Strange Happenings

I planted nicotiana (flowering tobacco - very dark purple), spilanthes (peek-a-boo eyeball plant), dianthus and some little unknown violets (kinda like johnny jump-ups) in my front flowerbed. Everything took off like a rocket. Then.........The eyeballs began looking dull and sickly. I mean really dull little brownish eyeballs. Nearly simultaneously, the dianthus just died. I mean turned brown and died. Ffwd one week and the violets are brown and dead. And...the nicotaina is flourishing but now some of the plants are producing pale lavender flowers while other plants are still producing the dark purple...nearly black flowers.

This is just plain bizarre. It's not a water issue. It's not a light issue. I didn't feed them with anything. I tested the soil with one of those home kits and it looked basically like neutral ph, high potash, high potassium, med-low nitrogen. Any theories? It's got to the something in the dirt. It's just crazy. This same bed runs in front of the neighbor's house (it's a patio-home) and her flowers are doing fine. It's like somebody drew a line where my flowers began. Dare I think some kind of sabotage? I just really doubt it. But....there are CATS.

I have tons of potted plants on the porch and they are fine. If someone were trying to poison my plants I would think they would have gone after the potted ones first. It's got to be something wierd in the dirt. Any suggestions?

My first thought was tobacco mosaic virus from the nicotiana, but the symptoms don't sound right. So, I'm gonna bet my money on the cats. Or... how long have you lived there? Can you think of anything that might have been spilled or dumped in that spot within the last couple of years. For instance, salt used to keep walkways from freezing over in winter can accumulate in areas where snow is piled from shoveling, etc. Soap? Gas? Paint thinner? Anything?

If it was something spilled it can take ages to go away. Along time ago my brother poured turpentine (that he had used to clean paint brushes) on part of our lilac hedge and it took YEARS for that bush to recover. I think it might still even be a bit affected. So hopefully it was just the cats :)

Steve

I'm kinda betting on the cats too. She (neighbor) puts boxes of mothballs on her porch to keep them away. I didn't put mothballs out because I was afraid that they may be toxic to the plants somehow. I'm yanking everything up but the mutating tobacco and replanting tomorrow. Do you think mothballs are safe in the garden?

I've seen plants in catalogues before that are supposed to keep cats away with their scent, so you could look into that if you want.

Rue is one that cats dislike.

There are also those little spikey things you can put into the soil so that the cats don't want to step around there. Or motion-detector sprinklers.

Are you pretty sure its a cat?? I have over 6 cats and have a lot of planted annual beds, and a good friend of mine has many annuals in her yard and she has about 15 or more cats and never a problem for either of us. I have never heard about these kinds of problems that you are experiencing due to cats. Thats a lot of cat pee to systematically put down in just the right place to take down all those plants lol.....its not funny....I know you must be frustrated. I would be.

I agree. That would be a lot of systematically applied cat pee. It's just that my other neighbor (& best friend) doesn't neuter her cats and I've caught two of the boys sitting in and spraying my window box type planters that hang on the porch railing. They killed everything in one of the planters so I had to dump it out, wash it and start all over. But a whole garden of cat pee? I agree....that's a lot. I used to care for the animals in a private zoo and we had a number of big cats...Bengal Tigers, Puma & Snow Leopards. They killed the vegetation in their areas monthly. It had to be constantly replaced (except for the Monkey Grass which can't even be killed by tiger pee) . But since I'm sure that I don't have tigers in the garden, I just don't know. It's got to be something chemical though. Too much of something or too little...I don't know.

Did you put down fresh mulch or anything? Maybe it's something like that.....

Nope. Nothing. That's why it's just driving me crazy. I'm going to go get topsoil and put that down...mix it with what's already there. Maybe I can dilute the problem. I went and bought caladiums today so once I revamp the soil, they're the next potential victims. It's a partial sun/shade location. I've got two little eyeball plants left so I may stick them in there somewhere. They're so cute. It just broke my heart to see them all die.

I hope it works out for you and you can get your garden going again!

Steve

please let us know what happens with the new plants.

