Basil Spots

With my mindset lately, when I saw the subject line on Chris's (a loyal listener of In Your Backyard heard on My790am.com) email, I thought to myself, "Oh no, Chris has melanoma..."  Thankfully, Chris does not but his basil isn't feeling well lately.

Here's his question: 

I planed sweet basil (from __________ )  about 3 weeks ago.  Looks like I am doing good, but I noticed some brown spots.  The soil was amended some with compost and ______________ soil for vegetables and flowers. The plant did stress/droop within the first week of initial planting, bounced back up after watering but is doing good now.  Watering is done by hand now at the base of the plant.
 Are the brown spots normal?  Due to fungus? Nutrition deficiency?
 
Thanks, Chris

Chris, good question and the photograph helps answer the question.  Your basil definitely is suffering from Colletotrichum disease.  The disease is identified by the black spots, black haloed rings, and black stems. It occurs when there is a combination of high humidity, lack of air circulation, and the plants are watered often. You will want to get rid of the basil plants that are affected and plant another herb or plant in that location.

When you use plant with soil amendments, especially ones that hold water well, gardeners can overwater plants.  Always check the soil before watering to ensure that you really do need to water.  Never water the soil if the ground is wet, cool, or damp.  Twice a week watering should be enough for amended garden beds in full sun.   Space plants far enough apart that they have plenty of air circulation. 

Thanks for writing Chris!
Teresa

 

In Your Backyard: Humidity Wins When You're Outside

You know summer is here when you open your front door and it feels like a laundryroom with the dryer going full blast. The heat and humidity is hard to overcome in our tropical climate. At least we have cross breezes from the ocean which bring us afternoon showers. I'll take them if we can get them but dont count on the weatherman's rain chance percentages.

What we could be seeing in the landscape are damages from fertilizing and using herbicides during the wrong time of year. When plants are dehydrated and heat-stressed, they are not able to absorb the chemicals adequately and can die.

Reading the manufacturers' instruction label is critical for all chemical applications. The label will tell you explicitly "Do not apply this product to turf under stress from drought, insects, disease, cold temperatures, high temperatures of above 85 degrees."

Don't have the label? Here's a great site to look up MSDS sheets: CDMS Agro-Chemical database.

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Father's Day coming up - let him take a break from yardwork. Tell him that for the next two months he doesn't need to fertilize or spray pesticides and you'll mow the lawn for him! Keep the grass cut high at 3-4 inches. Another great Father's Day gift is to have the lawn mower blades sharpened. He'll be able to get through that thick St. Augustinegrass. Sharp lawn mower blades keep the grass blades cut evenly, which means less susceptibility to pest problems!

If you have missed any of the last month's "In Your Backyard," you can find them at http://www.wlbe.org/ and click on the Past Shows.

Listen and call in with your gardening questions today at 11:06 am! Tell me what's going on in your backyard!