Better luck next time

[Lisa0825]

Well, I don't think I'll be harvesting much from my first planting, so hopefully fall will go better.

I am pretty sure the problem with my tomatoes which I posted about recently is bacterial. I have been treating with Neem, and the new leaves look healthy, but the dozens of buds that were on my determinate bushes are all shriveled up, so no tomatoes will be growing there. I still have several bunches of buds on 2 plants, so I am still hoping to get some more tomatoes, but it won't be a bountiful harvest by any means. Still, I probably got about $8 worth of tomatoes over the past month before this, so it wasn't a total loss.

The corn, beans, and peppers in my Square Foot boxes have not grown in size in weeks. It's like they got to a certain level and then just quit growing, whereas the corn and beans I planted in a third section that was not blocked from the yard with landscape cloth a month later has already caught up to the previous planting and surpassed it. I do have some buds on my pepper plants in the SF boxes, but the plants themselves don't seem to be thriving anymore.

Thanks to a reply to another question here, I saw a list of when to plant what in my area for fall, so I will be planting some more stuff in the sections where things didn't grow the first time and I have some space left in the last section I planted.

So, I am still enthusiastic, and just feel like I will continue to learn and improve. In fact, I am thinking that if my last section (which is more like a raised bed) really does do better, then for spring, I will just dig up my Square Foot boxes, and link the three beds together into one long raised bed, with a small path at the mid point. It's narrow enough across that would be able to reach everything.

I got my first seed catalog in the mail today, and I am already anticipating my future veggies! :woohoo:

[ccharles000]

1. ...

:hug:

[Lisa0825]

2. awww, thanks

:hug:

[amerikat]

3. I have some of the same problems in my sf garden.

My tomatoes are doing great but my peppers are verticly challenged. The brocolli is doing great but the cauliflower is stunted. I don't get it they are from the same family. I violated one of the tennats of sf gardening( get compost from many sources and mix it) I got mine from a single source.

I'm making my own compost now and will add it to the garden in the springtime.

Do you have the sf Gardening book?

[knitter4democracy]

4. My peppers aren't doing well, either.

How odd. Tomatoes are fine (well, not the ones currently flooded), but the cauliflower hasn't done much yet, and the peppers aren't happy.

[Lisa0825]

6. My peppers started out pathetic....

the leaves turned all yellow and they stopped growing. Then I added organic fertilizer and they perked right up. But after growing about another 6 inches and adding more leaves, they also stopped growing. I have harvested 2 banana peppers and one jalapeno. I have one bell pepper on the plant, but it seems to be stuck at the size of a golf ball.

[noamnety]

8. That's interesting - same here with the peppers.

Everything else seems to be growing fine.

The peppers grew about 4 inches tall and stopped. They don't look unhealthy; they are green and perky. They kind of remind me of myself when I'm worn out and sleep deprived - I just plunk my butt down and won't budge, no matter what I'm supposed to be doing.

[Lisa0825]

5. Yes, I have the SF book.

I have compost from 2 sources. But I used the same mix (what I had leftover) when I built the last bed mixed with my own soil, and those plants are growing like gangbusters so I don't think it was not having enough compost variety. I think it was not having enough space to accomodate the roots, as mush as SFG says that won't be the case. Both SF boxes I plants seem to have the exact same problem with plants flourishing until they get to a certain size, and then just discontinue growing. The bed without the barrier, on the other hand has corn and beans looking perfect so far.

I have a compost bin too, but I don't have much to put in it besides leaves, so it is going slowly.

[knitter4democracy]

7. Most of my other stuff's going really well, though.

I used weed barrier for all of them, and the only ones I'm worried about (other than the flooded planters that are floating in my back yard right now) is one of the watermelons that just isn't doing well and the peppers. Oh, and the eggplant, but I have some other eggplants in my deck garden that are doing okay.

