Gardening newbie needs help...

[Attirex]

Hey, everyone:

I and my family live in Eastern Massachusetts. We had a 8' by 16' boxed garden installed in the back yard last year (June). The location gets good sunlight for most of the day during the summer season. We had the landscaper truck in compost. Of course because it was fresh, the garden went nuts. It was like a kid's book--with minimal maintenance (outside of watering), we got huge zucchini and squash, broccoli, basil, huge and beautiful eggplant, and a ridiculous amount of tomatoes into October. We have rabbits everywhere, but didn't even have to put up a fence--for some reason they stayed away.

So this past spring, I tilled and turned over the soil, fertilized a bit, and planted again. We rotated the plants, switching the tomatoes from one side of the garden to the other, and planted a few different things--red and green peppers, lettuce, bush beans, cucumber, and a cantaloupe. We kept zucchini and eggplant, but reduced them to just a couple of plants each (vs several of each last year).

And of course, this year the garden has been a mess. First rabbits invaded and almost decimated the juvenile pepper, green bean, and lettuce plants, so we had to erect a huge and elaborate fence. Overall, none of the plants have done well--we got one or two good zucchinis, then the leaves got gray fungus, turned yellow, and the entire plant died. The cucumber and cantaloupe never had a chance; cucumber plants produced a few yellow mutant cucumbers, then died. The red pepper plant has never borne fruit. The green pepper plant produced two meager peppers. We've gotten a handful of decent beans, and the tomato plants are doing their best, despite being covered with black spots and yellowed leaves.

My guess is that the soil is simply depleted (we've also had a very dry summer, but I've been watering regularly) and filled with Bad Stuff. What can I do next year to prevent this? What's the proper way to prep soil? Should I get a composter?

Any advice appreciated!
Cheers,
A.F.

 

[Durgan]

Unlikely the soil is depleted in one year. Be careful with over watering. Your plot is small enough to almost hand water each root of the plants, Any particular year can be a risky or uncertain.. It does seem a bit unlikely that you should have what could be considered almost a total failure. Certainly the rabbits must be kept out, since they can devastate small plants in one night. The rest I suggest that you persist and learn a bit each year. Gardening particularly vegetable is solving the problems as they arise, germination, insects from hell, animals appear from no-where, weeds going crazy, and finally lousy weather working against you. Every year is different. Most people tend to over water which can be devastating. Heavy wood chip mulching gives a lot of control during dry spells.

All your issues I have encountered over the years, but not usually all in one year.

 

[Beth_B]

I suspect @Durgan might be correct, how often are you watering?
Here in Michigan we've had three unusually gloomy rainy growing seasons in a row and this has been the worst vegetable gardening year I can remember; primarily because it has been so damp (and hot, a bad combination!) We've had blight, powdery mildew on the squash, a slug infestation of Biblical proportions and yes, insects from hell galore.

If you had compost worked into the soil two years ago, I doubt it's a soil issue although depending on your soil it's not a bad idea to work in a little aged compost each spring. You can get your soil tested at your local University extension office and some garden centers offer that service too. Click here for the MA master gardener program.

You mentioned tomatoes with yellow leaves with black spots which sounds like blight...now that will stay in the soil over winter and attacks nightshade plants. There are numerous measures you can take against that, including rotating plants - which you are doing - and heavy mulching. Also only watering when necessary, and only from below, not sprinkling the plants from above. I'd start with a call to the Master Gardener folks and go from there. Good luck and please post back if you learn anything useful! I know it's really disappointing to plant veggies with high hopes and then have your garden falter. But we mostly learn from adversity, I guess...

 

[CanadianLori]

You've gotten some good advice here. If you add your zone and little more about your location to your profile, it might help others, perhaps even neighbours, jump in to offer help.

 

[Corzhens]

Depleted soil - that happens sometimes with no reason at all. My husband said that it may be due to the evaporation of nitrogen. During rainy season, the lightning produces nitrogen that enriches the soil in a natural way. And the only way to simulate the benefit of lightning is to cross-crop the bed with peanuts and other legumes because legumes create nitrogen in the soil.

