What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

I think that was the cause of the problem. Last winter I covered the beds several inches deep with some different composted materials, just to see the effect they'd have. I removed all of that a while back, but there's still a lot of organic material in that top layer.

One bed I covered with well rotted fir tree stump chips and dust that I dug/scraped/broke/shoveled from a rotten stump I found in the woods behind my house.

Another half of a bed I covered with a thick layer of partially composted hardwood leaves, mostly maple leaves. The other half of that bed I covered with well rotted ( 2 years old, the place I bought them from told me) wood compost, pretty much all fine granules.

Plus, there was lots of rain all winter and into the spring, and from what I read that can acidify soils. The Pacific Northwest is an area of the country that typically has acid soil.

So, I think that instead of adding anything, I'll go ahead and remove a couple of inches off the top, down to the good stuff. Then I'll plant some seeds, see how they do, and possibly prove that my theory is correct. The beds will still have plenty of soil. I actually overfilled them when I set them up, leaving no room for yearly topping off with composted material.

I worked too hard mixing compost into the beds so the worms, bacteria and fungus would have a good environment. I'm not going to disturb that by tilling. Maybe that's one reason the deeper soil pH and fertility measured as being good in that area.

Wood chips have a pH level around 4.0. They also rod the immediate soil of nitrogen for the decomposing process. All that would be not good for your plants. Aged, composted, wood chips should be better, but by what you have stated, it seems that the wood chip compost you used has lowered the pH level of your top 2 inches of soil.

My chicken run compost is made up of mostly leaves and grass clippings, with chicken poo as a bonus. I had a base layer of wood chips to begin with, but those have completely vanished over the past 3 years. Anyways, I suspect that the wood chip based compost lowered the pH level of your topsoil.

Although I have tillers, I rarely use them these days. I prefer to garden using the no till method so I don't disturb the soil life. Every once in a while, I take out the battery powered 40v mini tiller to mix up my compost litter really good. It has been a few years since I used my walk behind gas tiller to break new sod for a garden. I think I used it once last year to scratch the topsoil on a larger patch where I had to replant new grass seed.

BTW, I also have a small 18v cultivator, which loosens the soil up nicely in the raised beds without actually tilling the soil. If my garden bed gets too compacted, I'll loosen up the soil with the cultivator. It does a good job for me.

 

[gtaus]

AWESOME JOB! Now prune those lower, dirt touching tomato branches

Thanks. I'm still learning. After I prune those lower branches, I'll be adding some top mulch to the beds to protect the soil surface and lock in the moisture. I hear that's a good thing.

 

[Smokerbill]

Wood chips have a pH level around 4.0. They also rod the immediate soil of nitrogen for the decomposing process. All that would be not good for your plants. Aged, composted, wood chips should be better, but by what you have stated, it seems that the wood chip compost you used has lowered the pH level of your top 2 inches of soil.

My chicken run compost is made up of mostly leaves and grass clippings, with chicken poo as a bonus. I had a base layer of wood chips to begin with, but those have completely vanished over the past 3 years. Anyways, I suspect that the wood chip based compost lowered the pH level of your topsoil.

Although I have tillers, I rarely use them these days. I prefer to garden using the no till method so I don't disturb the soil life. Every once in a while, I take out the battery powered 40v mini tiller to mix up my compost litter really good. It has been a few years since I used my walk behind gas tiller to break new sod for a garden. I think I used it once last year to scratch the topsoil on a larger patch where I had to replant new grass seed.

BTW, I also have a small 18v cultivator, which loosens the soil up nicely in the raised beds without actually tilling the soil. If my garden bed gets too compacted, I'll loosen up the soil with the cultivator. It does a good job for me.

View attachment 3530462

I shoveled 2 to 3 inches off the top of part of one bed, loosened up about an inch further, then replanted radishes, turnips, beets and chard. Watered them in. Now it's play wait and see what happens when they come up. Will they actually grow this time???

 

[Sally PB]

Has anyone ever used rooting compound? DH wants to make cuttings of his favorite trees, so he bought some. I thought I might use some on my sweet potato slips, as they are literally just stem cuttings. The leaves that were on the ends are crispy, but the stems are pliable. I have them sitting in a glass of water over night. Then try some rooting compound on them and plant them in small cups for a few days, before I put them in the garden.

I know the last time I bought slips, they had roots on them. I feel like I've lost about 2 weeks worth of growing season with these.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

Has anyone ever used rooting compound? DH wants to make cuttings of his favorite trees, so he bought some. I thought I might use some on my sweet potato slips, as they are literally just stem cuttings. The leaves that were on the ends are crispy, but the stems are pliable. I have them sitting in a glass of water over night. Then try some rooting compound on them and plant them in small cups for a few days, before I put them in the garden.

I know the last time I bought slips, they had roots on them. I feel like I've lost about 2 weeks worth of growing season with these.

Yes, all the time.
However, I stink at getting things to root, so I have no good advice.
Someday I hope to be able to make a good go of it.

