23,822 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

While those raised beds do look great, as Dave strongly pointed out, you've created a very un-natural place for your plants to live.
I think the best option now is to carefully remove the plants from the beds, then remove half of the compost. Using a digging fork or shovel, dig deeply to mix the soil under the beds with the compost. Then after mixing, take a soil test and send it into a nearby lab (or try the link below). Adjust the soil ph with lime and add other necessary nutrients the test results suggest, then replant.
Not so easy, but unfortunately you missed some important steps the first time around. Don't worry though, everyone does!
-Mark
Here is a link that might be useful: soil test

No, sorry, not "taken aback" and any frustration that came across isn't directed at you. I just get so frustrated at the crazy sources out there that keep giving out such faulty info to new gardeners. Stuff like - "use straight mushroom compost for your garden and it will be great" - when they know it won't be without lots of other stuff/work.
They never bother to explain that compost has to be converted to nutrients usable by the plants and that conversion requires active, diverse soil bacteria and by soil-dwelling residents - worms, beneficial nematodes, grubs, pill bugs, etc.
They eat and digest the compost and poop out nutrients the plants can use and absorb with water. They are all lumped together under the label "soil food web". Unless you directly add them (which many do) and add dirt to the compost (which already contains them), it takes seasons of time for them to move into the beds.
Add to that the issues others have mentioned with mushroom compost (as opposed to manured compost) of low nutrient levels, high salts, and alkaline pH. All of those issues also require time to resolve themselves. The soil food web needs time to grow, the salts need time and rain to leach out, the compost needs time to decompose and neutralize the pH down to neutral, and the low nutrient levels need to be supplemented with additional sources.
You don't have to wait numerous seasons to use the beds. They can be used but you do have to supplement the nutrients and the soil web until the beds are well established and that takes seasons. You will also have to add fresh compost 2x a year as the beds shrink (decompose).
So mix in as much dirt as possible, research adding Mycorrhizae (bio-organics), look into nutritional supplements (both organic and synthetic), and accept very limited results this year. Over the winter the bed will be improving (any new beds need to be fall constructed) and salt leaching out so next year will be better if you keep up the supplements. By the 3rd year you'll see substantial improvement and by the 4th you'll have great beds that only need minimal side dressings with fresh compost to sustain good growth.
Hope this helps.
Dave



actually, I know lots of people in zone 9b, Phoenix who do quite well with asparagus. This is in a climate with usually 3 full months of temps around 105, many days to 115. I've seen summers where the temperature for 1-2 weeks can be above 115 and we had a high of 119 a few times.
Also, there are some winters with no frosts or freezes. Most zone 10 climates have less extreme high temperatures.


I have resolved to grow ONLY black cherry next year. Each year I try some other variety in addition to, and am totally disappointed. This year it was Cerise Orange and I think the other one is Juliet. The Cerise is literally chocking out a couple plants in adjacent cages, but the fruits are small and seem to ripen randomly, so picking a decent amount is a lot of work. Juliet is fine, just kind of bland. Last year it was some little red thing that had tough skins. Black cherry is without fail tasty and prolific, and the toms are a perfect size for eating fresh, or cutting in half for salads. The plant is almost as obnoxious as Cerise though, so I'm going to give it it's own little kingdom next year rather than planting it in the common tomato bed.


Thanks for the recs!
I started planting some brussels sprouts and cabbage. After breaking up and tilling a fraction of this bed, I am EXHAUSTED. This is pathetic lol!
Gardening was much easier in my 30s, I realized today. And a lot faster!
I don't know if they will make it once it gets colder given how late in the season it is, but I'm also going to plant some shiso/perilla plants I've started from seed, as well as some mint....in hopes they'll take over haha.
I also started some serranos but think I will pot those up until spring and then move them into the ground. The warm weather here has been heavenly in starting seeds. In SF, I'd just watch my potting soil do nothing!



I'm up in southern ontario and have also just realized my entire crop is infested with these paper maggots. Does anyone know how to control this for next year I heard that they live in the soil until next year... I'm wondering if there is a way to treat the soil before I plant the peppers other than crop rotation.