[sazemisery]

9. My theories on your garden woes.

If your spring has been like mine (NE Oklahoma), it has been too wet and unseasonably cool. Plants like peppers and okra like it hot and sunny. Tomatoes tend to drop their buds when there is too much water or the nitrogen is depleted, which happens a lot in raised bed gardening. Leaves will turn yellow and wilt with nitrogen depletion also. A sprinkling of 1/4 cup bloodmeal around the base of each plant. Direst water after application.

When I first started my raised beds, I didn't know about the SF gardening book. My soil is 1/2 inch topsoil and under that is clay. Red, hard pack clay. Plus I have many moles. Raised beds was the only solution for my situation. When I first filled my beds, I used top soil, peat, manure and worm droppings. The first year was a failure. It was the hottest year we had had in a while (21 straight days of 100+ degrees) and my water bill was enormous. Okra was the only bountiful crop that year.

The next spring I added worm castings, cotton seed compost & mushroom compost. Lots of straw for mulch was added to aid in the water retention. The crops were much better that year and we had a wet spring with a normal summer.

The 3rd year I added drip irrigation hoses and saved myself time, water and money. I had mine set on timers so it cut down on so much time spent watering and more time tending to the bugs and veggie harvest. This was last year and I had 101 ears of corn from 78 square feet of garden. I had so much okra I couldn't give it away so I quit cutting it and let it go to seed and saved the seed for this year. I froze tomatoes, peppers, beans and edamame. In fact I just used the last of last summer's frozen bounty a week ago.

My point is this: Your garden beds will always need amendments. The biggest problem I have seen in the pictures of first year SF gardens is the shallow depth of soil. Don't be afraid to add more than the books call for. Your plants will love you for it.

Lisa, your beginners enthusiasm thrills an old gardener like me. Thanks. :hi:

[Lisa0825]

10. Actually, we were very hot and dry early!

We had record highs in April and May, and I was a little late, because I couldn't plant until I got back from a vacation in late March. Between those two factors I am sure that was a good share of the problem.

I thought the volume of soil I had looked too shallow to handle large plants, but if I measure the depth of the soil, it's still close to the SFG dimensions. Still, the bed without the barrier on the underside is definitely thriving more. If weeding does not become a problem, I will probably do it all that way, still using the main ingredients of SFG, but not using the landscape fabric barrier.

I think my soil is pretty good, though it is quite dense. My lawn grows very lush, with no attention whatsoever, to the extent that it is hard to keep up with mowing. And when I dug out the grass to do the last bed, I found lots of earthworms, and noticed that the soil was pretty moist, even not having had rain in a while. So aside from weeds, I don't see why I should block the bottom side of the box. Who knows... I may change my mind next year.

I also plan to attend some classes with a local garden club too, so I am sure I will learn a lot there. There is a fall garden class this month, but the others I want to go to won't be starting until January.

I am really glad I started this when I did, now that produce is getting so much more expensive. I consider this my trial run. I expect it to be all upwards from here. :)

[EstimatedProphet]

11. My peppers have been weird too

I've only gotten a few so far. There are a couple plants that get direct light but still haven't grown one bit. However, a lot of my plants seemed stunted up until a couple weeks ago until a warm spell came along, and they started to perk up and are growing and producing pods now. when it gets warmer they will grow, never fear.

[Lisa0825]

13. Hell, if it gets any warmer here, well it would be HELL! LOL

:rofl:

[Lisa0825]

12. My last plot is looking promising...

I just planted another patch on June 1st, starting with 8 corn, 8 beans, basil, more carrots, and a few other items. I have at least 40 little flower buds on my beans!!! The corn is thriving, and all have the tips of the tassels beginning to peek out from between the leaves. I also planted some more tomatoes, but only a couple weeks ago, so those are still very small. The basil is still small, only about 8 leaves on each plant. I picked one leaf because it had leaf miners in it, and it smelled so good! I wish they would grow bigger so I could harvest some leaves without killing the plants.

In my SF boxes, my only bell pepper got eaten by something :mad: but I have 2 more banana peppers and several buds, and several tiny jalapenos just emerging.