i read a post of your and saw you live in missoula, so do i and i am having a huge fungus problem in my garden, someone suggested it may be the compost i used in my bed which is ecko compost i purchased at caras/ ibey. Do you think this could be the culprit? I am also a new garderner so any tips on growing in missoula would be greatly appreciated. Hope this find you nick
Sorry to hear about your fungus problem. Is this the first year you have had trouble? Is this the first year you have used Eko? Since we have had such unusually cool and extremely wet weather, there are all sorts of funky and weird things happening to plants around here. Part of the blessing of living in climate with hot, arid summers is that we have fewer pests and diseases. However, when the weather pattern changes, it seems our poor plants don't know what to do with what is thrown at them.
Two years ago I grew a bumper crop of spinach - two harvests with beautiful plants and no trouble on any front. Last summer we had a cool and rainy June and my spinach got a downy mildew and I had to pull it out before it infected anything else in the garden. I am not even growing spinach this year and am glad that I chose not to considering the weather.
As for Eko Compost, I am not a fan. I ran out of my own last spring and always put a layer down before planting. I went to Eko with the pickup and purchased a load. Right away I was suspicious since it smelled strange. The only way I could describe it is "fermenting plastic". It is also spread where they are doing re-veg under the Orange St. bridge by the bike path tunnel and it smells the same - therefore I know it wasn't just the scoop I got. I don't know if it is the chemicals they use to treat the sewage waste, or traces of all the junk people use to unclog drains, industrial cleaning agents, or whatever. I don't like it, I don't trust it - AND I think it is too expensive. I will keep my desperation in check next time and work harder to find an alternative.
As for whether or not it is causing your fungal problem...it could be if the compost appears unfinished. That was the other thing with the load I purchased - there were still chunks of bark and sticks in it. My forester friend uses a lot of Eko's soil mix for his tree nursery and also thought what I purchased was unfinished. He is also a soil scientist and expert on composting. Point being, if the compost is unfinished, there could have been a fungus that hitched a ride into your garden. Who knows. Maybe a combination of Eko and the weather. Hard to tell.
Feel free to email me. I would love to hear more about your gardening endeavors: bdjankovich@msn.com. Also, where do you live in town? I am on the Westside. Hope to hear from you soon.
thanks for getting back to me. this is my very first attempt at gardening. I grew all my plants from seed and it is very frustrating at this point because nearly my entire garden is infected. I live close to the hastings on brooks. My eko did have chunks and roots in it. I am hoping it dries out soon. So i have seeds still and a few leftover plants still in my house. What would you suggest to do I have been using baking soda and I am gonna purchase bordeaux as recommended to me. i will be gone for 3 days this weekend. If conditions have not improved do you have any suggestions for me? should i start over...gulp, try to salvage what i can and plant new plants also? buy some plants to plant? I am ver overwhelmed as i thought things were going well and now everything has black spots and dying leaves thanks agian
