Pea plant problems. Say that three times fast!
I received a great question from one of my readers that I wanted to post.
Question from Val:
That is great information. Do you have any suggestions for how to handle pea plants that start to go brown before they produce??
My answer:
Hi Val,
Great question. One of the most common diseases to pea plants is root rot. It is caused by a fungus in the soil and attacks the roots of the plant eventually causing the leaves to turn yellow/brown. Another common problem, more so in the Pacific Northwest/Western Canada area, is wilt disease. This is also caused by a fungus in the soil.
Unfortunately, there probably isn’t too much that you can do to save them at this point. If you would like to know what is causing the problem, you can pull up one or two plants and check the roots carefully. If they are mushy and sick-looking then you know it was root rot. They will be easier to pull out than plants that are healthy or that have wilt disease. Plants with wilt disease will still have healthier-looking roots.
The only way to control either of these disease is to plant your peas on a 5-year rotation. This means that you should not plant peas in any area of the garden where peas have grown before for 5 years. On year six, you can start the rotation over again. The fungus that is in the soil should be gone by then. Also make sure that your soil is well drained and that you plant your seeds early in the spring. It would be helpful to know which disease killed the plants as you may be able to find seeds that are more resistant to that particular disease.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Tagged as:
Diseases,
Gardening,
Peas,
Plant Problems,
Vegetables
I received this comment from Joe recently and because my answer was so long, I thought I would blog about it.
Hello,
I have a quick question you might be able to answer for me. I have slugs eating my ripe berries (strawberries), what can I do about them ??? Thanks in advance…
The following was my answer to Joe:
Hi Joe,
Slugs and tomato hornworms are two of the most annoying pests in the garden. Many nights, I have been out after dark with a flashlight looking for the little suckers. Growing up in Vancouver, our favorite pastime was to grab the salt shaker and go slug hunting . . . . but I digress.
There is a number of things you can do to control the slugs that are getting at your strawberries. Because I like to stay as organic as possible, I will give you the organic options first.
ORGANIC:
Slugs need moisture. They sleep during the day in a moist, dark area and come out at night to munch. If you have mulch in your garden, that can be one of the many places they are hiding out during the day. Also check around the area for any wood, rocks, pots, anywhere moist that they might hide and remove these. If you do not want to or cannot remove them, make sure to check under them every morning for any slugs that are hiding there or any eggs and get rid of them.
Speaking of eggs, you definitely want to go on the hunt and destroy any eggs you may find. They are little egg clusters that look kind of like tapioca.
You can also place a wooden board near your strawberries and check there every morning as well. Kind of like baiting them with a nice place to keep cool during the day!
You can do as I have done and head out after dark with a flashlight and salt shaker in hand 
I have tried the beer method with quite a bit of success. Place a shallow container of beer where they can find it. They love it and will crawl in and drown.
The idea is to get rid of as many slugs as possible along with their moist hiding places which will hopefully deter them.
NON-ORGANIC:
If you are still having a problem a slug bait might be the way to go. Something like Sluggo or any commercial slug bait you can find at your local garden center or Home Depot.
Make sure you follow the instructions keeping in mind any pets or small children that may be around.
I found the site below that gives some more great tips on slug control. My favorite is the last one where you put a bounty on their head and let the kids go at it It also has some tips on creating homemade slug traps to keep the bait contained.
The Garden Helper
Note: Please come back and let me know what you decided to do and how successful it was for you. Enjoy your strawberries!
Postcript: I did some research and stand corrected. Sluggo is sold as an organic slug bait. I found the following online store where you can buy it (if you live in one of the states that they ship it to). Although it is quite expensive, I have seen lots of good feedback on the product. It would depend on how widespread your slug problem is whether the cost would be worth it or not. This company also sells a slug trap with organic bait in it. I have no idea how well it works but might be a cheaper alternative if the beer method doesn’t work for you.
Sluggo
Slug Trap
Another Organic Tip For Controlling Slugs:
There has been research done on using coffee grounds to control slugs. Apparently, the caffeine will kill the slugs. They walk through it, absorbing the caffeine and it kills them. Put a thick layer of used coffee grounds around the base of the plants that are being affected. Coffee grounds are quite high in nitrogen as well, so this will give your plants an extra boost of nitrogen which the plants will love!
Does anybody else have any tips to help Joe control his slug problem?
Tagged as:
Berries,
Fruit,
Gardening,
Organic,
Pests,
Vegetables
