they've had any complaints. (Well, yes, they could lie and say 'no', but they could also surprise you).

Sue

You found a snail with no shell......that's called a slug and they love to eat plants.......get the Sluggo now.

Even when temps were great I've had plants burned by too much light when they weren't hardened off. Learned the hard way to give them at least a week between indoor lights and outdoor sun.

You got slugs, too, but don't we all? They would have chewed holes in leaves, not caused all that wilting. But here's a nice video in case you want to declare war.

Here is a link that might be useful: controlling slugs organically

Try ladybugs for the aphids. Last year my cherry tree was caked with black aphids. All the leaves looked black there were so many. I let loose 1500 ladybugs. Two weeks later, no aphids. At all. Yes, I'm sure plenty of them flew away. But enough stayed to destroy the aphid population.