….and what can I do about it?

http://imgur.com/a/lcXG4

hi and welcome. I had a quick look at your pictures and I am not sure. It would help if we knew whereabouts you are and what the growing medium is, your watering and feeding regime and if you have been under the extreme heat that many of us are experiencing.

From what I can see it is mainly chard that has been affected, but also basil?

I have a feeling they are not being eaten by anything. More likely to be too hot and dry that’s caused the discolouration. What sort of weather have you been suffering lately.

bluegreen said:

hi and welcome. I had a quick look at your pictures and I am not sure. It would help if we knew whereabouts you are and what the growing medium is, your watering and feeding regime and if you have been under the extreme heat that many of us are experiencing.

From what I can see it is mainly chard that has been affected, but also basil?

I think they look like beetroot leaves BG. I agree about the possible weather conditions being the problem though.

pomolo said:

bluegreen said:

hi and welcome. I had a quick look at your pictures and I am not sure. It would help if we knew whereabouts you are and what the growing medium is, your watering and feeding regime and if you have been under the extreme heat that many of us are experiencing.

From what I can see it is mainly chard that has been affected, but also basil?

I think they look like beetroot leaves BG. I agree about the possible weather conditions being the problem though.

they are related, but I was going by the Rainbow Chard label in one of the pictures. Scorching is a possibility, but I’m thinking a sucking insect could be the problem too.

bluegreen said:

hi and welcome. I had a quick look at your pictures and I am not sure. It would help if we knew whereabouts you are and what the growing medium is, your watering and feeding regime and if you have been under the extreme heat that many of us are experiencing.

From what I can see it is mainly chard that has been affected, but also basil?

Thanks for the replies all :)

Location is Adelaide plains, they’re in fairly basic potting mix with a little bit of blood ‘n’ bone mixed in. Watering when the reservoir at the bottom of the pot feels dry :) There was a couple of pretty hot days, but the last few have been low 30s or less.

The basil has been looking pretty strong , just a couple of leaves affected. There’s several different colours of chard, and the red stemmed one seems worst off. In the third photo down it looks like tracks which is why I was thinking some sort of tunnelling or sapsucking bug.

Angus Prune said:

bluegreen said:

hi and welcome. I had a quick look at your pictures and I am not sure. It would help if we knew whereabouts you are and what the growing medium is, your watering and feeding regime and if you have been under the extreme heat that many of us are experiencing.

From what I can see it is mainly chard that has been affected, but also basil?

Thanks for the replies all :)

Location is Adelaide plains, they’re in fairly basic potting mix with a little bit of blood ‘n’ bone mixed in. Watering when the reservoir at the bottom of the pot feels dry :) There was a couple of pretty hot days, but the last few have been low 30s or less.

The basil has been looking pretty strong , just a couple of leaves affected. There’s several different colours of chard, and the red stemmed one seems worst off. In the third photo down it looks like tracks which is why I was thinking some sort of tunnelling or sapsucking bug.

When you say reservoir, does that mean that your plants are in pots and they are standing in water continually? If so then that could be your problem. Sorry about thinking it was beetroot. I didn’t even look at the name tags.

pomolo said:

Angus Prune said:

bluegreen said:

hi and welcome. I had a quick look at your pictures and I am not sure. It would help if we knew whereabouts you are and what the growing medium is, your watering and feeding regime and if you have been under the extreme heat that many of us are experiencing.

From what I can see it is mainly chard that has been affected, but also basil?

Thanks for the replies all :)

Location is Adelaide plains, they’re in fairly basic potting mix with a little bit of blood ‘n’ bone mixed in. Watering when the reservoir at the bottom of the pot feels dry :) There was a couple of pretty hot days, but the last few have been low 30s or less.

The basil has been looking pretty strong , just a couple of leaves affected. There’s several different colours of chard, and the red stemmed one seems worst off. In the third photo down it looks like tracks which is why I was thinking some sort of tunnelling or sapsucking bug.

When you say reservoir, does that mean that your plants are in pots and they are standing in water continually? If so then that could be your problem. Sorry about thinking it was beetroot. I didn’t even look at the name tags.

