16-03-2004, 09:30 PM
|
|
|
My Garden Has Petered Out
(pc macdonald) wrote in message . com...
May I solicit some suggestions?
besides the usual good advice from Farmerdill, I once estimated that
the potassium level in my garden (a robust 120 ppm when tested two yrs
ago) was good for only four tomato crops (four years) before being
completely depleted. I computed it for tomatoes because in their case
most of the K in the plant is removed from the garden (each fruit has
approximately one gram of K). 25 years seems to be a good time to
completely exhaust one or more nutrients. If they are not present in
Miracle Grow (I can not remember, but boron, I think, is not, and
neither is magnesium) they have gone over time. I mentioned boron
because its deficiency is explicitly related to a plant failing to set
fruits.
Manure is the cure-all fertilizer, and it will mellow any pH
imbalance, and it will work within the season. With a soil test, you
should be able to find out which particular amendment you need to add
this winter. It is probably either manure (six inches at least in your
case) if you need N as well as something else, or some sort of ground
rock if you are OK with N plus organic matter for absorption and
retention. My guess is that the soil is not only spent, but probably
has a poor texture and nutrient availability- organic matter will fix
that. I typically manure one year and add leaves or chips the other
year, plus some wood ash every year, and recycle a good part of the
vegetables at years end.
|