Worst gardening year ever

[GFTL]

I don't know what happened. I backed off on experimenting this year and focused on basic garden production. Garden started off looking great with healthy plants across the board. Made it through the heat then the rain. Started producing and then everything started wilting; tomatoes, cucumbers, squash. Tomatoes produced quite a few fruit then the leaves all shriveled up. Squash started producing the the same. Cucumbers were beautiful. I was actually expecting too many but then the plants died. I have 2 separate gardens on opposite sides of the yard using different growing methods. Same results. I'm puzzled.

 

[Gemma]

I'm so sorry for you!
I'm in MI too and my garden is still going strong.
I don't know what could have caused that, if it's not a fungus infection due to humidity and poor air quality, maybe what was in the air got into the soil

 

[Meadowlark]

The first thing that I always suspect in cases like that is herbicide drift. May or may not apply in this instance.

Herbicide drift is far more common and ubiquitous than people realize. Doesn't have to be your herbicide either. A neighbor can easily do it.

I once asked AI how much damage was there from herbicide drift and not surprisingly no statistics available...but they offered this response:

The best available evidence shows:

• Herbicide drift is common.
• It regularly reaches homes and gardens.
• It causes documented plant injury.
• But no published national estimate exists for the total annual dollar damage—including homeowner gardens.