Angus, may I ask why you are using potting mix and pots?
OK that may seem a silly question, I know that many people have no garden and only the balcony of a block of flats to stick some pots on. Is that your situation?
Many years ago I decided that there isn’t a decent potting mix available and usually mixed materials of my choosing with potting mix if I used it at all.
Whilst basil may be able to grow in such situations as it is a relatively shallow rooted annual, chard on the other hand is a plant capable of outstripping the resources of the pot even with only one plant in each 30 cm pot. The roots of chard are quite strong and the plants need quite a lot of room for a deep root run.
Whist basil generally isn’t eaten by many things, it generally requires a lot of free water to survive our sub-Mediterranean sun. Chard on the other hand doesn’t mind going longer between waterings once the roots can get down.

Can you get your hands on some real dirt, ie: sandy loam? If so, mix about one third loam with the potting mix.
Do you have more pots and mix so you can spread your chard out?

If you have the capacity to transplant the chard into other pots then do so and while doing it completely use new mix and examine the old mix for anything living in it.
I’d also spread the basil a little further apart.

How do you water? Do you water from the top and how long does the water take to fill the reservoir?

Why not take a torch at night and examine what wildlife also lives in or under the pots?

Anyway, both chard and basil can handle heavy pruning. Cut off the old or damaged leaves.

what roughbarked said :)

Are you using “self watering” pots? They are only really suitable for some plants. A lot of plants don’t like standing in saucers of water and the roots can rot as a result. It is better to give a good soak in a bucket and then let the pot completely drain.

I would also say that potting mixes are usually crap. If pots is the only way you need to spend the extra to get a premium mix (ticks on a red background) and supplement feed after a month or so as the nutrients don’t last long. I would liquid feed with something like Charlie Carp and provide trace elements which would be lacking in potting mix with something like Seasol once a week. And yes, one plant per generous sized pot for the chard. Do your weekly soak with the liquid fertiliser solution with a top up watering between.

Have you noticed any tiny flying insects around the plants? Thrips are sap sucking insects which could cause that dying off and distortion of the leaves. they often breed in potting mix and that continuous damp from standing in saucers of water I think would encourage them.

A skeletoniser? They just munch the juicy bits and leave the skeleton of the leaf behind…bit hard to tell…the first photo looks like the plant has been stung by something…now to go back and see what the others have said… :P

(Hello Angus)

Can’t beat the old sandy loam…especially in potting mixes…I have been known to go and “help myself” to a bucket full or two for the potting mixes…

Could I ask why you’re growing what you’re growing? Basil I can understand as it’s basically a kitchen esensual, but chard I don’t know much about…

Dinetta said:

Can’t beat the old sandy loam…especially in potting mixes…I have been known to go and “help myself” to a bucket full or two for the potting mixes…

Could I ask why you’re growing what you’re growing? Basil I can understand as it’s basically a kitchen esensual, but chard I don’t know much about…

Chard is the same as silverbeet only it has green or yellow or red stems. Silverbeet is simply a white stemmed chard.

bluegreen said:

Yes, one plant per generous sized pot for the chard. Do your weekly soak with the liquid fertiliser solution with a top up watering between.

Have you noticed any tiny flying insects around the plants? Thrips are sap sucking insects which could cause that dying off and distortion of the leaves. they often breed in potting mix and that continuous damp from standing in saucers of water I think would encourage them.

I have chard plants with stems that are as thick as my leg. These are perennial and will withstand any amount of hard pruning as long as the soil is not too wet nor too dry. They prefer their water from deeper down and as such are unsuitable for pots, for very long.

I wasn’t thinking of flying insects.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Can’t beat the old sandy loam…especially in potting mixes…I have been known to go and “help myself” to a bucket full or two for the potting mixes…

Could I ask why you’re growing what you’re growing? Basil I can understand as it’s basically a kitchen esensual, but chard I don’t know much about…

Chard is the same as silverbeet only it has green or yellow or red stems. Silverbeet is simply a white stemmed chard.

So what is Swiss chard then? I’ve seen pictures of a really crinkley green leaf veg called Chard too. It looks kind of cabbagey to me.

pomolo said:

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Can’t beat the old sandy loam…especially in potting mixes…I have been known to go and “help myself” to a bucket full or two for the potting mixes…

Could I ask why you’re growing what you’re growing? Basil I can understand as it’s basically a kitchen esensual, but chard I don’t know much about…

Chard is the same as silverbeet only it has green or yellow or red stems. Silverbeet is simply a white stemmed chard.

