On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 19:39:36 -0400, Jim Carter
wrote:

A friend's garden is not doing well. He has not mixed manure or other organic
material with the soil since he started gardening three years ago. Plants in
his garden are just not growing. The problem is that he has been relying on
short-cuts such as Miracle Grow.

Is there any product he can add now that would let him salvage this year's crop
without digging up the garden and adding manure?

There are products that work on the *soil* rather than directly on
the crop. E. B. Stone, among others, makes an organic fetilizer of
that type. Dunno if that would work "fast" enough to salvage this
year's crop for your friend, but it couldn't hurt try . Sprinkle it
around plants, cultivate lightly, and waterigently but thoroughly.

Could the problem be inherent in the soil? You don't state whether is
the first year that things have not gone well. IOW, could the friend
be gardening in soil that needs amendments (as you point out above).
Some soil is so rich it doesn't need help; others are not.

The soil might need something other than just manure (BTW- make sure
he knows to use well-rotted manure, not fresh from the critter's hind
end!). Maybe soil needs the pH modified, for example.

If there's an extension dept in the county where friend can get soil
tested (some nurseries will do this), that might be a first step.

Good luck!

--

Persphone