Why are my plants turning yellow?

[GardenerGal]

Im going to try getting some minerals then. I figured our dirt here was pretty good. Strawberries grow wild like crazy here. I guess Ill be getting some supplements for the soil lol. Maybe it will solve the problem. If not, Il try removing the fertilized soil and putting in some regular dirt.

Are there any safe slug killing things that wont harm my chickens? I have lots of bedding i can use as a cover for winter. What does the cover do?

Sometimes the soil can have adequate nutrients/minerals, but the pH affects the plants' ability to absorb and use them. That's why I suggested a pH test.
Organic soil supplements, such as the Espoma brands (Plant-Tone, Flower-Tone, etc.) work really well to augment deficient soils. I think they're available in Canada, or there must be a Canadian equivalent. Your soil will benefit from organic matter, much better than just straight mineral-fertilizer supplements (which are the quick fix I mentioned to help your plants immediately while you build the soil for the longterm by adding organic composts).

One thing is certain -- no matter what the cause of your plants' problems, adding a good, well-balanced compost that includes rotted/composted cow manure, composted poultry manures, chopped up/semi-composted leaves and lawn clippings, straw, etc. WILL help build your soil for the long run, and the more you use, and the more time it has to break down and become part of the soil, year after year, the more your garden will thrive.

The soiled bedding (poop, shavings and all) from your chickens can and should be part of this. You can either compost it in a pile (that you turn over weekly) and then add the composted material, or you can top- or side-dress with it and let it break down over time in the garden itself. It serves several purposes: the nutrients within the mix will break down and become available to the plants to use; while it is not yet completely broken down it will serve as a mulch that helps keep moisture in the soil during hot, dry weather -- especially if you water well first then add the compost; in winter it helps keep the soil temperature constant and prevents frost-heaving, and it protects soil organisms so that they stay active later into the winter and continue to break the organic material down into rich compost-soil, ready for planting next spring.

Slugs: Diatomaceous earth, which is the calcium-carbonate crystalline material left over from the shells of billions of tiny sea creatures, is safe to use. you sprinkle a thick ring of it around the base of each plant, or around the perimeter of the garden itself or sections of the garden, and slugs can't pass over it. It has to be replaced after a hard rain or heavy wind, however. A lot of people still like to use shallow pans of beer, which the slugs climb into and drown. Chickens may drink it, though! You could put a cage of chicken wire around the pans to prevent that. A third method is to provide wooden planks or other flat objects that provide a moist, dark hiding place beneath. Slugs will hide under it during the daytime, and you can turn the planks over daily and remove the slugs.

Plants can't live on "dirt" alone. Soil is a universe unto itself, with myriad living organisms within it that create the hospitable evironment and provide the available nutrients that plants need. Think of feeding the soil, rather than feeding the plants, and the problem will take care of itself!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I don't think the manure is the problem, unless it is totally raw and uncomposted. Aged manure in bags does not burn. I've had pumpkins pop up in almost pure (bagged) cow manure and not have the problems you are having.

What it -does- look like, to me, is that your soil is deficient in micro minerals, especially iron. Either that, or the pH is wrong for the kinds of plants you're growing. The plants in the photos, especially the tomatoes, have leaves that look like they are pale green with dark green veins -- a symptom of iron deficiency. But you could also be lacking manganese and other micros.

First thing to do is test the pH (soil acidity-alkalinity) to see whether maybe that is what's affecting your plants. Buy a soil pH test kit (garden shops sell them) to test whether your soil is too alkaline or too acidic for the plants you are trying to grow. Garden veggies tend to prefer a neutral or near-neutral soil, a pH of 6.5 to 7 or so. If it's too extreme one way or another, it affects the plants' ability to absorb and utilize soil nutrients.

If the pH is okay, then your soil is probably lacking in essential elemental nutrients. For a quick fix, use a liquid "complete" fertilizer that contains chelated iron, copper, manganese, boron and other micronutrients, as well as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium (the "Big Three"). Soak the soil at the plants' bases. There are fertilizer applicators you attach to your garden hose that make this easy.
For the long-term fix, work more manure thoroughly into the soil between the plants and rows, and after the growing season is over, work compost and manure into the soil and topdress with a mulch of chopped straw and leaves to sit there over the winter and turn it under in the spring. If you have chickens and/or other poultry and livestock, you can use their soiled bedding as a top-dressing or side-dressing too, now during the growing season (makes a great moisture-retaining mulch as a side dressing) and over the winter.