So what is Swiss chard then? I’ve seen pictures of a really crinkley green leaf veg called Chard too. It looks kind of cabbagey to me.

all related. Some chards are crinkly and some smoother, different coloured stems and variations in leaf colour too. Just like there are lots of types of tomatoes, there are lots of chards as well, but maybe not as many as tomatoes.

pomolo said:

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Can’t beat the old sandy loam…especially in potting mixes…I have been known to go and “help myself” to a bucket full or two for the potting mixes…

Could I ask why you’re growing what you’re growing? Basil I can understand as it’s basically a kitchen esensual, but chard I don’t know much about…

Chard is the same as silverbeet only it has green or yellow or red stems. Silverbeet is simply a white stemmed chard.

So what is Swiss chard then? I’ve seen pictures of a really crinkley green leaf veg called Chard too. It looks kind of cabbagey to me.

Swiss chard is chard. nothing simpler.

Dinetta said:

Can’t beat the old sandy loam…especially in potting mixes…I have been known to go and “help myself” to a bucket full or two for the potting mixes…

Myself… I choose whatever I feel the plant needs. Sandy loam is one.. but just one ingredient that doesn’t always make it into the mix. (too many: I me myselfs) Mixes are personal choices. One cannot buy the perfect mix in a bag. Sure, some of the ingredients are always useful in whatever mix one decides to make .. on the day.

I suspect water droplets under extreme UV situations..

bluegreen said:

pomolo said:

roughbarked said:

Chard is the same as silverbeet only it has green or yellow or red stems. Silverbeet is simply a white stemmed chard.

So what is Swiss chard then? I’ve seen pictures of a really crinkley green leaf veg called Chard too. It looks kind of cabbagey to me.

all related. Some chards are crinkly and some smoother, different coloured stems and variations in leaf colour too. Just like there are lots of types of tomatoes, there are lots of chards as well, but maybe not as many as tomatoes.

Thanks BG.

roughbarked said:

pomolo said:

roughbarked said:

Chard is the same as silverbeet only it has green or yellow or red stems. Silverbeet is simply a white stemmed chard.

So what is Swiss chard then? I’ve seen pictures of a really crinkley green leaf veg called Chard too. It looks kind of cabbagey to me.

Swiss chard is chard. nothing simpler.

To you , maybe.

roughbarked said:

I suspect water droplets under extreme UV situations..

I’d go with that.

roughbarked said:

Angus, may I ask why you are using potting mix and pots?
OK that may seem a silly question, I know that many people have no garden and only the balcony of a block of flats to stick some pots on. Is that your situation?

Rental house. The backyard is actually pretty big (the old style houses in old italian suburbs that would have originally had a small market garden behind the house), but if I did put anything in the ground the landlord would run over it with the lawnmower.

I was trying to grow chard in order to eat it, and because it was supposed to be easy to grow. Bah, cheaper to buy it, I’ll find something else to stick in its place…

Gees if I had a tenant trying to start a vegetable garden, I’d be cultivating them (the tenants) in the hope of being the grateful recipient of excess produce…

Sounds a lovely house tho’, what is the soil like?

Dinetta said:

Gees if I had a tenant trying to start a vegetable garden, I’d be cultivating them (the tenants) in the hope of being the grateful recipient of excess produce…

Sounds a lovely house tho’, what is the soil like?

The Landlords are cheapskates.

No idea what the soil’s like, it’s mostly parched grass. There’s an old lemon tree in the back corner, and some overhanging olives, figs, and limes from the neighbours.

Angus Prune said:

I was trying to grow chard in order to eat it, and because it was supposed to be easy to grow. Bah, cheaper to buy it, I’ll find something else to stick in its place…

Chard is pretty easy to grow, if given the right conditions. Often the problem with people starting out is that they don’t know much about what conditions different types of veges need. Lots of research and asking questions of people who have experience makes for more success. You are welcome to ask as many questions as you like here, we like sharing our knowledge and experiences.

I just want to say too, that even those with experience are struggling with the weather conditions we have been having.

Would your landlord object to you putting in some small raised bed arrangements? Harder for him to mow over and can be removed if you leave. I’m thinking something like what is being sold in Reject Shop (clickable link) at the moment

Angus Prune said:

The Landlords are cheapskates.

