Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
planecrazy29

Help with soil issues

planecrazy29
12 years ago

I have containers (18g rubbermaid) that I am using for my garden. I have been using a soilless mix that I buy at my local green house and it works very, very well. Good drainage and excellent plant health. This year, I added 2 raised bed gardens that are 8'x4'x 11". For them, I used a mix of compost and topsoil that a local place sells by the yard. I planted tomatoes and peppers in the 2 large raised beds. They are not doing well. The tomatoes are stunted and deep, deep green and the leaves are leathery. The peppers are stunted and yellow-ish. The peppers did suffer from sunburn, but are recovering. New growth is green to yellow green on both peppers and tomatoes. I have checked the pH in both types of beds and they are approximately equal. I bought another soil test kit today and the results are inconclusive at best. It appears that there is very little nitrogen and an excess of K and P.

So, my question is: What would be in commercial compost that would cause these kind of issues? Or in the topsoil for that matter? I have the same plants in both types of containers, purchased and the same time from the same source and the smaller containers in the potting soil are vigorous and the raised beds are stunted. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Aaron

Oh, sun exposure is equal on both and they get full sun, 12-14 hours. No shade.

Comments (4)