HELP!!! Sheard Plants.

[chillardbee]

I was removing some of the smaller leaves off the bottoms of my perique when igave just the slightest tug ad the whole plant came along with the leaf. The plants are about 1 1/2 high and have about 5-6 leaves. I inspected the base of the plant and what should of been solid at the base going to the root trunk, it looked like it was severed and brown. the base is about 1/2" to 3/4 inch round and it looks like something nibbled it, it looks like little tunneles too.

Does anyone have any idea what this is and how I might go about preventing further catastrophy.

I yanked off as many leaves as the plant could handle and replanted them in the hopes new roots will grow but at this point it looks bleak for them. this has happened to 2 plants and although out of 500 plants i have growing right nowit may not seem to be a big deal to lose 2 but it's hard to say how many more might be in this situation since they still look healthy. I mean, there was still a little bit of root connecting it and enough to keep it up right but the slightest tug was all it took to disconnect it from it's roots.

 

[DGBAMA]

Cutworms? Pics of the severed stalk?

 

[Fisherman]

Here are some links and pics:

http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/cutworms.html

This is from old Farmers Almanac:
How to get rid of Cutworms

• In the spring, emerging cutworms will be waiting to feast on your garden. Cut off their food supply by delaying transplanting or planting by a couple weeks if possible.
• Put barriers, such as stiff paper or cardboard collars, around plant stems to help stop cutworms from reaching tender stems, especially right at transplanting.
• Circle stems with diatomaceous earth or crushed eggshells.
• Sprinkle used coffee grounds around your plants.
• Apply an insecticide late in the afternoon for best control.
• Sprinkle used coffee grounds on the infested area.
• Keep up with cultivation. The moths prefer to lay eggs in high grass and weeds. At the end of the season, plow or till the garden and mow surrounding areas to expose cutworms and destroy their winter habitat.

From an organic gardening site :

Life Cycle:

Eggs hatch in early May through early June, and the larva spends three to five weeks chowing down on garden plants in preparation for the pupal stage. They burrow into the soil to pupate, emerging as moths in late August through early September, after which they'll lay eggs on plant stems and soil. The eggs overwinter, and the process starts all over again in spring.
Signs of Cutworm:

Cutworm damage is unmistakable: plants are severed at or near the surface of the soil. They attack early vegetable and flower seedlings and transplants. They do their dirty work at night, and will occasionally eat the entire plant.
Effect on Garden Plants:

Very simply -- they die. Cutworms mow the plants down completely, and you have to replant.
Organic Control for Cutworms:

The best way to protect young plants from cutworms is to place a paper or cardboard collar around your seedlings and transplants. Press the collars down into the soil an inch or so. You can remove these collars later in the season. If you notice cutworm damage, dig around in the soil near the affected plants. Chances are that you will find a few cutworms relaxing before their next round of destruction. Destroy them before they get to any more of your seedlings!
If you've had major problems with cutworms, avoid them by doing most of your planting in mid to late June, after most of them have dug into the soil to pupate.


Use cutworm collars on all vegetable transplants
Cutworms are moth caterpillars that spend the day hidden in the soil, emerging at night to cut succulent young stems to the ground. In just a few nights, they can devastate recently-planted crops, including transplants of tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumbers and squash.
Cutworms can be thwarted with collars of newspaper rolled around the stem before planting. The collars should extend at least an inch above and below the soil line. By the time the newspaper disintegrates, the stem is too tough for cutworms to damage.


Effective cutworm collars can also be made from small yogurt cups with their bottoms cut away.

Then there is also poisens.... Bug-B-Gone works

 

[chillardbee]

After taking these pics I tryed to cut the black stuff off and noticed that it went up the trunk a bit (about 1/2") so I cut that part off at an angle and noticed that there is a black ring around the inside of the plant (between the outer and inner layers).

 

[Fisherman]

hummm.......... bacterial infection or rot?

At worst a combination of an infection from an injury.

 

[chillardbee]

We have had quite a bit of rain with warm and high humidity when it's not raining. wouldn't doubt that it is rot. everything rots out here on the wet coast.

 

[skychaser]

hummm.......... bacterial infection or rot?

At worst a combination of an infection from an injury.

That's what I was thinking too. Looks like it may have been chewed on and then some decay set in. Got pocket gophers there? Rabbits? The plants are to big for cut worms to get them.