 

[TJAnonymous]

The battle has begun.... Need to go pick up traps tomorrow. Suggestions?

 

[fuzzi]

Interesting how your soil is good 2 inches and deeper, but the top 2 inches is a problem. Can you simply amend the top few inches with compost?

Another thought comes to mind is that this year I started my plants in 3-inch net cups. They all got transplanted into the garden and were at least 3 inches, or more, into the garden bed where your soil is good by your description.

Although I am not generally a proponent of tilling, if your top 2 inches of soil are not very good, maybe you could dump some good soil/dirt/compost on top and till everything together? My mini battery 40v tiller is good for down to 6 inches, and my big gas walk behind tiller mixes stuff up as much as one foot deep. Tilling is fast and easy if you have the machines. If it's a small area, a good pitchfork should work fine.

Although I'm not certain, I think compost is usually a neutral PH of 7.0, which in your case would raise those top 2 inches of soil where you need it to be. Every year I top off my raised beds with fresh chicken run compost. That's where I make more compost than I can use. However, any compost, even store bought, should help in your situation.

I live on a lake, and my soil is very sandy. For years, I was tilling in anything organic I could find... grass clippings, leaves, etc... It helped improve the soil, a lot, but I finally got smarter and built raised beds and just filled them with a high quality topsoil and compost from my chicken run. Instead of trying to grow soil in my in-ground garden, I'm now actually growing plants in my raised beds.

I read a passage somewhere on gardening that asked the question... "Do you want to spend years trying to improve your soil, or would you rather invest in high quality soil and compost now and be growing plants starting this year?" Given my age, I opted to invest in the later and am happy I did. I buy my topsoil from a nursery by the trailer full, but I get all the compost I can use, and more, from my chicken run composting system.

Point is, if you have a problem with your soil, take care of now and enjoy the rewards now in terms of healthier plants that produce good food for the family. If you can start a composting system, you will have compost to amend and top off your garden beds each year. Good luck.

Agreed. You beat me to it.

When I was seven we moved to the Connecticut shoreline. When first dug my mom's vegetable garden was mainly sand. She got into organic gardening and started adding vegetable matter to the soil. She'd dig a hole and bury potato peelings, trimmings, whatever she could add. By the time we moved some 7 years later the vegetable garden was gorgeous loam. She never had a compost pile, but just kept adding to the soil.

My dh and I lived in SC when the kids were small. The ground was, as my husband liked to say, "adobe brick!" The yard was hard packed red clay. I started a compost pile of leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, and spoiled produce from work and local grocery stores. We were able to get decent crops after amending the "soil", such as it was.

@Smokerbill, I would add organic matter, well-rotted/composted would be best, and work on improving the soil. I wouldn't remove it.

I decided to test the soil that's in the top 2", and it seems that's where the problem is. The top layer of soil is very acidic, reading a pH of 5.5 on the meter! And the soil fertility level is low too, probably because of the acidity.

And that seems to explain what I've been seeing. Seedlings sprout, they turn yellow and pretty much quit growing. But a few of those seedlings start greening up and growing, I assume because the roots have penetrated the lower layer of "good" soil.
...

Should I just remove the acidic top layer of soil from the beds?

 

[fuzzi]

I think that was the cause of the problem. Last winter I covered the beds several inches deep with some different composted materials, just to see the effect they'd have. I removed all of that a while back, but there's still a lot of organic material in that top layer.

One bed I covered with well rotted fir tree stump chips and dust that I dug/scraped/broke/shoveled from a rotten stump I found in the woods behind my house.

Another half of a bed I covered with a thick layer of partially composted hardwood leaves, mostly maple leaves. The other half of that bed I covered with well rotted ( 2 years old, the place I bought them from told me) wood compost, pretty much all fine granules.

Plus, there was lots of rain all winter and into the spring, and from what I read that can acidify soils. The Pacific Northwest is an area of the country that typically has acid soil.

So, I think that instead of adding anything, I'll go ahead and remove a couple of inches off the top, down to the good stuff. Then I'll plant some seeds, see how they do, and possibly prove that my theory is correct. The beds will still have plenty of soil. I actually overfilled them when I set them up, leaving no room for yearly topping off with composted material.

I worked too hard mixing compost into the beds so the worms, bacteria and fungus would have a good environment. I'm not going to disturb that by tilling. Maybe that's one reason the deeper soil pH and fertility measured as being good in that area.

And there you are, you figured it out.

 

[fuzzi]

The squash experiment continues...

I trimmed the lowest leaves and wrapped the remaining stalk/vine with socks (preventing squash borers I hope) and tied them to the stakes higher up. The leaves are HUGE.

Then I pruned my tomatoes, which LOVE the new raised bed.

I'm cutting low branches and inwardly growing suckers to improve air flow. The plants are still thick with leaves on top, so to prevent sun scald. And the borage are budding!

Watermelons on left, cantaloupe on right.

First day lily blossom of 2023.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

The battle has begun.... Need to go pick up traps tomorrow. Suggestions?

View attachment 3530588

Put the traps on your mean neighbor's property?