GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

FarmI · 27-05-2010, 01:44 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Bert Hyman wrote:
In m
wrote:

Don't be too quick to conclude your veggies to be diseased. You made
no mention of what other veggies might be growing in that plot and
how they are doing. If you've raised the same few kinds of plants in
the same small area for a few years, your plants may be suffering a
nutrient deficiency. ...

You raise an important point. My wife reports that she uses an
11-15-11 granular fertilizer. I can't say exactly how much, or
exactly how it's used, since my involvement in the project is mainly
digging and hauling, but I trust that she's using it as directed.

If you have the wherewithal, by all means, start some new
container plants in new soil but you might be doing yourself a favor
to take an evening and really study any of the links below that
interest you.

Thanks for the links.

Much of the information is redundant and repetitive but studying the
images may help you identify an easily-cured deficiency that responds
positively to the "three-day" test (in general, that's how long you
should wait for a visible response to fast-release corrections).

The U of Mn's extension service has a soil testing service, and our
county has an open plant diagnostic clinic every week that we can use
if we can't arrive at a conclusion ourselves.

I think Balvenieman makes a good point, the other guys are assuming your
conclusion about contamination and going for the nukes, even if
reluctantly. Unless I saw obvious signs of pathogens I would not jump to
that conclusion.

The first thing I'd do would be to find another spot and cultivate that.
There's only be one mild mention of the problems of trying to grow the same
plants over and over again in the one plot of soil. Read up about crop
rotation and why that is important (and supposedly even more so if you're
not an organic gardener) and then start another bed in another place and
continue to do that every couple of years before you go back to the first
spot again.