Oldfellainspain 2024 2nd Grow Log.

[oldfellainspain]

Well, it's been a month since I last posted. Plenty of problems. Rainfall every couple of days. Not really heavy, but enough to keep the soil in the growbags saturated. Between rainfalls, it has been overcast and very humid and as a result the bags have stayed saturated and about a third of the plants got what I think (after much reading) must be black shank. I cut them down pretty quick and cut of the visible blackened stem and about a foot of clean stem with it, and then hung them.
I topped the remaining plants and prayed for a bit of ripening. Within a week, another two plants showed signs of the stems blackening, so I cut down all plants and hung them. None were ripe, but at least the top leaves had grown to a half decent size. I'm checking the hanging plants everyday, and so far, no stems blackening. I'm hoping they'll colour cure okay.

 

[deluxestogie]

Be sure to toss that soil, and sterilize the grow bags.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

Thanks Bob, will do.
Out of curiosity, are there any types of plant that would grow in that infected soil without any problems?

 

[deluxestogie]

I don't know. We really have no specific pathogen identified with the blackening stalks. If we assume that it is the fungus-like, Phytophthora nicotianae, then it can apparently affect a wide variety of plants:

nicotianae | Forest Phytophthoras of the World

forestphytophthoras.org

Phytophthora nicotianae - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I suppose that there are practical ways to sterilize the soil (kill all microbes), but I don't know what those methods might be.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

It sounds as though Phytophthora nicotianae is a pretty nasty pathogen, and difficult to get rid of.
I have thirty, 3 gallon grow bags full of soil which I don't really want to lug down two staircases, get into the car and take to the dump, but I will do this if there is no other option.
I'm hoping I could use a blow torch and sterilize say two grow bags worth at a time, in a shallow metal tray, as and when I need it.
I can sterilize the bags in a bleach solution and rinse well.
Any comments or advice would be very much appreciated

 

[deluxestogie]

Have you been impacted by the recent flooding?

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

Hi Bob, Thanks for your concern.
Valencia city is about 60 miles north of us. The worst flooding was about 50 miles north of us, just outside the city. We had rain here in Javea, but not even heavy enough to call a storm. We were due to go to Zaragoza yesterday, but we would have had to make a four hour detour. A lot of roads are still blocked.
Everyone is a bit shell shocked at the moment, the death toll keeps rising and a lot of people are still missing.
What made this Gota Fria so lethal was the sheer number of people driving home from work. So many people were trapped in cars that got washed away.