I moved to my current place nearly two years ago. I promptly planted beans, tomatoes, peas, and a few other things. They lived for a while, then began to shrivel and dry up.
I called the local extension office. They sent a man out and he thought it might be weed killer that had soaked into the ground. He stressed that this was a guess, and that testing the soil would be very expensive.
In January, I began a landscaping and gardening class offered by the extension office, through the local college. At one point, they talked about a very common problem: Mustard weed (which I have all over my place, but it was gone when the man from the extension office came over to my place to look at my ground).
This is the cycle: Mustard weed sprouts up, a certain type of bug is attracted to it. When the mustard finishes its life-cycle and dies, the bug then goes to garden plants. Unfortunately, the bug carries a certain incurable disease which the plants get. It causes them to shrivel and die. It fits the m.o. (I can't remember the name of the bug or disease, but I could search for it in my notes if anyone wants to know about it.)
Has anyone had experience with this? Is it really incurable?
My miniature rose survived the bug/disease onslaught (but this year some small animal dug it up and decimated it - Darn cats weren't on the job that night! Or else they caught it after it fatally damaged the rose), thus I think some plants (besides other weeds) are immune to the disease.
I called the local extension office. They sent a man out and he thought it might be weed killer that had soaked into the ground. He stressed that this was a guess, and that testing the soil would be very expensive.
In January, I began a landscaping and gardening class offered by the extension office, through the local college. At one point, they talked about a very common problem: Mustard weed (which I have all over my place, but it was gone when the man from the extension office came over to my place to look at my ground).
This is the cycle: Mustard weed sprouts up, a certain type of bug is attracted to it. When the mustard finishes its life-cycle and dies, the bug then goes to garden plants. Unfortunately, the bug carries a certain incurable disease which the plants get. It causes them to shrivel and die. It fits the m.o. (I can't remember the name of the bug or disease, but I could search for it in my notes if anyone wants to know about it.)
Has anyone had experience with this? Is it really incurable?
My miniature rose survived the bug/disease onslaught (but this year some small animal dug it up and decimated it - Darn cats weren't on the job that night! Or else they caught it after it fatally damaged the rose), thus I think some plants (besides other weeds) are immune to the disease.
