T wrote:
....
This is a spot where I have been working on the soil
for years. It could still be a tiny bit alkali, but
garlic grown there looks purple instead of red,
with is a good sign. But..

yes, but how deep (how many cubic feet per plant)?
for a large plant figure the root system has to be
down in the soil about the same as the size of the
plant above... you can help some roots go off and
down by pounding a metal chunk of rebar in the hole
you dig for the tomatoes to give some extra area to
them, but if the soil is really bad they're going
to struggle...


I probably need more fertilizer to add to add the
organic matter I have plowed under.

if you want humus you can usually balance your
carbon and nitrogen ratio (like any other composting
situation). one way i add more N is by grown legumes.
alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil are two of the better
ones because they can get to be larger plants that
also cast some shade, smother weeds, give off plenty
of seeds for starting other plants and they can also
be chopped a few times a season if you have enough
rains to get them growing. once established they
also can have a pretty deep root system so that also
helps in an arid climate. i'm picking some of mine
now and drying it for winter food for the worms.


The bushes themselves are growing quite well. I gots
lots of green tomatoes on it. Before (early girls,
etc.) I would get only one or two stunted tomatoes
total (green+red).

good to see progress happening.


I learned this year that you have to fertilize your
ass off!

some vegetable plants have an effective limit and if
you add more you'll get plenty of green leaves but not
much production. i've found that out with certain
varieties of green peppers as just one example. also
for some other plants too much fertilizer will give
you weaker leaves and stems more subject to certain
diseases.

have you added sulfur once in a while?


songbird