Reporting on the Great Fava Versus Wilt Experiment!
Some of you have been following my fava experiment, that, per John Jeavons, favas counteract the tomato Fusarium and Verticillium Wilts fungi, hoping it would work. Issues for me were lower leaves, humidity, low spots, nearby plant water needs. I religiously watered only nearby plants. But that was still a problem because the neighboring plants needed a LOT of water, and the toms were in low spots. The fava ring, planted around each tomato, grew really well and was so bushy I forgot to reach in and trim the lowest ground-touching leaves off my tomatoes. The favas created a humid environment, blocked air flow. They got the wilt first, kind of like a trap plant. But then it spread to the tomatoes because I had planted them closely, not knowing how far apart I should plant them. Perhaps I should have removed the favas at first signs of the wilt?
I didn’t give up on favas.
- As per the long-term plan, I decided where I would plant some of this summer’s toms, and put in dense fava patches in those places. They are now ready to be used as green manure. Tip! Cut them down just as they begin to flower. When they flower, the energy of the plant no longer goes into making leaves, but production. And the stalks get tougher the longer they grow – harder to chop up.
- At planting time, I will add a good dose of animal manures and compost, and my usuals – a huge handful of bone meal, a handful of non-fat powdered milk, and worm castings, and a new item, a tad of coffee grounds (see below), as well, to the planting holes.
- I’ll plant in wells/basins on slightly raised mounds for drainage, and plant only plants that need less water nearby, ie no basil.
- I’ll top the area with a one inch layer of compost, then cover with a thin layer of straw mulch to prevent the splash factor. When water splashes up from infected soil onto the lower leaves, the plant is infected. I will replenish the straw monthly. Straw has air flow through its tube structure, allowing the soil to be drier even though straw is a mulch.
- I’ll plant my resistant and tolerant varieties far enough apart so their leaves don’t touch, and trim the lowest splash susceptible leaves away, remove infected leaves promptly. I don’t expect to stop the wilt, just slow it down, a LOT.
- Instead of long living indeterminate varieties, I’m going to plant determinate faster producing varieties successively, removing infected plants when they finish producing.
- I’m going to plant later. Rather than put young vulnerable plants in cool fungi laden soil, depending on the weather, I’m going to wait until late May, even June, when the warmer soil is drier. In the past I have had volunteers come up in July and gotten good crops from them late August, September!
Coffee Grounds: Myths, Miracles or Marketing?!
Not all get a jolt – Weed Suppression Not all plants get a jolt from coffee grounds. Seed germination can be inhibited by water leached through coffee grounds. Growth of crops such as Chinese mustard (Brassica juncea), komatsuna (Brassica campestris) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) were all inhibited by coffee grounds, as was that of ornamentals including inch plant (Tradescantia albiflora), geranium, and asparagus fern. One investigator speculated that toxic substances released from decomposing coffee grounds were responsible for their inhibitory effect. This effect also reduces weeds, and perhaps in a landscape dominated by large shrubs and trees, only germinating seeds and seedlings would be injured. But as there has been no experimental research on coffee grounds and woody plants, this is only speculation, says the author.
Moral of the story is go lightly, only 0.5 % in your compost – that’s a 1/2 of a %! That’s very little! Just as our soil only needs 5% humus, over composting is not helpful, so is too much coffee grounds. When I first started gardening, I laid some grounds down as mulch. Bad beginners move. The plants there died, and that area grew plants poorly for the following two seasons.
hi cerena! thanks for giving us veggie gardeners your expertise! i was wondering if it’s true that you are suppose to remove those first yellow flowers from your tomato plants to encourage their growth and abundance… it that true?
LikeLike
[…] Some beans are up now if you hit the window right, plant some more if you love beans and don’t mind all that harvesting. Limas too. Plant corn in blocks. Wilt resistant cucumbers with dill, and with radishes to repel the cucumber beetles. Snuggle peppers and eggplant, with radishes as trap plants for flea beetles that attack the eggplant. Okra likes heat. Probably going to be better to wait until June unless you are in the hot foothills? Summer squashes, that includes zucchini and all their friends, pumpkins and melon vines. Winter squash for sure – don’t wait any longer since it needs time to harden as well as grow. Summer lettuce varieties with New Zealand spinach, SloBolt cilantro, arugula. Tomatoes, wilt resistant/tolerant varieties with flavorful basils. Put in Heirlooms only if your soil has no wilts fungi. Tomato planting tips! […]
LikeLike
[…] Some beans are up now if you hit the window right, plant some more if you love beans and don’t mind all that harvesting. Limas too. Plant corn in blocks. Wilt resistant cucumbers with dill, and with radishes to repel the cucumber beetles. Snuggle peppers and eggplant, with radishes as trap plants for flea beetles that attack the eggplant. Okra likes heat. Probably going to be better to wait until June unless you are in the hot foothills? Summer squashes, that includes zucchini and all their friends, pumpkins and melon vines. Winter squash for sure – don’t wait any longer since it needs time to harden as well as grow. Summer lettuce varieties with New Zealand spinach, SloBolt cilantro, arugula. Tomatoes, wilt resistant/tolerant varieties with flavorful basils. Put in Heirlooms only if your soil has no wilts fungi. Tomato planting tips! […]
LikeLike
[…] Some beans are up now if you hit the window right, plant some more if you love beans and don’t mind all that harvesting. Limas too. Plant corn in blocks. Wilt resistant cucumbers with dill, and with radishes to repel the cucumber beetles. Snuggle peppers and eggplant, with radishes as trap plants for flea beetles that attack the eggplant. Okra likes heat. Probably going to be better to wait until June unless you are in the hot foothills? Summer squashes, that includes zucchini and all their friends, pumpkins and melon vines. Winter squash for sure – don’t wait any longer since it needs time to harden as well as grow. Summer lettuce varieties with New Zealand spinach, SloBolt cilantro, arugula. Tomatoes, wilt resistant/tolerant varieties with flavorful basils. Put in Heirlooms only if your soil has no wilts fungi. Tomato planting tips! […]
LikeLike