23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

I don't see any fungus. White (gray?) spots look like dried out. Pale older leaves is likely nitrogen shortage.

The white areas look like they are dried out, not like something is growing on top.

I added some 5-3-4 fertilizer last weekend following the manufacturer's instructions because the squash next to it was looking a little yellow too. The squash has greened up but the cucumbers did not.

I guess I'm wondering if I should rip them up and re-plant, because I probably still have time. Or maybe just cut off all of the lower leaves that look like this. It's a bit heartbreaking because there are lots of mini-cucumbers on the vine already.

Wish I knew this when I filled my beds last spring. I bought a product called "All Top" which is a Topsoil Compost Blend,

If you search 'topsoil' you'll find all sorts of discussions about how poor it is considered since the term can mean 500 different things, some ok, some not too bad, and some really lousy.

But discussions on how to salvage it when used are common on the Soil & Compost forum here. It can be salvaged simply by adding lots and lots and lots of quality compost to it and mixing it in well. Then use more compost (not wood chips) to mulch the top with and refresh the compost content in the bed each spring..

Using any kind of wood chip mulch in a vegetable garden is a hotly debated topic with lots of pros and cons.

Dave

Dave,

In that case I guess next season I'll remove the cedar mulch covering and add compost on top instead.

But won't the soil that's in my beds just remain there indefintely unless I remove some of it, mix the rest with something else and then refill my beds?

Should the result of my soil test I got from Rutgers reveal the composition of it? See below.

Also, the cotyledons on my early broccoli and cauliflower turned gray/bleached and curled very soon. However the true leaves were very green and healthy.

Thanks :)

I will let them go a little dryer.

Good to know that they'll likely be fine.

Thank you so much Joe :-) And you're right, she and the two year old are both super excited!! Thanks for the boost, I really needed that and I'll be back here if I encounter any problems.

Thank you much and Happy Gardening!

I loved reading this as I am going through the same thing. ESpecially the bit about the strawberries :)

2-3 layers of carboard over the grass and leave for a years - or build the raised bed over.

Don't just put the raised bed on top of the grass and fill with dirt, some will come through.

For the past couple of years, I've been using 20% vinegar for weed and grass control. I like it. My jug says Maestro-Gro on it. Try googling it for more info.

Better yet, don't dig at all! Make a raised bed and plant your garden.. Save your back the work..

This is what i do:

-layer newpaper/cardboard on grass
-pile soil ontop of that
-mulch
-Plant!

I used a front tine to make my garden years ago. Just go slow. A little deeper each time.

Can't help with soaker hose information, but I sympathize about trees blocking the sun and limiting your options. We don't have any trees in our own backyard, but our neighbor to the west has three trees that are beginning to block the sun to our main vegetable gardens as they get larger. The previous owner had the trees trimmed regularly so it wasn't a problem for years, but the new owners don't even clean up storm damage when big limbs come down. (My husband and I finally just went into their yard and did some trimming ourselves since their fallen branches were damaging our fence.)

My advice would be to take notes to see where the sun is in various seasons. The 5-8 hours of sunlight you get now in the spring may turn into 10+ hours in the summer. OTOH, We have one bed that we built in May in full sun, only realizing months later that it's actually in shade from October-March. No problem for summer veggies, but it does mean I can't use it for fall/winter plantings. (On the plus side, by tracking the sun more carefully, we realized there are spots that are in shade from the neighbor's trees in the summer, but get plenty of sun autumn through spring, which would be a fine location for a cold frame.)

Thx both.

I'm actually thinking of setting up my camera on a tripod and timelapsing the area. Haven't paid attention to this area since I just got the "greenthumb" this year.

All I know right now is that the front edge of the area gets sun around 2/230p and the entire area is covered by 3p. Been cloudy so hard to say when it stops getting sun. I suspect right now I'm only around 4hrs direct.

The world record holder for tomatoes, Charles Wilber, used rusty old cages... All he did was torch them to disinfect them at the end of the season.. I would not worry about the rust.. He didnt have a problem, he grew 30 foot tomatos, yielding hundreds, if not thousands of pounds! If his heavy plants could handle it, so could yours.. If you really want houngan probably sand and buff all the sharp chips,etc.. But all that's really neccesariy is disinfecting them IF that.. No worries, have fun my friend!

Grow on,
Joe

Joe

Are these some kind of extra-great cages, or are they the kind you get for 79 cents? By which I mean.... less than the cost of a can of spray paint ;).

The blowtorch for sterilising sounds fun :).

Seems like you are doing just fine my friend.. I still would throw a fan on, beef up them suckers!

haha Joe, I am going to start hardening off the last of my starts next week when this yucky weather moves out. I hope to have them completely hardened off in the next few weeks and anxiously watching the weather until transplant time!

I haven't had any other problems with damping off--the area is well-ventilated. I think there was a problem because I was bottom-watering and thus the salts couldn't drain out. It's not a strong fertilizer by any means.

If you were bottom watering, how would there be a salt accumulation ontop the soil? How would there be a salt buildup in the first plant place, if you use a weak fertilizer as you mentioned? Even very strong fertilizers at the proper concentrate doesn't burn plants, nor have salt buildup after a few feeding,let alone scrapping salt off the top of the soil! Something doesn't add up..

Again- What kind of fertilizer? What concentrate? What potting mix? What water? Do you care for your other plants the same? Are they doing ok?

This post was edited by Raw_Nature on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 23:57

Do NOT get the Harbor Freight GH! It takes a million years (and several web sites) to set it up, and about 3 years for it to blow away or get brittle and fall apart! Nancy

If you are concerned about wind,Look for something shaped like a dome.. It's much more aerodynamic.. You could make something similar to a hoophouse.. There's plenty of ways to resolve wind problems.. But, as far as I know, not to many people have wind problems with normal rectangular greenhouses..

Joe