|
| I recently started a 20 X 28 raised bed garden and filled it with a 60/40 soil/compost mix from an area landscaper and . IT looked great when I spread it. I also added Dr. Earth 5-7-3 granular fertilizer - and let that sit for a couple weeks before planting. Now however, the only thing growing normally is corn and cantaloupe/squash. But bush beans, peppers, tomato, soy bean are not growing and leaves look pale. I thought maybe it was just a nitrogen deficiency ( a mature tomato plant I planted has black spots all over it. the bed sits in full sun 2 miles from pacific ocean. I water every three days to a full soak. The bed is 18 inches deep.
The other day I spoke with a local organic grower and they told me that is sounds like I got a "hot mix" - that the compost mixed in was not fully decomposed. The closest lab in Ca is quite a distance from me. I was thinking about adding fish emulsion to see what happens. Otherwise adding peat was a thought. One other thing - the soil has formed a lighter color "crust" on the surface that looks sandy with small stones. When I break through - the soil beneath is darker and richer looking. Water tends to puddle on the surface for a while too - longer than normal. I have hoe'd this up a couple times to rough up the surface but it returns after a couple weeks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| I suspect the compost in the soil/compost mix wasn't mature yet. This is from Canada but the principle is the same. Lloyd |
|
| You never, really, want to get compost that is "fully decomposed" since there would be little of any value in that material. What did this soil/compost mix smell like as you put it in that bed? Did you see a lot of material that did not appear to be digested then? Chlorosis, yellowing, of plants has many causes although is is a nutrient deficiency. Determing which of several nutrients is what is needed and what is causing that nutrient deficiency as well. While the first thing many people think of is either Nitrogen or Iron, and they do cause Chlorosis, there are many other factors that play a role in this. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Causes of Chlorosis in plants
|
- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Sat, May 26, 12 at 9:06
| I am also close to the pacific ocean by 2 miles but I don't have those problems cause by soil, but the black spots on the tomato could be a fungal disease called black spot. Anthracnose is a different kind of fungal that causes spots. There are many different fungals that can cause spots and your may or not be black spot per say, but the treatments are mostly the same. If you really want to know take a photo and post it in a forum like pests or vegetables and see if anyone can ID it. I don't grow tomatoes because of the weather not being good here for them. So, I could probably not ID that problem. |
|
- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Sat, May 26, 12 at 9:16
| Call the landscaper you got the soil from and ask if they've had any other reports of problems. In addition to the possibilities mentioned, also check the pH. If he used manure from a stable that uses lime, the pH could be too high. The dry crust could be helped with mulch. Grass clippings, wood chips, shredded leaves, anything to keep the surface from drying out. Your new mix is so porous that it probably dries out fairly fast at this point. |
|
| I would get a soil test done. The same thing happened to me. Zucchini, squash & melons weathered the storm better than tomatoes and peppers. I had excessive amounts of P & K, probably due to too hot compost. I added alfalfa meal which i think will gradually add N. For the short term I used a liquid organic fert that was mainly nitrogen once a week. It's been about a month now and the tomatoes are looking much better. And do contact the person you got the soil from. The person I purchased the mix from actually came to my house and provided and applied the amendment. |
|
| I forgot to say that I also put in my raised bed some not-quite-broken-down-all-the-way leaf mold that I have decomposing in a bin on my property. |
|
| (Not sure what happened, but the post above, was supposed to be posted under this one) Anyway, I came to Garden Web to post a question very much like the one from Powella1's. Although I don't want to hijack powella1's post, I also don't want to duplicate questions on this forum. Like powella1, I also just filled my very first raised bed and got a load of compost from a local greenhouse to finish off my mixture. When the load was delivered and I shoveled it into my raised bed, I noticed the compost still had a manure smell and it also seemed really hot. It was a very hot day here, so I attributed it to that, but now I'm not so sure. I have already planted the box so I'm wondering if I should add a liquid fertilizer at this point. The soil mixture already contains peat, a little alfalfa pellets (not a whole lot though), wood ash, bone meal, blood meal, vermiculite, leaf mold, and 10/10/10 fertilizer. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
|
|
- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Sat, May 26, 12 at 14:04
| To just me, do not add more fertilizer if it's hot. That will only increase heat. It needs to be watered a lot to try and drain away excess nitrogen. That would be the cure for it, if it was too hot and then time to allow the stuff to cure. |
|
| "do not add more fertilizer if it's hot" I'd lean this way too. I think at this point you want to slow the decomposition not increase it. You could do this by keeping it wet I guess. Or constantly turning it as much of it as possible. |
|
| Hey, thanks! We are in the middle of a heat wave so I won't have a problem watering it a lot (since I can't turn it because I've already planted). Thanks a bunch. |
|
- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Sat, May 26, 12 at 23:51
| Ideally you want a heavy rain to come and really flood out the excess nitrogen. I must be right because someone did not post to tell me I am wrong yet. But, to get out the nitrogen you also need good drainage. You want a large flushing out with very good drainage. If the drainage is poor, it will not flood out the nitrogen as well, but it will better then nothing. If there is no rain you can try to use water to flood it out, but depending on how big the area it may cost a lot of wasted water. I had never done this *disclaimer*. I normally under fertilize, because I am afraid of burning, and I have good drainage in most parts of the gardens. I still get pooling water in areas that I have not amended enough yet. I don't know how long it would take or how many water treatments. It would depend on the amount of over fertilization and the temps. Hot weather would help to speed along the process, I think so. Cold weather would slow it down, but right now this is summer so you should be in good shape. |
|
| One should not "fertilize" without the guidance of a good, reliable soil test because you may well be adding nutrients that are not needed which is a waste of your money, can create more problems by unbalancing the nutrients enough to cause more pest problems which can cause you to spend more money on pest controls, and can cause plants to be more susceptible to plant diseases. Many "fertilizers" are also quite readily available, meaning they are very soluble and can flow out of your soil and into the ground water polluting that ground water. |
|
- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Sun, May 27, 12 at 11:54
| "Many "fertilizers" are also quite readily available, meaning they are very soluble and can flow out of your soil and into the ground water polluting that ground water." This is the right idea, you want to flush out the fertilizer and refrain from doing this ever again. Sad that one has to pollute the ground water in doing so. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.