 

[Chuck]

All of the above posters are correct. It is a weather and watering problem which has led to the fungal problems. The spores of the harmful fungi is still in your soil and you should do everything possible to eliminate the threat now. There is no easy one step process to the elimination of harmful fungus. To start I would pull every plant out of the garden and burn them. Next I would rake in (not till) about 40 lbs of horticultural cornmeal over the entire garden. Next spring do the same thing and do not till. As soon as your soil thaws out start a soil feeding program using compost tea, the object being to greatly increase the micro organisms in the soil which in turn help to destroy harmful pathogens. Next year, as soon as your plants are in the ground start spray regimen of cornmeal tea and liberally spray the foliage of all of your plants routinely. By doing all of the above you will greatly reduce harmful fungi and greatly increase the beneficial fungi

 

[Attirex]

Wow, thanks so much for the tips, everyone. It's a bit overwhelming.

Because you guys generally don't seem to think the soil is depleted, my guess is that overwatering could be the culprit. Last year towards the end of the season, I'm now remembering, the tomato plants black spots/yellowing leaves and the zucchini leaves had pretty bad gray fungus. But for whatever reason, it wasn't a fatal problem like it was this year. In any event, I read online somewhere these issues can be caused by water splashing microbes from the soil onto the plants, and also watering to close to evening/nighttime when it's cool...?

In sum, I have no idea how to water properly. :-( I usually water every other day with a garden hose. And I hate to admit that I water from above and way too much at once (it's definitely not a sprinkle). But especially this summer, which has had no significant rain, the plants start to wilt if I wait more than a day. So what's the proper way to water, and how do I know when it''s the right time to water?

I've seen the mulch advice before, so I've taken note of that.

Chuck, can I get cornmeal at a garden center? And what is compost tea?

Lori, how do I add zone info? I checked my profile page and couldn't find anything related....

Cheers! And sorry for all the questions....

 

[Beth_B]

General watering advice: Mornings only. It's OK for plants to wilt a bit when it is hot and dry, often they'll get a bit limp in the afternoon heat but will recover fine as it cools down. It's been rainy here and I've probably watered less than a dozen times all season. Every other day seems excessive even in dry weather except maybe in containers. With established plants, IF I water, I'll turn the hose to a trickle and leave it running at the base of the plant for several minutes, up to I guess five minutes. Or you could get a soaker hose and do a row of plants at once.

I'm going to take Chuck's advice and try the cornmeal thing in spring because despite my advice above, I got hit bad with blight this year! I've no clue where to get it either but I'm guessing a good garden center, or a place like Tractor Supply, if you have those up by you. (It's a garden/farm chain store.)

Go to "personal details" on your profile page to add your hardiness zone.

We like questions.

 

[KJ Jabbo]

Hi A.F,

You are indeed gooding good advice here.

It sounds like you have a soil nutrient imbalance and the best thing you can do is get it tested and go from there. Beans, of course, do not require a nitrogen heavy soil and they sound like yours are doing OK. On the other hand, your tomatoes, while the standout still have yellow leaves which suggests they may be hungry, and they are heavy nitrogen feeders. That coupled with all the other challenges says you probably have some soil imbalances. You could take a guess and add amendments willy nilly, but typically it only costs a few dollars to have it tested, so why not go that route.

I'm in NE Connecticut and the biggest issue we had wasn't so much a nutrient imbalance, but rather just getting good tilth to the soil. This has helped more than anything. With good tilth, the soil will both hold moisture and drain well, roots can permeate and there is enough subsoil oxygen to feed all of the good microbes that like to live on root systems and help them grow. If your soil doesn't feel light, spongy and airy, think about adding some peat, composted leaves (not much), a bit of horse manure, and our favorite, grass clipping (untreated).

Maybe it might just be water? This has been a dry summer for most of the country, and last year was a bit more rainy. Have you been keeping up your watering. And HOT this year. VERY VERY HOT.

Don't despair. Some years are great, some not so much. We're all dealing with nature, which keeps it fun, but sometimes frustrating.

KJ

 

[Chuck]

Wow, thanks so much for the tips, everyone. It's a bit overwhelming.

Because you guys generally don't seem to think the soil is depleted, my guess is that overwatering could be the culprit. Last year towards the end of the season, I'm now remembering, the tomato plants black spots/yellowing leaves and the zucchini leaves had pretty bad gray fungus. But for whatever reason, it wasn't a fatal problem like it was this year. In any event, I read online somewhere these issues can be caused by water splashing microbes from the soil onto the plants, and also watering to close to evening/nighttime when it's cool...?

