Gardening Gurus - HELP!

[nvts]

Hi! Every year I start off the spring growing vegetables & fruits. Over the last 3 seasons, my squash and tomatos end up dying for no apparent reason. These weird white "growths" show up right around this time of year and the produce from the vines look like they're descintegrating from the inside out. I put pictures (see below) on for you to take a look - the bumps seem to clutter close to the stem/stalk where the next stem/stalk/shoot would be growing out from it.

I think the best way to describe it is to say they look like "skin tags".

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Beth

 

[Abbey]

Have no advice...and can't see the photos. I'm amazed that squash would have problems. I have some that are the size of small babies and I don't even water them.

 

[mstang67chic]

I can't see the pictures either but it almost sounds like blight on the tomatoes. Not sure about the squash. You may want to try googling tomato blight and see if that is what your plants have. There should be plenty of sites to tell you how to handle this next year or prevent it.

My tomatoes didn't do much this year either. Mine didn't have the blight but had blossom end rot instead. Sorry you're having such bad luck...I hope you can figure out what it is.

 

[muttmeister]

Tomatoes are suseptible to blight, wilt, and a few other things. THere are resistant varieties. Also, planting them in a different spot each year helps. Not sure about the squash; their most common problem around here is the vine borer but what you're describing doesn't sound like that.
One sure way to get a real answer: take pictures or, even better, a specimen of the plant to your nearest extension office; I'm pretty sure they're all over the US. They will diagnose your problem for free and probably give you all kinds of advice and printed material about what to do.

To find the extension office nearest you, you can try this link:
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/

 

[gcvmom]

How do the roots look? We get root nematodes here and they make the roots form tiny little nodules all over. We've had to let the area lie fallow for a year and then will try again. Another option is to plant in containers if it's a soil pest issue that won't go away.

Muttmeister's suggestion is great -- someone there should be able to tell you what's going on.

 

[timer lady]

Wish I knew ~ I haven't had a veggie garden for 10 years. husband & I planted a salsa garden each year before the tweedles. Right now I'm just into flower gardening.

muttmeisters idea is good & I'd do that. In fact, as I'm planning a veggie garden for next year I'm going to bookmark that link.

Good luck in finding answers.

 

[muttmeister]

Actually, the extension office will help, not only with vegetable gardens, but with flowers and lawns as well.

Here in Nebraska they sponsor "The Backyard Farmer" TV show on PBS: one hour on Thursday nights where you can call in your questions and a half hour on Saturday mornings where you can email your questions, including photos, etc. Needless to say, I'm glued to my TV during those times. THey have lots of info on their web site including clips from the show plus lots of links. I suppose most of the info is for the plains states but anybody who gardens might find some good stuff. The link for them is
http://byf.unl.edu/home

 

[Steely]

I always got that problem with squash when I had a garden in Dallas. It was always at this time of year, and I finally decided that their season just must be up by August/Sept. The leaves and stems would literally dissolve into the ground.

I think the white spots are just fungus that attacks the plants when their season is up, and then they die from it. I just always tried to get the most squash I could, and then I just knew they had lived their life expectancy.

I am not sure if there is anything else you can do except maybe spray it with an anti-fungal spray.