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Upper Strasburg, PA

I’ve been growing for a long time and dealt with a few pest and disease issues, but have never seen anything like this. Our 1501 Wagner plant completely collapsed overnight while all of the rest of our plants are fine. It was actually the best plant in our patch and somehow between Saturday night and Sunday every leaf wilted and the life was sucked out of every vine, with the tips falling limp on the ground. The leaves toward the extremities of the plants were a little bit pale for the previous two days, but there were no other symptoms. The plant had been treated with chlorothalonil, Bt, and triazicide foliar spray just like our other 3 plants. I didn’t see any sign of bored entry or the stem lesions characteristic of plectosporium blight. Does anyone else have any idea what might have happened?

7/3/2018 12:33:11 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

Watched one of my watermelon plants do that.
Went from healthy looking to completely flat in a days time.
When I pulled the plant there was a massive cavity around the stump.
Voles had cut it right in half about 3-4 inches underground.

7/3/2018 6:18:52 AM

New Berlin, PA

oh man, not the 1501! Truly sorry to read this. If you want/need seeds to try it again next year let me know.

7/3/2018 9:15:57 AM

stoughton WI

If and when you pull the plant, diet things, see if there is orange discoloration inside, could be fusarium.if you cut a vine and pull both sides apart slowly and there is a stringy substance there it may be bacterial

7/3/2018 11:55:50 AM

Upper Strasburg, PA

Removing the plant tonight. Will check for Fusarium and vole burrows. I did the sap test for bacterial wilt on Sunday and there wasn’t any hint of it. My mom has had a lot of trouble with voles at her place across town- there’s a good chance that might be the culprit. Thanks for the advice

7/3/2018 1:34:04 PM

Upper Strasburg, PA

Dan,
We definitely want another shot at growing the 1501. We were very impressed by the plant. It was growing better than some other plants with world record caliber genetics. I was really hoping to cross the 2150 Skinner into it and I still have one more 2150 seed left, so maybe it will happen next year. I will send you an email tonight.
Thanks
Thomas

7/3/2018 1:39:20 PM

stoughton WI

truckin how big was the plant, if it was big enough cutting the stump shouldnt have had that kind of effect on it

7/3/2018 8:48:03 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Castor oil pellets will run them off.
Bonide sells it as molemaxx I believe.
Supposed to keep away squirrels,moles,voles,mice.....armadillos!
Has helped me.
Spread enough of it out and it will keep you away too !

7/3/2018 9:54:12 PM

churchville, ny

Hopefully it is not phytophtora which can cause a plant to collapse quickly. It is a soil borne pathogen which is spread quickly by spores in wet conditions. If so, you can not use that area for at least 3 years - hopefully it is not.

7/3/2018 10:45:10 PM

Upper Strasburg, PA

Some of the leaves rebounded, so we decided not to pull it yet. All the vine tips are toast, but maybe a tertiary vine will pop out from somewhere and grow us a jack o lantern. I’m looking into phytophtora testing now. Might use a few flowers from it to do a pollination in the morning

7/4/2018 12:50:11 AM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

I had a couple plants do that last year. Would wilt in the day, perk up by evening. Eventually the fruit aborted and I pulled them. I planted radish/rape fall cover crop, mustard crop this spring, mowed and turned under. The next cool day I will plant another radish/rape cover crop. I'm hoping all those brassica crops will knock out any disease.

7/4/2018 12:36:22 PM

Grittyville, WA

I had one do that last year. I assumed it was rot but excessive heat at the stump also may have been a factor... Dumped diluted daconil all over the stump and it did recover from whatever the ailment was. Voles could want water and chew the vine in search of water... Drench soil with an emulsified castor oil product ... This is the only solution i know of for voles. Look for mole activity too but it does sound like a vole.

7/5/2018 3:21:51 AM

Grittyville, WA

Now that I think about it my plants issue might have been a thirsty vole. Maybe daconil itself tastes bad and might help scare them away it will certainly help the plant heal a damaged area where rot might be starting.

7/5/2018 3:32:22 AM