24,795 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Yes it can and it is becoming an increasing problem for gardeners - damage to their crops due to herbicide contaminated straw mulch and compost that contains the herbicide contaminated straw.
Plus "certified weed free" isn't needed for garden mulch but it lets them charge more for it.
Dave

Do you use it in your garden? We go back and forth with using it. We also learned of herbicide carryover the hard way after procuring free compost. We had to pull back the top 6 inches of soil and replace it. We still have some symptoms of carryover in our tomatoes 4 years later.

It's considered an excellent wood preservative because it doesn't stain the wood and isn't supposed to leach out. I brushed it on the bottom cut ends of 6X6 fir ramada posts I just mounted and so finally got to use the bottle of the stuff I bought in a moment of weakness. Lumber preservative on food plants has that old EWWW factor, no?

thanks alot for the advice and comments i think i wil just stick with the organic route like i always have ,,, another question though , organic pesticides any favorites out there ?
is just neem oil the way to go ?
this years garden includes , 3 types of tomats , red cabbage , cucumbers , hot peppers sun flowers and herbs .
thanks again
zak


I start cauliflower and any cabbage about June 20th here. In your area you likely need to start them a bit later.
Lettuce will not germinate well in hot weather. i start my butterhead lettuce INDOORS in plastic pots July 23rd. Likely you would start lettuce a bit later.

Since they are all early spring crops so too late now I assume you are asking for the times to start them for a Fall garden? When is your first frost date? Around mid-October for zone 6b I think? Are you going to direct seed them or start them indoors? If indoors then my best guess is you'd want to start the cauliflower and cabbage early July and the lettuce mid-July. This all depends of course on the specific variety you are using as they all have very different DTM (days to maturity).
Dave

Not to butt in, but there are so many ways to garden. learning from others helps us to fine tune our methods to achieve the goals we want out of gardening. What is the 'proper' way for one person, may not be proper for others.
For example... my space is somewhat limited, so I push the limits of crowding. Some may say that it's not 'proper' spacing. However, my goal may not be to get the biggest fruit, or weight per plant, but to get maximum yield per sq. ft. I recognize that my style may open me up to potential problems, I appreciate information warning me of such hazards and information that teaches me about the plant's preferences, but unless I tell someone - I, and only I know my goals and reasons for my methods.
What is 'proper', or appropriate for some, may not be 'proper' or appropriate for me, my goals, my specific plants, or my situation.
Anyway, I'm new here, and this is a little off the topic of the thread, and frankly maybe none of my business (except as a reader and user of the site like anyone else.) I, however do try to appreciate all comments, even if we don't agree. Learning can happen under many circumstances, not all of them favorable.

Couple of points. First, it is early June so based on all the comments so far what we have been talking about is pruning/watering during the season. Not sure how we got to end-of-season but end of season pruning/topping is a whole other ballgame and none of my comments above were related to that. Regardless of zone we all share at least a 75 day growing season for tomatoes. That's the season I was addressing.
Second, since we have gotten so far off the original question I hope the OP doesn't mind if I add (or reiterate) that I know many folks grow things in very different ways and yes, I know that what works for one does not work for all. I know we all have different zones, different size gardens, different goals, different situations, etc. But that does not mean there aren't common standards for growing tomatoes or corn or beets or whatever. It also doesn't mean that a tomato plant doesn't have specific needs no matter where it is grown. That's why I stressed IMO. I prefer to make the needs of the plant the focus, not my needs.
However, if one has first tried some of the 100's of ways before deciding that Method Z (whatever it may be) is the only way that will work for them, that's great. At least they tried. But if they have locked themselves into a belief or a method only because they "read something about it on the web or in a book so it must be true" or because "this is the way Grandpa did it" or because they "don't want to make the effort to try any other ways" or because "if it ain't broke why should I try to fix it" then they may well be doing themselves and their plants a disservice.
They then compound that disservice by making authoritative comments like "people are under a misconception that they need to water a lot. He said water LESS to get MORE harvest. The people who water more get less of a harvest."
I wonder if he has ever read any of the many studies done on the production levels from dry-farmed fields compared to the production levels from irrigated fields and how he would explain the greatly increased production from the latter?
Dave


Ok. I'm new here. Thanks for all the info. all. I had three bad storms come thew last night. My corn is about six foot tall. Just wanted to add. All I did was soak the grownd. Put t post on each end. Power cord and pulled it back up. Heard a few cracks. But I think it will be fine.