That is so cool that you helped take care of big cats!! I have always wanted to work in a zoo of some sort-although I would have trouble with caged animals-but I guess with big cats you want them caged!! I always think its sort of depressing when you see the apes all caged up.
So...albsolutely no fertilizer was applied? When was the last time you put in fert? and what kind-was it a slow release? It makes the most sense-any kind of deliberate chemical application (like roundup) to kill your plants would take them all down at the same time, not some now and some later.
If you really want to know-take a plant sample in to your local plant clinic ( include the dirt around the roots) and you can also take a dead viola sample in. Plant clinics are usually at a university.
Another thought is that there is a fungus in the bed-that would take them down in intervals as well. Violas are acid loving plants-they grow best in 5.5 -5.8 soil. Yours is around 7? It wouldn't kill them, but it would make them more susceptable to a fungus. How long were the plants in the soil before they started to die?

Believe it or not, we have no local garden center anymore. After Katrina only Home Depot and Lowes remain here. I would have to go to New Orleans to have the soil tested. I don't generally go over there unless I can't avoid it.

Anyway, there was no application of anything. The plants were in the ground for 4 or 5 weeks and the thought of a fungus is ABSOLUTELY possible. It is so hot and humid here that fungus of all types is abundant. I am only three blocks from Lake Pontchartrain on the north shore and during Katrina I did not have water in the house but I did have water in the yard. So maybe a fungus that the tobacco could resist? These things didn't die slowly. They were dead in a week. From green to dead with nothing in between. And...now I realize...we did have a torrential rain (after about a 6 week bone dry period) and it was within a day or two of the rain that everything began to die. So maybe the rain "woke up" something that was sleeping deep in the soil? I water but this was truly a torrential rain that filled the bed up to the top of the bricks with water. They didn't drown...because the water didn't just sit there but it was a DEEP soaking. Hmmmm. Suggestions?

And, yes it was wonderful working with the animals. I still work in a veterinary clinic. Our two tigers were quite friendly as were a few of the cougars. The snow leopards were truly a thing to be feared. They were so soft though. On occasion they would let their big, fuzzy tails loll through the fencing and you could get a quick touch. Many of the animals were seized as they were being smuggled into the country or taken from deplorable conditions. The tigers (Bengals) though, were college mascots. He had everything. Not just cats. We raised a joey in a pillow case. Just bottle fed him, popped him back into his "pouch" and tied up the top. He was so cute with his long back feet and tall ears.

I'm guessing a plant virus or fungus of some type. I have an area of my garden that I can't grow a number of things in. Annual vinca and snapdragons are 2 that will dry and turn brown almost over night. This area tends to be a little more moist than the rest of my garden. This year I am trying celosia and zinnias to see how they do there.

susan

I'm guessing a plant virus or fungus of some type. I have an area of my garden that I can't grow a number of things in. Annual vinca and snapdragons are 2 that will dry and turn brown almost over night. This area tends to be a little more moist than the rest of my garden. This year I am trying celosia and zinnias to see how they do there. I think my problem may be Phytophthora.

susan

NematanthusNut, read up on these links:

Critter Troubles: http://www.ghorganics.com/page6.html

Plant Diseases & fixes: http://www.ghorganics.com/page15.html

Gardening Tips and Other Goodies: http://www.ghorganics.com/page8.html

& Golden Harvest Organics - Site Map: http://www.ghorganics.com/Site_Map.html

Oh! If someone used vinegar to get rid of weeds - or the cat smell odor - & the misted spray drifted; that could be your problem also. You're supposed to apply vinegar - staight from the bottle - to get rid of weeds by using a paint brush directly on the weeds in your garden. It's also used as an organic spray to get rid of cat odors.

Make sure you don't get - any vinegar near - any of the plants you really want in the garden!

I've used it to get rid of the Japanese Knotweed on my property... it works!

Garlic & pepper spray will work to keep the cats away; it's somewhere in one of the links above.

HTH

~* Robin

What a great site. I've definitely bookmarked it for a favorite. I planted caladiums out there today after removing about half of the existing soil and replacing it with ProMix. I'm going to be watching like a hawk. I am also going to try some of the cat deterrents...like Rue. If it's some bizarre fungus in the soil, I'm not sure how I'll tackle that. I'll keep y'all posted.