DirtDiva
A True Doomsday Prepper
For Blight in tomatoes it is more than likely fusarium or verticillium wilt. Verticillium wilt is soil born and when it rains the soil splashes up on the lower leaves which carry the spores that cause the disease. Next thing yellow blotches, brown veins and then dead spots on the plant progressing upward from the lower limbs. Eventually stunting the plant and fruit. The best I have found is to keep your garden clean. Mulch your plants heavily to prevent the soil from splashing during rain. Leave plenty of space between the plants to prevent spreading and a spray of milk and water also helps tomatoes as well.
Fusarium is, by far, the most common wilt disease. Symptoms include yellowing and browning of foliage stunting and wilting with some recovery at night.
The first symptoms appear when fruit begins to mature. Lower leaves turn yellow, sometimes on one side of the plant or one side of a branch. This is followed by leaf and stem wilting. When an infected stem is scraped or split lengthwise you will see browning of the vascular tissue (the tissue closest to the "skin"). The pith (tissue in the middle of the stem) remains healthy. It is the clogging of the vascular tubes (that carry food and water in the plant) that produces the wilting and yellowing. Verticillium proceeds more slowly and the symptoms are more uniform through the plant.
The same tips apply to Fusarium as well.
Bacterial wilt of tomato is a top-down wilt as opposed to fusarium and verticillium where symptoms begin at the bottom of the plant.
These wilt diseases are all soil borne and can persist for many years in the soil even if no host plants are grown. They can also be brought into a garden on infected transplants or soil. Fusarium wilt does not spread above the ground from plant to plant. Each plant is individually infected when the organism enters the root system.
There is no cure for this disease. Plants must be removed and destroyed. When planting, avoid all wet spots and build raised beds if drainage is less than ideal. Some say that Neem Oil helps.
For squash bugs I interplant dill. It attracts beneficial insects and the squash bugs don't seem to like it probably the smell. I also get a roll of tape and every time I see squash bug eggs I place tape over them and then yank it off the eggs are stuck to the tape. Then just dispose of the tape. I also don't plant all my squash in one spot. That way the squash bugs have to work harder to find them.
I had never heard of the qtips and vingar. I have heard of using flour.
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