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panhandler · May 24, 2011

I'm dealing with fusarium down here this year, even in containers. Or least I believe it to be fusarium. If it's not then it sure is a nasty foliage wilt problem. I never sprayed a drop of fungicide or pesticide on them. Kind of a crazy thing to do I guess, but I want to be challenged to grow beyond organic as possible.

I've lost 3 of 6 Brandywine Sudduth plants to this wilt. I replaced them with two Gary'o Sena and one Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye. I had to pull up my biggest and best looking plant in the garden. It had 13 developing Brandywine fruits and it went down hill over the course of a few days. It was the most painful gardening experience I've dealt with this year. The fruits on the remaining three BWSS are close enough to ripeness now I'm seeing them through regardless of their pitiful state. Definitely a challenging variety to grow organically in Florida.

About half my Cherokee Purple are looking great and productive and the first wave I set out are taking a beating. But some of the Cherokees are blushing and just about ready to pick soon. They are tough plants. I just hope it doesn't rain hard for a week ironically. They crack so easily and they're looking fine now because of the dryness. They're my "main cropper" this year.

I have two Green Zebras that are my healthiest and most fruitful plants. They have a Al's 5-1-1 mix modified with some Black Hen chicken poo compost, AZOMITE, and Dynamite Mater Magic substituted for the conventional CRF. Awesome plants. Handle disease like a champ so far.

Also got some later planted Djena Lee's Golden Girl, Eva Purple Ball, and Michael Pollan. They're still small and not quite at the flower/fruit phase. Hope they last into summer. Not my highest priority plants though.

May 24, 2011	#22
panhandler Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Northwest Florida Posts: 49	I'm dealing with fusarium down here this year, even in containers. Or least I believe it to be fusarium. If it's not then it sure is a nasty foliage wilt problem. I never sprayed a drop of fungicide or pesticide on them. Kind of a crazy thing to do I guess, but I want to be challenged to grow beyond organic as possible. I've lost 3 of 6 Brandywine Sudduth plants to this wilt. I replaced them with two Gary'o Sena and one Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye. I had to pull up my biggest and best looking plant in the garden. It had 13 developing Brandywine fruits and it went down hill over the course of a few days. It was the most painful gardening experience I've dealt with this year. The fruits on the remaining three BWSS are close enough to ripeness now I'm seeing them through regardless of their pitiful state. Definitely a challenging variety to grow organically in Florida. About half my Cherokee Purple are looking great and productive and the first wave I set out are taking a beating. But some of the Cherokees are blushing and just about ready to pick soon. They are tough plants. I just hope it doesn't rain hard for a week ironically. They crack so easily and they're looking fine now because of the dryness. They're my "main cropper" this year. I have two Green Zebras that are my healthiest and most fruitful plants. They have a Al's 5-1-1 mix modified with some Black Hen chicken poo compost, AZOMITE, and Dynamite Mater Magic substituted for the conventional CRF. Awesome plants. Handle disease like a champ so far. Also got some later planted Djena Lee's Golden Girl, Eva Purple Ball, and Michael Pollan. They're still small and not quite at the flower/fruit phase. Hope they last into summer. Not my highest priority plants though.