I lost a bunch of my broccoli seedlings, leaves all eaten clean off the small plants, more than once, along with lettuce seedlings eaten to the ground, and carrot leaves eaten. I am spraying the seedlings with Sevin at this point, but it is probably too late for Broccoli. I have a fenced in garden and no one has left any signs of digging in, or eating anything bigger than a seedling.
If I give fall gardening a try again next year, it will be with row covers for sure. There's too many pests to try and sprout seedlings in midsummer, especially ones that grow slow and weak due to the heat.


We got weevils in our pantry last year! YUK!
My daughter used to work for a pest control company and said you have to dump EVERYTHING and wipe everything down with a bleach solution! We then did the thrift store round to find glass and plastic containers for everything we keep in the pantry. We would just cut out the label and/or instructions and tape them to the containers so we knew what to do. No problems since. Nancy

I've read with interest how neem oil is relatively save for bees, but I've just come in from my zucchini patch where the powdery leaves are covered with bees who are unmistakably gathering the powder, or eating it. Most had full pollen pouches. I've observed this for the last few days, and finally able to believe my eyes, decided to google to see if anyone else has had this experience.
I found a woman who posted on a site that she observed lady bugs eating the powder off her powdery leaves and took a picture of it.
I'll try to upload the address.
Consequently I have grave doubts about spraying the leaves at any time when the bees are actively harvesting the powder. Yes, I know it sounds weird. I would love to hear from anyone else who might have some experience with this. Why would fungus be a beneficial substance for bees or lady bugs????

I've grown ginger in pots for years. It should continue to do fairly well in a bright indoor spot in the winter. You should watch the development of the root; I've had ginger root grow big enough that it broke through the side of a plastic pot. Store bought ginger gets around four feet tall, and can make very nice clumps. If the root is starting to get too big, just cut some of it out. Depending on the variety, you might also get some flowers on your plant; not very spectacular, but certainly interesting.
Renais

That's helpful. Thanks. So basically, the limiting factor is the root getting too big for the pot. But as you say, that's just a matter of cutting some of it out. But it just keeps growing after that? I guess every year or so I have to do some delicate poking through the soil to see where the root is.

I'm experimenting with growing tomatoes in different sized modified 5 gal buckets. Some are full 5 gals without the water reservoir, some are 5 gal less the reservoir. The ones on the right are Big Beef Hybrid, the ones on the left are Early Girl Hybrid. I've also set up 2 large containers with 2 each of the same to compare. They are all watered with a simple gravity/siphon system I cobbled together to simplify watering.
Here is a link that might be useful:

I successfully use thin 4' bamboo sticks and plastic wire tie. I just lightly insert two sticks in the ground crossing right under the branch you want to support, tie crossing with wire tie and let branch rest on the crossing. It is very mobile, you can do it where you most need it.

It's my understanding that the Bean beetles migrate northward every year so the pediobius wasps have to be used each year. Essentially you're setting up a new ecosystem every year where enough bean beetle larvae survive to act as wasp hosts for several yearly generations.

I had the same experience last year with Big Daddy - Copra and Ringmaster weren't much different. I decided for me - I was not far enough north geographically for those long-day onions to bulb-up. I think I was right. None of the long-day onions we planted stored well for us.
This year we wanted to try Highlander because there are not that many intermediate-day onion options - and Highlander was touted as an early maturing onion. It was a good decision because the onion grew very well here and bulbed-up nicely. You can see the difference between Highlander and the other long-day onion bulbs if you compare them in the photos? The other long-day onions apparently didn't have sun and temperature necessary to complete their growth - the bulbs are narrow and elongated - the necks are thick because we had to pull them to protect them from freezing temps - and like I said - they did not store long!





Are these plants inside or outside? In ground or in containers? Any sign of pests? If in containers what is the growing medium?
From the one picture you posted it just looks like a hydration problem. That can be caused by many things from just insufficient watering to the plants being rootbound in their containers. Need much more info please.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Thank you for replying and my apology for the delay. These plants are outside in a container where they get plenty of sun. I did not see any sign of pests, but this is my first time growing vegetables, so I may not know what to look for. I used Espoma organic potting soil mix. The container is 16" and had 20 plants. I thought that the container was draining poorly, so I transplanted the plants into smaller better draining Misco self watering containers yesterday and I see that a couple of plants have this problem. Any advice is much appreciated. Attaching a picture of the back of the leaf.