No idea what the soil’s like, it’s mostly parched grass. There’s an old lemon tree in the back corner, and some overhanging olives, figs, and limes from the neighbours.

Yummy, figs!

Angus Prune said:

The Landlords are cheapskates.

No idea what the soil’s like, it’s mostly parched grass. There’s an old lemon tree in the back corner, and some overhanging olives, figs, and limes from the neighbours.

Free limes! Have you priced them at the supermarkets? They get up to $19/kg here…

Limes are ridiculously expensive in the shops. The main reason for this is that limes go yellow as they ripen and the shops throw them away because they have a view that limes should look green It is the market that creates monoculture. ie : Macdonalds cause farmers to grow Russet Burbank potatoes exclusively.

If the landlords want to mow the yard then I’d suggest to the landlord that it would cost him less if you looked after the garden.

Thread drift … In late December last year, Radio National featured a program on a gardener who lived in rental accommodation …

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/this-rental-life/4420618

“ … green thumb tenant. Digga (aka Justin Calverley) is a landscape designer and longtime renter who’s created an extraordinary portable garden – full of plants you might never have imagined could live in pots. He says renting is no barrier, it’s a matter of mindset.”

Audio download link: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2012/12/lms_20121227_0945.mp3 File size = 8.28MB

Looks good Aussie DJ, I’ll download it later as I kinda need a “portable” garden that I can keep away from my chooks…good little workers they are but they don’t need delicacies like lettuce, even if they think they do…

AussieDJ said:

Thread drift … In late December last year, Radio National featured a program on a gardener who lived in rental accommodation …

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/this-rental-life/4420618

“ … green thumb tenant. Digga (aka Justin Calverley) is a landscape designer and longtime renter who’s created an extraordinary portable garden – full of plants you might never have imagined could live in pots. He says renting is no barrier, it’s a matter of mindset.”

Audio download link: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2012/12/lms_20121227_0945.mp3 File size = 8.28MB

Ooooh just had a look, these are audio files…no good for me I’m afraid…drat…

It is just audio that can be saved to disc to listen to at home.

and it is really only about carrying hundreds of pot plants around with you whenever you move.

How to spread disease etc.

roughbarked said:

It is just audio that can be saved to disc to listen to at home.

and it is really only about carrying hundreds of pot plants around with you whenever you move.

How to spread disease etc.

Ok, but what I meant was I can’t hear radio…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

It is just audio that can be saved to disc to listen to at home.

and it is really only about carrying hundreds of pot plants around with you whenever you move.

How to spread disease etc.

Ok, but what I meant was I can’t hear radio…

Same here but the first link went to the page where if you right clicked on the audio link you could have saved it to listen to at home.

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

roughbarked said:

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

Don’t lemons produce all that well in pots? What about the dwarf ones?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

Don’t lemons produce all that well in pots? What about the dwarf ones?

Yes they’ll produce but in the same time period without having to worry too much about watering and ferltilising or moving pots around, a lemon tree in one back yard would supply the whole street.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

Don’t lemons produce all that well in pots? What about the dwarf ones?

Yes they’ll produce but in the same time period without having to worry too much about watering and ferltilising or moving pots around, a lemon tree in one back yard would supply the whole street.

Well one could suppose that the unit-dwellers and other rentals who move around a fair bit, they’re prepared to coddle their potted citrus in this manner…not that there’s anything wrong with that … gives a meaning to “sending down roots”, that’s for sure, might even be where the saying is derived from…

roughbarked said:

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

Did you listen to the audio?

He says he has about six different citrus varieties grafted to the same rootstock. He gets a few more than just six lemons.

AussieDJ said:

roughbarked said:

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

Did you listen to the audio?

He says he has about six different citrus varieties grafted to the same rootstock. He gets a few more than just six lemons.

Do you know how long it takes me to download? I’ll listen when I get home from work.

Good morning Gardeners. Lovely and cool at 8 degrees here this morning. And only going for a 23. Yay….I can be human today. And no hot days forecast for the next 5 or 6 days. I’ll get out into that garden for a bit this morning and back onto the heat gun this afternoon for some more stripping of paint. Amazing how you find other things that could do with it once you start…..

Just like gardening really.

Oops, sorry.

AussieDJ said:

roughbarked said:

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

Did you listen to the audio?