Keep in mind Domo, that neither cow manure, nor peat moss is soil. Mixed together, they still aren't soil lol.
Do not despair! Not all may be lost. The biggest problem is that by now you probably have fruit, and making physical changes to the growing medium would probably send the plants into a shock. Too late in the season to recover.
I would flush the medium with a lot of water (like - a lot.) Then mix up a low-concentration fertilizer tea, or a soluble fertilizer solution made specifically for tomatoes and add that at in low doses. Watch for a response from the plants (can take a few days to a week.)
Another, more difficult problem is ph. The peat, unless pre-conditioned by the seller, is acidic. Ditto, but not as much so, for manure. Tomatoes don't mind a little acidity, in fact they prefer a mildly acidic medium. However, the two substances you have in those buckets are probably more so than you want. The manure will probably buffer the acidity a little, but you need to do some research into maybe adding an alkaline amendment, such as hydrated lime (contains calcium, an important nutrient for tomatoes.) It's a tricky move though, as hydrated lime can be powerful stuff and a bucket is a very small environment. It must be added sparingly and carefully.
You can look up the specifics for the ph needs of both tomatoes and peppers, and how to adjust ph using slurries and liquid mixes, but knowing the exact ph of what you have would help a lot.
In any case, although tricky, it's not hard, and you can do it. Just remember... less can be more, and from this experience you'll learn A LOT! about the needs and care of plants.

Sounds successful. I am a bit surprised, however, that you found the leaf layer hard for water to penetrate, and that the leaves have not yet broken down. I guess I have to ask how ground up they were. Grinding them with a lawnmover makes for a consistency that is highly penetrable, and (especially when dug in) breaks down in a month or two. Maybe if your leaves were just coarsely shredded, I could imagine things happening like you say they did.

Yes, I use a hand bucket of water from a rain barrel and pour it on the ground, not on the plant. I do it every 2 or 3 days depending upon rainfall (which has been minimal). I haven't seen any wilting, I only mention it because that is my barometer for a plant that is very thirsty - I have not seen spotting as an indicator before.
You are correct that there was no mulch under the plants, I added some a few days ago.

I also use rainwater and posted this before...
Here is a link (2005) to how I water my garden ...
Deep watering for heavy feeders growing on upright trellises
I should add the nowadays I also use those rather large plastic pots you get when you buy large plants - fill about half-way with leaves and compost (just enuff so the water just ooozes out the pot holes) then dump in rain water from a 5 gal bucket. So the nutrients leak out of the pot with the water.
This keeps the plant leaves from getting wet when sprayed from above and allows the water to soak deeply in one area and not be wicked away by the hot summer air.
At times I will add coffee grounds to these pots too. Also anything so the water leaks out slowly and soaks in deeply close to the bucket/pot.
Keep in mind the plants feed from the root tips and the root tips may be a long way from where the plant stem enters the soil. That is where I place the pots/buckets.
Check your root depth/length here...ROOT DEVELOPMENT OF VEGETABLE CROPS

Carbaryl/Sevin breaks down pretty quickly. It lasts just a few days on leaves, and in aerated soil just lasts a week or two. It can last a month or two in an anaerobic clay-like soil. Sunlight, water, and air all contribute to its degradation.


To be honest, the biggest issue I see with your pepper plants is that you are trying to grow them in small cinder block holes. Gonna be quite hard to keep those plants stress-free once they start growing and the weather warms up more. This could explain why you seem to have a minor disease problem now (stressed plants are more susceptible to both disease and pests).
Also, from the tag in the soil I see these were Bonnie plants. Hopefully you removed the peat pots prior to planting. Contrary to what they claim the pots will seriously impede the growth of roots since it takes a long while for the pots to decompose, usually longer than a single growing season.
As for the Sevin. By the time the peppers are big enough to eat, which won't be for a while, it will be a non-factor.
Rodney




The best way to get rid of Woodchucks is a bullet but we all can't shoot with houses so close together. 2nd best way is using a #160 or #220 Conibear trap placed at the woodchuck's hole. Kills them instantly. I've caught 2 so far and I'm waiting for #3 now.
My dog got one of the babies yesterday. I poured used kitty litter in his holes and took a leak at his usual entrance. Maybe he will decide to move on.