 

[Fisherman]

Yeah it says cutworms dont hit as large a diameter stem as yours. How was the root ball? Healthy or small and brown too? Pythium and charcoal rot seem to fit scenario

 

[chillardbee]

No gophers and rabbits aren't brave enough to enter our yard with our bunny eating on the prowl, but we do have moles and I did see mole hills spring up a couple of times, I wish the cat would catch him instead. the mole has just about uprooted a couple of my plants already.

 

[chillardbee]

I was just wondering too...I lost some perique in the main perique bed. they wilted then died and when I pulled those they disconnected from the roots easy too. But when I removed the roots to plant replacements I noticed little red mite like bugs around where the base of the plant would of been. It vexed me.

 

[chillardbee]

...not sure if there is a relation.

 

[chillardbee]

Well, not sure how to proceed. I guess there are several things that baccy can suffer from and I'll learn from this. Being a beekeeper I know the things that can kill bees is a list as long as my arm and we have a saying in this line of work "no treatments this year equals no bees next year" and I guess that can be carried onto the baccy world too. I'll make it through this year but by golly I'll take measures next year to at least prevent some of these calamities.

 

[Ben Brand]

Will
Got a mole problem myself, Didn`t plant yet (Southern Hemisphere) but this morning I saw some mole heaps on my planned tobacco site. Do you have a plan to get rid of these pests. Got 8 cats but must say they are quite useless when it comes to moles. Got a Jack Russel dog and he caught 1 or 2, but don't want to set him lose in my tobacco patch.
Best of luck with your crop.
Ben

 

[workhorse_01]

My parents have those small windmills with the knockers inside of them they drove the moles out of their yard with them. http://www.harborfreight.com/windmill-mole-chaser-47987.html

Will
Got a mole problem myself, Didn`t plant yet (Southern Hemisphere) but this morning I saw some mole heaps on my planned tobacco site. Do you have a plan to get rid of these pests. Got 8 cats but must say they are quite useless when it comes to moles. Got a Jack Russel dog and he caught 1 or 2, but don't want to set him lose in my tobacco patch.
Best of luck with your crop.
Ben

 

[chillardbee]

Yeah, don't know what I'll do for the moles. I think Work horse has the best idea yet. I was thinking about making slightly raised beds next year and keep plants well spaced so my cat can hunt better.

 

[Jack in NB]

Hello Will -

Have you seen any ants around?

Your pix are consistent with damage I attributed to ants a few years back. I lost about a dozen plants, both sides of ant hills that had established under my fabric mulch. I have no idea why ants would attack them - maybe they weakened the root system and something else (earwigs?) munched on the bases of the weak plants.

Used a Sevin (carbaryl) based ant bait to get rid of them, but the damage was done. I've removed any potential ant colonies before planting in subsequent years.

My experience with cutworms has been that your plants are much too large for them to bother.

 

[BigBonner]

Split the stalk and see if a small hollow channel runs up the stalk .
Wire worm ? Cut Worm ?
Root rot ?

 

[chillardbee]

Well, I was just thumbing through my veggie book and looking at pests of garden plants. There are several in the book that i've seen in my garden, to tell you the truth, I'm considering myself lucky that I haven't lost mor then what I have both in the baccy patch and in my veggie garden. a good rotortilling and organic soil treatment this fall and next spring will help big time next year. some of the pests I've seen this year are the cabbage worm, cut worm, root maggot, earwigs, slugs and snails, fire worm, japanese beetle, nematodes?, and some others I haven't yet identified. other than insect pests, I have noticed any fungal, bacterial or viral pests out there but I haven't much experience in that either or know what to look for and for the most part, everthing does look healthy.

 

[workhorse_01]

I read that if you add the shells from shrimp that you've eaten to your plot the bacteria that will come to them thrive on nematodes. most everything else you've seen either BT or Cyonara will take care of for you. as for the cutworms, I added this to the soil http://www.lowes.com/pd_101310-2418...=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=BAYER ADVANCED then cut it in. This year I've seen not one cutworm, but this might also be due to 15' of rain. And yes I know I said feet not inches. I was being sarchastic. LOL

Well, I was just thumbing through my veggie book and looking at pests of garden plants. There are several in the book that i've seen in my garden, to tell you the truth, I'm considering myself lucky that I haven't lost mor then what I have both in the baccy patch and in my veggie garden. a good rotortilling and organic soil treatment this fall and next spring will help big time next year. some of the pests I've seen this year are the cabbage worm, cut worm, root maggot, earwigs, slugs and snails, fire worm, japanese beetle, nematodes?, and some others I haven't yet identified. other than insect pests, I have noticed any fungal, bacterial or viral pests out there but I haven't much experience in that either or know what to look for and for the most part, everthing does look healthy.