He says he has about six different citrus varieties grafted to the same rootstock. He gets a few more than just six lemons.

I would have if I could have but that’s awesome in my books!

buffy said:

Good morning Gardeners. Lovely and cool at 8 degrees here this morning. And only going for a 23. Yay….I can be human today. And no hot days forecast for the next 5 or 6 days. I’ll get out into that garden for a bit this morning and back onto the heat gun this afternoon for some more stripping of paint. Amazing how you find other things that could do with it once you start…..

Just like gardening really.

‘Twas nice and nippy at 28C this morning…lol!

Dinetta said:

AussieDJ said:

roughbarked said:

Anyway I don’t get the point of keeping a lemon tree in a pot (with all that water) for six lemons after years…

Did you listen to the audio?

He says he has about six different citrus varieties grafted to the same rootstock. He gets a few more than just six lemons.

I would have if I could have but that’s awesome in my books!

But a fork lift is needed to move the pot?

One advantage of having such a tree in a pot is that it may be rotated. Grafting several varieties on to any tree has the shady side at a disadvantage.

I’ve since listened to the audio and.. He’s a lot like me. I’ve met Esther Dean and have her autograph on a copy of her book.

Though I do use polystyrene boxes and have often brought home more than 72, I’m still not overly happy about bringing in all that poly-stuff to fragment into MY soil. A different matter when it is somebody else’s land. ;)

Growing on concrete saves a lot of issues with stuff like the bramble berries he mentioned. Always retains moisture under the pot too.

As for dwarfing citrus, simply having 8 varieties on one tree in a pot will tend to keep the tree small so I doubt it would ever be necessary to infect the trees with dwarfing virus.

roughbarked said:

I’ve since listened to the audio and.. He’s a lot like me. I’ve met Esther Dean and have her autograph on a copy of her book.

Though I do use polystyrene boxes and have often brought home more than 72, I’m still not overly happy about bringing in all that poly-stuff to fragment into MY soil. A different matter when it is somebody else’s land. ;)

Growing on concrete saves a lot of issues with stuff like the bramble berries he mentioned. Always retains moisture under the pot too.

As for dwarfing citrus, simply having 8 varieties on one tree in a pot will tend to keep the tree small so I doubt it would ever be necessary to infect the trees with dwarfing virus.

Good post there, RoughBarked…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

I’ve since listened to the audio and.. He’s a lot like me. I’ve met Esther Dean and have her autograph on a copy of her book.

Though I do use polystyrene boxes and have often brought home more than 72, I’m still not overly happy about bringing in all that poly-stuff to fragment into MY soil. A different matter when it is somebody else’s land. ;)

Growing on concrete saves a lot of issues with stuff like the bramble berries he mentioned. Always retains moisture under the pot too.

As for dwarfing citrus, simply having 8 varieties on one tree in a pot will tend to keep the tree small so I doubt it would ever be necessary to infect the trees with dwarfing virus.

Good post there, RoughBarked…

I’d have more to say though my daughter rang to say that Evie had put on record weight for a change. They were slightly worried about under weight gain. All she did was include a bit of olive oil and ricotta into her diet. So I had to turn down the volume on the audio file..

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

I’ve since listened to the audio and.. He’s a lot like me. I’ve met Esther Dean and have her autograph on a copy of her book.

Though I do use polystyrene boxes and have often brought home more than 72, I’m still not overly happy about bringing in all that poly-stuff to fragment into MY soil. A different matter when it is somebody else’s land. ;)

Growing on concrete saves a lot of issues with stuff like the bramble berries he mentioned. Always retains moisture under the pot too.

As for dwarfing citrus, simply having 8 varieties on one tree in a pot will tend to keep the tree small so I doubt it would ever be necessary to infect the trees with dwarfing virus.

Good post there, RoughBarked…

I’d have more to say though my daughter rang to say that Evie had put on record weight for a change. They were slightly worried about under weight gain. All she did was include a bit of olive oil and ricotta into her diet. So I had to turn down the volume on the audio file..

I’ve listened to him talking about grafting all pome fruit onto the same rootstock and though he is technically correct, nobody I know in the horticultural industry ever grafts a pear onto an apple. We use quince rootstock for loquats and if we graft a pear it is onto pear rootstock apple onto apple.