What did you do in the garden today?

[OnlySympathy]

I have always heard that you want to stay away from having wood in potting soil but I sometimes mix in mulch to make it cheaper and add better drainage and have never had any issues. Has anyone ever had problems caused by it?

 

[Smokerbill]

I don't get too worried about pH unless I see problems, or know that something is an outlier, like blueberries, that like really acidic soil.

It was obvious that my tomatoes and peppers in the new garden plot were hurting. Spindly and not growing much, leaves that aren't deep green and lush. I'm glad that I verified it's a pH problem, or at least it's a starting point because there could be other issues. I'll work on the pH first.

If I can get the plot in good shape in the next two or three years I'll be happy. I have other tomatoes growing that are doing well so I might have enough to make my salsa and tomato sauce. It is what it is.

 

[Minanora]

Today was an interesting day. My husband is more book smart than I am. He remembers history, English, and biology from school; I remember science, drafting, ag, and machining.

We complete each other. But sometimes we each think the other is stupid. And it's hilarious.

Anyway! My point in that everyone is good at different things. But if you're married, you get annoyed a lot. Especially when your brains work very differently. But in the end, it doesn't matter if you remember to laugh about it.


Anyway. My garden is in full swing finally. Harvested tomatoes today! THEY ARE SOOO GOOD!!! I will post a photo of my harvest from today; it's the first true veggie harvest I've had so far aside from beans. I picked tomatillos today as well; I am pretty impressed with my volunteer harvests. I love it! My "Back to chaos" garden is doing me just fine. I needed a win today.

My shoulder is getting better. Slowly. Naproxen proved to be a worthy solution. I have to take it easy still; but at least I'm able to turn the steering wheel of my vehicle again.

This weekend I'm getting up on the tractor to move dirt. I may have to let the spouse take charge on that one. We'll see. It'll be nice to go out to our property; we haven't been there since the end of June. We have to be home for the fruit tree harvests, no exceptions. Finally have a break between fruit sets. Looking forward to a change of pace.

 

[akroberts1085]

My blackberries have started producing this year. It's amazing how much better they taste versus the store bought and the stuff that so many people pick on the side of the road. I've gotten tomatoes and a couple of zucchini but something keeps eating my zucchini . My corn is still growing and I'm anxiously waiting for it to be done. I also have pumpkins and spaghetti squash coming up. Hopefully next year I will get my garden down to perfect. My fawn runner hen has started laying. That's about all for now

 

[jerryse]

Today was an interesting day. My husband is more book smart than I am. He remembers history, English, and biology from school; I remember science, drafting, ag, and machining.

We complete each other. But sometimes we each think the other is stupid. And it's hilarious.

Anyway! My point in that everyone is good at different things. But if you're married, you get annoyed a lot. Especially when your brains work very differently. But in the end, it doesn't matter if you remember to laugh about it.


Anyway. My garden is in full swing finally. Harvested tomatoes today! THEY ARE SOOO GOOD!!! I will post a photo of my harvest from today; it's the first true veggie harvest I've had so far aside from beans. I picked tomatillos today as well; I am pretty impressed with my volunteer harvests. I love it! My "Back to chaos" garden is doing me just fine. I needed a win today.

My shoulder is getting better. Slowly. Naproxen proved to be a worthy solution. I have to take it easy still; but at least I'm able to turn the steering wheel of my vehicle again.

This weekend I'm getting up on the tractor to move dirt. I may have to let the spouse take charge on that one. We'll see. It'll be nice to go out to our property; we haven't been there since the end of June. We have to be home for the fruit tree harvests, no exceptions. Finally have a break between fruit sets. Looking forward to a change of pace.

DW is book smart. I am hands on smart. We are so different in the way we think.

 

[Sally PB]

I have always heard that you want to stay away from having wood in potting soil but I sometimes mix in mulch to make it cheaper and add better drainage and have never had any issues. Has anyone ever had problems caused by it?

As long as it isn't treated with chemicals or dyes, your mulch should be fine. It does help with drainage by fluffing up the soil. For a potting soil, finer, shredded bits would be better.

"Wood" is a rather broad term. Depending on the particular wood, it could be good or bad.

Good: old wood can be a great holder of water. That's the idea behind hugelkultur. Logs buried under the soil to hold and slowly release water and nutrients. Even new wood can help, though it will suck some nitrogen out of the soil as it rots. This can be amended from above, so it's not detriment, just a "you need to add this nutrient to get it going" thing.

Bad: Treated or painted wood. Nope, don't want it. Certain woods, like walnut, can release allopathic chemicals, so I'd avoid those.

I'm glad that I verified it's a pH problem, or at least it's a starting point because there could be other issues. I'll work on the pH first.

Yes, that's what I'd do. The pH affects how plants can use nutrients, or not.

Case in point: I assumed the soil around my blueberries would be plenty acidic. Lots of oak leaves, so I thought I was good. I got very few berries. I tested the soil. It was a flat, even 7.0! Not acidic at all! I added a soil acidifier in the fall, and again in the spring. Wow, what a difference! That is all I added, so the nutrients were there, but the plants couldn't use them.

 

[Rick589]

I'll work on the pH first.

Yeah, the nutrient uptake will diminish either side of a 6-6.5 Ph. I definitely overshot on my adjustment and noticed my mistake primarily with the potatoes. Also, noticed my tomatoes don’t have the acidic bite that I like. Having said this I know how easy it for me to get too focused on a single element like Ph.

 

[Rick589]

I added a soil acidifier in the fall, and again in the spring. Wow, what a difference!

Absolutely. In my case I really didn’t need to acidify but did it anyway……and a substantial increase in production ensued.

 

[Rick589]

I got 11 total

WoooooooHooooooo! You ARE ‘THE’ bomb!

 

[Rick589]

I bet blueberries would love that. I’ve heard of people using wood ash to raise the ph

Doesn’t wood ash serve as an immediate yet short lived bump to Ph?