In sum, I have no idea how to water properly. :-( I usually water every other day with a garden hose. And I hate to admit that I water from above and way too much at once (it's definitely not a sprinkle). But especially this summer, which has had no significant rain, the plants start to wilt if I wait more than a day. So what's the proper way to water, and how do I know when it''s the right time to water?

I've seen the mulch advice before, so I've taken note of that.

Chuck, can I get cornmeal at a garden center? And what is compost tea?

Lori, how do I add zone info? I checked my profile page and couldn't find anything related....

Cheers! And sorry for all the questions....

Horticultural cornmeal is best found at ranch supply/cattle feed stores and comes in 20lb-50lb bags. Any real nursery will either have it or can get it but usually in smaller bags and thus more expensive. The cornmeal at the grocery store is NOT what you want if it has the word enriched anywhere on the package. You want either Whole Ground or Stone Ground. Buying at the grocery is way expensive.

Compost tea. There is quite a bit of info on CT in the Organic Gardening section of this site. But simply put CT is compost and other organic additives soaked in water for a period of time and then used as either a foliar spray or soil drench. There are two types of CT. One is called Lechate and the other called Actively Aerated Compost Tea or AACT. AACT is many times better than lechate. The objective of using CT is to tremendously increase the microbial life in your garden soil thus enabling your plants to more easily uptake nutrients. CT does a lot more than that but basically it inspires grown and enhances the health of you plants. Google compost tea. The data you will find is mind boggling

 

[Attirex]

Thanks, Chuck and Beth B.! More good info. Will add my zone info.

Chuck, I'll have to do some hardcore Googling, as I'm not sure there are any ranch supply/cattle feed stores in eastern Massachusetts...? But there are quite a few nurseries in the area that might have the right cornmeal.

Also, per watering, someone posted that it's normal if your plants wilt a bit during the heat of the day. See photos. Is this a normal amount of wilt? Pepper and eggplant after approx a day and half without watering:

I think part of the problem is that I see this, freak out, and then water too much.

Ugh, poor plants. The horror.....

PS--According to the Zip code search, I'm in USDA zone 5b and PlantMaps zone 6a. Although looking on the map I seem to be in 7a with 6a border only a few blocks north of my actual house. Hm.

 

[Beth_B]

Yeah, the zone thing can be a bit back and forth, I'm between 6a and 5b, we've had a couple of uncommonly cold winters - polar freeze, then record-breaking low temps last year - so it's rather vague.

Anyhow here in Michigan summer, we don't tan, we rust. It's been so long since I lived in a dry climate (Colorado) I don't recall my watering habits back then. I can tell you that once in a while I have eggplants or tomatoes in containers that wilt in the afternoon just like you pictured but they're looking good the next early morning without me adding water. So don't freak out. Wilting does not mean imminent death, trust me.

Letting some veggie plants get a little stressed for water may increase yield and some commercial growers do it, google that. (I'm not knowleagable enough to cherry-pick good cites.) But I do know that very deep watering helps; when it gets hot and dry there's enough water deep in the soil to keep the plants going in high heat. Seems it wouldn't be the case in MA but I read that in very hot and sunny climates. too much sun can be a Thing and providing some sort of shade cloth or cover can help.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks, Chuck and Beth B.! More good info. Will add my zone info.

Chuck, I'll have to do some hardcore Googling, as I'm not sure there are any ranch supply/cattle feed stores in eastern Massachusetts...? But there are quite a few nurseries in the area that might have the right cornmeal.

Also, per watering, someone posted that it's normal if your plants wilt a bit during the heat of the day. See photos. Is this a normal amount of wilt? Pepper and eggplant after approx a day and half without watering:

I think part of the problem is that I see this, freak out, and then water too much.

Ugh, poor plants. The horror.....

PS--According to the Zip code search, I'm in USDA zone 5b and PlantMaps zone 6a. Although looking on the map I seem to be in 7a with 6a border only a few blocks north of my actual house. Hm.

Yep, that is about normal wilt for a hot, sunny afternoon. Only water if they are wilted in the morning and then soak them really deep

 

[Attirex]

Quick follow-up:

I cut waaaay back on my watering, and now, at the beginning of October, my garden is kinda looking better than it did all summer..... welp.

So I guess watering lesson hard learned for next season. And I'm still going to take the good advice you guys provided and treat the soil with corn meal before I plant next spring.

 

[Becky]

I'm pleased to hear your garden is doing better Attirex!

What are your plans for next year?