Late blight hits...in a personal way

Late blight of tomatoes has hit home. Literally. A half-acre of my husband's tomatoes that were intended for fall sales has succumbed to this aggressive disease. The weather has not been helpful at all in reigning this monster in, either. Fog, rain (or even just a spritz of rain) and cooler weather have all contributed.

Here are some pictures -- and it ain't pretty.






Late blight is in Pulaski Co. FYI.

Cukes -- DONE

Last week, I had observed that my 'Diva' cucumbers were starting to get diseased. Specifically, I thought it was downy mildew that had come to visit. I was out-of-town on Friday and not at the office, obviously, over the weekend. Upon my return today - KABLAMO -- cukes were finished.


Although I didn't weigh them all, these 4 little plants put out a nice harvest of cucumbers this year. And we've had horrendously bad disease pressure this year, so I feel like I got all I could out of them.

Get to Know the Emerald Ash Borer

Emerald ash borer is a nasty, nasty bug. It hasn't been confirmed in Pulaski County but you can bet, we'll be one of the first 10 to 20% of counties in KY to get this insect. It's moving rapidly due to renegade campers moving infested ash firewood to their camping locations. And folks, we have many, many tourists from Ohio -- Ohio has had this pest for a good year or better.

A program dedicated to the emerald ash borer will be held on September 24 at 6pm at the Pulaski Co Extension Service office. Jody Thompson from the KY Division of Forestry will be here to lead the discussion.

There may be some little knick-knacks to giveaway as well. So... come! And bring your questions.

Dominant Weeds in 2009

Everybody knows weeds since we all curse/hate/want to mangle them. But have you noticed some that have done exceptionally well this year? Here at the Extension office, I have noticed 2 that have really gotten my attention.

Virginia Copperleaf

My Weeds of the Northeast book lists this weed as a summer annual, reproducing via seed each spring. It says it can tolerate all moisture conditions. But as anyone living here knows, it's been a rainy year. This weed has always been at the office, but it's population has seemed to skyrocket and the dang things are BIG.

Virginia Buttonweed -- I see a pattern here....

The book says this is a perennial with thick stems growing prostrate. It can root at the nodes (like large crabgrass or bermudagrass). And get this -- this thing is supposed to produce flowers UNDERground!!! My reference says 'little is known about the belowground flowers'. And it seems this one does prefer moist areas. I don't remember seeing any of this last year, but it's come and decided it likes it here.

Weeds are definitely over-the-top this year.

Random Thoughts for a Monday

• We finally started summer this weekend! Highs in the 90s! YAY! I don't think we broke 90 degrees the whole month of July.
  
• I'm taking Master Gardener applications until Friday, August 14. The program will begin September 10, meets every Thursday from 9 til noon.
• Can you believe it's August already -- and the kids are already in school.
• Think about ordering garlic bulbs for planting in October.
• Our dog likes sweetcorn -- she steals an ear, shucks it, and eats it. I've got to get that on tape.
• If more people saw and smelled rotten tomatoes, fewer people would like them (I worked all weekend in tomatoes)
  

We Know Early Blight, but Late Blight??

Yes, late blight, the potato famine, a disease we rarely EVER see in Kentucky is here. And with a vengeance, especially in Eastern KY. This disease attacks both potatoes and tomatoes and has been diagnosed on tomatoes in Kentucky in the following counties: Laurel, Larue, Jackson, Breathitt, Johnson, Montgomery, and Wolfe.

Late blight is a fast-moving disease that has very much enjoyed the cool, damp, cloudy weather that we've had pretty much all this summer.

We are highly encouraging gardeners to scout their tomatoes (and potatoes) for this disease. Fungicides are recommended -- something like chlorothalonil (Daconil, Fungonil) or mancozeb/maneb.

For those of you doing things organically, use fixed copper or Oxidate. Under high disease pressure, even these will not work.

Let me know if you see anything suspicious in your gardens!

Summer Harvest

I've been patiently waiting on my 'Purple Haze' (All-America selection) carrots to make a root. Here's what I got:

One turned out orange. I'm unaware of the stability of the purple color. Or maybe a stray seed just got packaged up in error. Look at the interior of this carrot! Great stuff! I took a bite before realizing I wanted to take a picture....

And here is one of my 'Diva' cucumbers, also an All-America selection. Not a spine on it, smooth as a baby's butt.