Thread: Fusarium Wilt
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Old September 30, 2017   #267
AlittleSalt
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This is the same thing as me sitting down and writing out my thoughts on paper.

Our main garden was 45' x 45'. It will no longer be used as a garden. The reasoning behind this that from 2011-2014 during a drought - it grew and produced very well. Tomatoes, squash, okra, you name it.

Then the 73+" of rain happened in 2015. Our average yearly rainfall is around 33". I feel that the ground staying wet all during the growing season is what kept the vegetables from growing right...or at all.

The 2016 garden suffered from the explosion of RKN reproduction during the previous year of way too much rain. Wet sandy loam = RKN overpopulation. I blamed the crop failure on the RKN while not knowing there was also Fusarium in the soil as well. The garden did produce tomatoes, but nowhere near as many as it should have.

The 2017 garden was the biggest waste of time. Over the past four years - The garden has gone from being something to be proud of - to being a depressing eyesore. For months now, I've seen that garden as nothing but a place to mow with a 45' x 45' fence in the way.

However, a new factor has developed very recently. Our son wants to put a house there one day for his family of 4. That garden once again will have a purpose. It is now a source of newfound hope.

All of the above means I will be gardening in our raised beds instead. That means growing 10 + or - tomato plants instead of 100+... And I'm perfectly happy about that. We didn't need that many tomato plants in the first place.

Grafting is a viable option. Containers with store bought soil/mix is another thought. I could even build the containers with wood that I already have that needs to be used anyway. That would cut the cost in half basically.
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