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Ga.

A question for board..When a plant contracts spot disease,,it eats holes in the leaves.(duh)...My question is this,,after the holes are eat in the leaf,,leaf doesnt die,,so does the green part of the leaf have any effect on the growing pkin? I mean does that part of leaf still alive,is it still doing its job,,just not at 100%?Does it still produce food for the fruit? Hope you understand what I mean,,if not,,let me know and I'll try to explain better...
J
Dominios Sucks!!

6/1/2003 6:01:41 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Jeff,
Any part of a diseased, broken or otherwise not complete leaf *should* still prodcude energy at a reduced rate that would be relative to the amount of tissue loss *IF* only leaf tissue cells are lost & not primary parts of the vascular system. Assuming of course that the disease is in remission (either environmental or chemical). Some monocots (like grasses) lose the entire leaf once infection reaches a certain point. Dicots such as apple trees often do to. But I've seen leaf spot, wind, slug & hail damaged leaves last the entire balance of the season so long as no secondary infection sets in.

Now where I get lost is how far from the fruit are leaves no longer a large contributing factor to the friut? By this I mean, if Jeff has a diseased leaf 3 feet from the stump, & a pumpkin set another 10 feet down the vine, how many feet of the leafed vine is contributing to the fruit? All? Some? How far?

This came up a while back. I think the answer will speak to the debate of multiple fruit on one vine. Where does the energy come from? The leaves & roots are not equally balanced on a vine to begin with. Yet we seek to set friut as far from the stump as possible.

Vine management for me is quite confusing & probably less scientific & more of an art based on gut instinct & experience. But there has to be good scientific reasons for everything.

Jeff I hope I didn't screw up your thread! - Steve

6/1/2003 7:13:35 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

By the way, what is Dominios?

6/1/2003 9:07:52 AM

South Hill, Virginia

The pizza delivery place. I used to manage one in the late eighties....it's what made me decide to go back to college:)

6/1/2003 9:25:48 AM

Ga.

Smart man Brent!!
Steve,,you havent screwed up my thread.I am lost,dazzed,confused at this point.Greedy has stopped growing..No gain in last 2 nights.Chuck and rest of gang feel ole Jeff's sandbagging..haha..I wish I was,,but it started a down hil slide wednesday..only 11 pounds,,then 8 pounds,,then last 2 days none..I'm lost.Upset is more like it..Had a great fruit going,now nothing..No PB,,which was only 18# away..Definetly leaf spot,,fruit is about 15 ft. out on vine..Many leaves infected..More leaves before pkin than after..Had a smaller pkin as a shock on a secondary located before greedy...Its now gone as of today..So now I wait a couple more days and see..If it doesnt grow,,then I guess its good night irene..Lost in south Ga, once again...
J

6/1/2003 10:39:08 AM

churchville, ny

Steve- you seem to be the expert... SO ... most of my pumpkins have turned yellow on edge of leaf first but now most all of leaves and have shriveled up! What do you think?
Booth thought it was lack of potash and iron so I used foliar 20-20-20 and some ironite 4 days ago but they continue to go downhill. It has rained here alot but I have the pumpkins hilled at about 10 inches elevation so I do not think they are to wet. The hill is mainly miracle gro potting soil and peat mix.
Thanks Tom

6/3/2003 7:50:10 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Hey Tom...how long have they been out on the hill...Mine are out about a month and were in cold frames to start with. The roots in miracle grow and peat moss mix are probably similar to mine. in promix/peat/manure...they are well into a 2 and 1/2 foot radius and more then 18 inches deep...if your water level is around there the bottom of the mound could be in standing water causing the problem...I had to trench and drain out the mounds...good luck..chuck

6/3/2003 8:36:50 PM

churchville, ny

Thanks Chuck-they were planted 5/8 and taken out of greenhouse on 5/17 to plant in hill. I doubt it is water since the area is quite well drained with no standing water. I think I will place a gro light over one to see if it is lack of sunshine. I planted 6 more seeds indoors on 6/1-I know it is late but I doubt my present plants will produce "the big one". I am going to plant soom of these where I have not tried to produce "supper soil"-I have been planting many years and never had this problem before. I will check pH since I added small amount
sulfur to reduce pH (was 7.6)and maybe have it low Thanks tom

6/3/2003 11:42:23 PM

churchville, ny

That is "super soil" not supper soil

6/3/2003 11:45:15 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Tom,
Yellow leaf edges usually points to a spray residue issue. This is known as "phyto-toxicity. Some things that can influence the extent & liklihood:
-Temeprature at the time of spray & the hours following application is a factor.
-Atmospheric humidity at the time & following.
-What active ingredient was applied.
-What formulation was sprayed (ie emulsifiable concentrated vs wettable powder or flowable).
-The rate of application.
-Salt index of foliar applied nutrients.
-Soil moisture levels.
-Physiological life stage of the plant at the time of application. Notice we don't just say "age" of plant. This year around here, 4 week old plants are way less "mature" than they were this time last year.
-pH of spray mixture. Water & chemical combined.
-Age & other conditions of spray mixture.

All this considered, we *might* still be looking only at one or more environmental factors such as transplant shock, cool/hot fluctuating weather, extremes of moisture, or nutrient imbalances either caused by application error or environmental conditions.

Too be certain, a rapid soil test & a tissue analysis is the only fail-safe process.

I,m going to lean toward phtyo-toxicity just the same. What was applied, how much, & when?

Steve

6/4/2003 7:54:04 AM