Beginner Gardener year 2, too much nitrogen?

[timnels]

Really new at this. 3 row 4x16 garden beds with a variety of vegetables.

Year 1: Squash, cilantro, basil, arugula, lettuce, solid. Radishes ok, but small bulb. Beans and peas ok. Fennel, Kohlrabi, etc. failures.
Year 2: Everything is growing out of control, radishes almost no bulb, arugula, cilantro, basil, good. Everything else is growing like mad but after 30-40 days, its all leafy growth vegetable parts not even appearing, even some seem flowering.

Am I screwed here? I've read this is a result of too much nitrogen in the soil. Anything I can do to get some yield at this point?

Thanks.

 

[Ruderunner]

Temperature? Radishes don't care for sun or high temperature and almost prefer being put in frozen ground. Most brassica also prefer cooler but they also harvest late.

A better description of what is planted where can help, what are you using for soil and fertilizer?

 

[Chuck]

and where are you located?

 

[timnels]

Upstate NY. No fertilizers, just turned over the soil this Spring. "Growmax Premium" Organic humus, compost and Canadian peat moss.

 

[Chuck]

Your Growmax Premium has very little NPK value, 0.05-0.05-0.05. Compost also has a very low NPK ratio depending on what it is made of and peat moss has zero. Your first year of gardening had enough natural NPK to give you a decent crop but it has been used up. Have you done a soil test? My best advice is to actually fertilize your plants with a good organic manure based fertilizer and get a soil test done. Not knowing your climate I cannot speak of that.

 

[timnels]

Thanks helpful. But I assume there is nothing I can do with this crop, right?

 

[Chuck]

Thanks helpful. But I assume there is nothing I can do with this crop, right?

I don't know. When is your first frost? You may have enough time to start over. Probably too late for tomatoes and peppers in your area. Still have time for squash and cucumbers though. If you could send some pictures it would also be of help.

 

[Ruderunner]

Hold on. If things are growing like crazy but not productive, something seems out of whack. I'm not convinced that it's time to start over though.

Are the plants healthy looking?

Just because there's lots of greens but no produce may not mean much yet. If it's only been 30 days, some stuff won't show much at all.

Example, I put in beet seeds mid March, just harvested the first this weekend. They have had nice healthy greens for almost 2 months but not much for roots until recently. Supposed to be a 90 day crop, clearly past that and I expect I'll be picking them until fall.

How about a list of what you're growing and how it's performing?

 

[Meadowlark]

How about a list of what you're growing and how it's performing?

Provided by the OP

Really new at this. 3 row 4x16 garden beds with a variety of vegetables.

Year 1: Squash, cilantro, basil, arugula, lettuce, solid. Radishes ok, but small bulb. Beans and peas ok. Fennel, Kohlrabi, etc. failures.
Year 2: Everything is growing out of control, radishes almost no bulb, arugula, cilantro, basil, good. Everything else is growing like mad but after 30-40 days, its all leafy growth vegetable parts not even appearing, even some seem flowering.

Am I screwed here? I've read this is a result of too much nitrogen in the soil. Anything I can do to get some yield at this point?

Thanks.

Really the radishes are the only thing in year 2 with a bulb that I see. I've had radishes mature in less than 30 days, but some varieties take longer as much as 60 days. Arugula is a leafy veggie, no bulb or head. Same for Cilantro and basil...all leafy veggies. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Doesn't sound bad to me.

I'd do exactly as Chuck advised "fertilize your plants with a good organic manure based fertilizer and get a soil test done".

 

[Ruderunner]

Everything else growing like mad" isn't much of a list.

 

[timnels]

Fennel, squash, tomatoes, beans, peas, cilantro (arugula and basil cut back already)

 

[Chuck]

What are your nighttime low temperatures on average for the past couple of weeks? Everything looks good except for the pole beans in picture #6 and the tomatoes in the last picture. These appear to need fertilizing. On the tomatoes and squash are they blooming and if so what happens to the blooms?

 

[timnels]

High 60's Low 70's at night. They are blooming we will see what happens. What kind of fertilizer should I get at the garden center?

Thanks so much for the help everyone.

 

[Meadowlark]

High 60's Low 70's at night.

Wow what I wouldn't give for a few of those. We haven't been below 80 deg at night for several weeks now. That is absolutely perfect for tomato fruit set.

Chuck will have some good organic fertilizer recommendations for you..

 

[Chuck]

High 60's Low 70's at night. They are blooming we will see what happens. What kind of fertilizer should I get at the garden center?

Thanks so much for the help everyone.

I believe that the Espoma brand is easy to find in the Eastern US and it is an excellent product. I would get the Tomato Tone as it has a higher calcium content than the regular Garden Tone. And just to be on the safe side I would also get a bottle of Chelated Iron or Liquid Iron. Use about 1 cup of the fertilizer around the base of the plants and water it in with the Chelated Iron @ 1 oz per gallon of water.