Hope that helps.

Agree. Low calcium can also cause yellowing of the leaves.

 

[booker81]

Just thought I'd mention I swear by the "slug swimming pools" of beer. I use a shallow tupperware dish and set in in the soil like a little inground swimming pool, and fill it about halfway with cheap or stale beer. Just need to empty it (and the slugs it attracts) out every few days (probably NOT where the chickens are, not sure how good alcohol infused slugs are for them).

What everyone else said too - looks like some sort of deficiency. A good garden soil isn't made in a day, but keep plugging away at amending and caring for it, and it will just become better and better.

 

[mominoz]

Another possibility is that there could be residue of weed killer "amine" in the manure. I read where they found some plants are sensitive to it , particularily beans I recall, that came up then died. Turns out the cows were eating hay form treated fields and it survived and was st ill in the manure and some plants in Organic farms were dying from it and they want to ban it..... I did read some of the labels on 2-4-d and another brush killer and it says to not use manure from animals grazed on it till they were off the pasture for 3 days....scary sort of(ps I try not to use anything, but the buttercups were trying to take over...

 

[smilingcat]

Several good points made already. There are residual herbicide that can remain active even after composting. If you live in California, that herbicide is banned and you are safe. If you live in other states this is a possibility. But the plants in the photo doesn't look like it.

too much nitrogen and burning the plant isn't likely either as most cow manures are well aged and are not hot.

I would have to go with lack of micronutrients and maybe wrong pH of the soil. Get a pH test kit and see that the soil is more or less neutral. Generally can't go wrong with that. If you are missing micro-nutrients, use Epsom salt, get it at a local pharmacy; ironite, get a bag of for use on a lawn make sure it doesn't have any herbicide; you can also use DG decompose granite. May need to add lime as well. Lime will help balance out the pH if its too acidic low pH value <7.

I think you are fine on nitrogen and phosphorus content of the soil.

From the photo, I would recommend you add lime, extra ironite and extra epsom salt.

 

[Daisy8s]

If you think you need to make significant changes to the soil in the whole plot then perhaps this year you could transplant/replant into containers with new soil. That way you can still have some plants this year while you're figuring out your soil issues.

Just a thought if it seems too daunting to rework the entire plot immediately so as to replant.

 

[Reurra]

Well I got 2 zuccinis and a handful of beans so far. My tomatoes are big and gree, but they have been green for a few weeks now, still nothing red yet. We have been water conserving so they ahve not gotten much water and I think that might be why my maters are not red yet. Ive been harvesting lettuce and my pumpkins are flowering. I got a cucumber too with more on the vine. I also have some gourds growing!

I watered them really well and talked to a garden center owner. She said that they may not be getting the complete amount of vitamins and she said too that it might have to do with residue in the manure. So she gave me this miracle gro stuff for tomatoes and I used it like she suggested. everything just sprouted after that!

 

[SweetSilver]

I still agree with the manure assessment. Pumpkins will grow in pure poo, practically, so that's not as helpful a comparison as you think. Steer manure comes from feed lots, and I think that might be a very different product from the cow manure you might get from a small farm. But that I don't know. I do know that bagged store steer manure is heavy on the ammonia smell. 4 bags in a 10x20 plot could be an awful lot. When I try assessing a problem, I try the most obvious solution first. Ph and minerals are usually not the first things I suspect.

Steer manure is best as an amendment, not a key ingredient in jumpstarting a garden plot. If I were limited to the bagged stuff, I would buy compost and skip topsoil and steer manure. "Topsoil" is compost that is mixed with dirt, so you are buying dirt. I think we all have enough dirt. Use the topsoil on the top (don't mix it in). I don't till in compost anyhow, but if you want to, then mix in compost, not topsoil. We bought prepared topsoil (a mixture of compost, sand, dirt) to add on top of our compacted, crappy, post-construction dirt around a house. That's what that's good for.

Anyhow, too late. There were some good suggestions upthread. I would try the easiest first. Go ahead and test the soil if you want for next year mainly, but I would contact your extension agent because they know local soils best and can help you interpret your results and rectify anything.

BTW, when I have a bed that performed poorly the previous year, that's where the compost pile goes--right on top. In a year or two when we remove the pile, the bed will be crawling with worms and rich ebony color.