I seem to have problems. 1. Pepper plants:they have little brownish/black spots on leaves, and small green bugs (aphids?--I sprayed them off with a small stream of water). The dark spots are appearing on the new inner-growth leaves as well as the older leaves. The lower outer leaves are yellow and sickly looking. One plant out of four is, in particular, affected. Seems to be affecting some of my lettuce plants too. 2. Parsley is not flourishing. Outer leaves collapse and are yellow with sparse growth. Seem to have tannish/silvery spots on leaves.

Any organic suggestions please? If I can't solve this before garden 2000, I might go down the y2k tube. julie

-- julie (ejj@peconic.net), June 08, 1999

Answers

Try spraying vinegar on them. Vinegar works great for Athletes Foot. It may do the job in your garden!

-- freddie (freddy@thefreeloader.com), June 08, 1999.

You could also try a weak spray of water and Safer soap, a soap that is harmless to plants and the environment but seems to keep those pesky whiteflies and munching critters at bay.

-- (greenthumb@garden.org), June 08, 1999.

Hi Julie,

Try this site:

http://www.gardenweb.com

It's not specifically organic but you should be able to find out the cause of your preoblems here, then you can decide which organic solution(s) will be most effective.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 08, 1999.

You seem to be having more than one problem, The small green bugs are probably aphids and the brownish black spots may also be from the aphids [aphids leave excrement on plants; excrement may ferment into dark spots]. Organic responses include the stream of water, ladybugs, or, if all else fails, growing a less susceptible crop. Garlic and onions are almost impervious to pests. As to the yellowing, one possibly is an iron deficiency. An iron deficiency will cause yellowing, especially on the small new leaves. In central TX I know some gardeners will use SulPoMag (sulfur, potassium, magnesium)to counter yellowing. Your best option is to contact an Ag university regarding soil testing.

-- Rick (rick7@postmark.net), June 08, 1999.

Thanks, folks. I'll try each remedy, on different plants, to see which works best.

Old Git: Yes, I found the garden site from the Food thread on this forum. But they seem to be having problems with their forum webpage this morning. I couldn't access them. Or maybe it's problems at my end. I'll keep trying. Thanks. Julie

-- julie (ejj@peconic.net), June 08, 1999.

Hi, Rick. Thanks for responding--that's good to know that the aphids could be the cause of the spotting, because when I called my ag guy, he didn't seem to have any idea as to what the spots be.

Today I'm sending a soil sample for testing to see if more soil amendments are in order. Thanks again. Julie

-- Julie (ejj@peconic.net), June 08, 1999.

sounds like a soil problem- nutrient deficiency of some sort. check pH too. Add compost- lots of it. Get ahold of neptune Harvest Fish/Seaweed stuff-mmix up and spray on the foliage thoroughly- later in the day or in cloudy weather. Insects tend to be oportunistic- will go for weakened or new transplants. Don't wait for soil test results- will only give basic NPK generally- if haven't limed- do so. And add COMPOST!!!

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), June 08, 1999.

Julie, it sounds like your plants may be showing signs of deficiency in the soil. That may be helped by adding organic matter, such as compost, grass clippings, aged manure (or even fresh if it's rabbit), fish emulsion (I get mine from the small aquarium in my house), etc. A really good website with lots of tips on insects, diseases, pests, etc. is at the following:

Golden Harvest Organics

-- Denise (living5@midwest.net), June 08, 1999.

Denise, thanks so much for the link to Golden Harvest. I didn't know about the site and I immediately sent a personalized letter to Dan Glickman and the others.

We need to have more information on this forum like this, so that we can send emails en masse to those idiots in Washington who want to ruin our food supply. Monsanto is the worst of all in a lineup of really bad corporations.

Also, I'm glad to find the site for the good organic tips, and I'm glad to hear there are others as organic as I am. I'm to the point of hardly throwing away anything that can be used in the compost pile. Here where I live in Missouri, we have an abundant crop of rocks, so organic gardening is a must. Thanks again.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 08, 1999.