First shot at 511? Didn't you use it last year too? :-) Anyway, your mix looks great. I don't see any problems there. Assume that you limed it properly. Like you say possibly too dry. I just made what I consider a real good batch of the stuff and yours looks just like mine. Besides watering, I might suggest a fairly heavy dose of liquid or water soluble fertilizer with each watering to try and breath some life into them. Try and soak those containers. One thing we almost never have to worry about with a mix like that is overwatering. Plus with bags, they will dry out even faster. So, my suggestion is to water the heck out of them and try a hard shot of fertilizer often, and heavy on the nitrogen......at least on a couple of them, what do you have to lose. Hope this helps. Very nice garden.

I think your mix is TOO coarse for broccoli. Probably it does NOT retain enough moisture. Broccoli, a member of cabbage family LOVES water, lots of it.

You could've added more peat moss to elevate moisture retention or could've used finer bark fine.

JMO.

This post was edited by seysonn on Wed, May 7, 14 at 22:56

I agree....more consistent watering, and heavier fertilizer. Perhaps even side-dress with a slow-release.

Josh