First post, so I hope I am in the right place! I have a small vegetable plot in my garden, and usually grow dwarf beans, potatoes and a couple of cabbages. I have some success and usually have a fairly god harvest. This year, however, everything died except the potatoes which are large and healthy. I am still digging them up now! I use my own compost on my patch, but is it the weather which caused this or have I done something wrong? I am fairly new to growing veg and want to grow some winter veg as well, but need to look up what to grow first, as I currently do not know. I am learning still. I am not sure how much help you will be able to give me with such little info, but you might know of something I can do to try and stop all my veg dying again. Maybe trying to grow something different?
Thanks in advance.

In article ,
says...

First post, so I hope I am in the right place! I have a small vegetable
plot in my garden, and usually grow dwarf beans, potatoes and a couple
of cabbages. I have some success and usually have a fairly god harvest.
This year, however, everything died except the potatoes which are large
and healthy. I am still digging them up now! I use my own compost on
my patch, but is it the weather which caused this or have I done
something wrong? I am fairly new to growing veg and want to grow some
winter veg as well, but need to look up what to grow first, as I
currently do not know. I am learning still. I am not sure how much
help you will be able to give me with such little info, but you might
know of something I can do to try and stop all my veg dying again.
Maybe trying to grow something different?
Thanks in advance.





You may want to try posting this directly to uk.rec.gardening. That is
where you will find most gardeners.
--
David in Normandy.
(The free MicroPlanet Gravity newsreader is great for eliminating the
cross-posted rubbish)

First post, so I hope I am in the right place!

This is one right place (we are a world-wide group).

Now, assuming you are in the UK, I can't very well blame drought. Not
this summer.

dwarf beans, potatoes and a couple of cabbages

In what manner did they die? Leaves brown? Yellow? Bits of the
leaves gone (which would mean something was chewing them)? Lack of
growth? A few of the possibilities a (1) fungal pathogens
(especially likely in a wet year), (2) insect damage (often possible
to spot the insects if you have been looking carefully), (3)
something, such as a toxin, nutrient deficiency, or too much of a
nutrient, in the soil/compost (can be hard to track down, but trying
different parts of the garden in different years might give some kind
of idea).

Careful observation and consulting with someone local to you who knows
what problems are common in your area can help. You can also try
posting photos (via flickr or some such service, not directly to the
group). We'd probably need to see what the plants looked like as they
began to sicken, not when they were completely dead.

Thankyou. I think leaving the plot fallow will help over the winter, with a good winter dig. How did they die, well, they never really grew, nothing much happened at all. Ihad some plants, but no veg on them.
Thanks

How did they die, well, they never really grew, nothing much happened
at all. Ihad some plants, but no veg on them.

Not enough sun? (most vegetables want full sun).

The other first guess, if the plants were small, is not enough soil
fertility (especially if your soil looks more like clay, sand, etc,
than rich dark soil). One approach is liberal doses of compost,
composted manure, etc. If using more concentrated fertilizers
(chemical fertilizers, organic but more-concentrated ones like fish
emulsion, etc), be careful not to overfertilize. My instinct would be
to amend the soil this fall rather than next spring, to give some
extra composting time.

If the plants were large, but no fruit, that usually means too much
nitrogen. Or not enough sun (but I'm starting to repeat myself).

In article ,
Jim Kingdon wrote:

How did they die, well, they never really grew, nothing much happened
at all. Ihad some plants, but no veg on them.

Not enough sun? (most vegetables want full sun).

The other first guess, if the plants were small, is not enough soil
fertility (especially if your soil looks more like clay, sand, etc,
than rich dark soil). One approach is liberal doses of compost,
composted manure, etc. If using more concentrated fertilizers
(chemical fertilizers, organic but more-concentrated ones like fish
emulsion, etc), be careful not to overfertilize. My instinct would be
to amend the soil this fall rather than next spring, to give some
extra composting time.

If the plants were large, but no fruit, that usually means too much
nitrogen. Or not enough sun (but I'm starting to repeat myself).

I'm in full agreement with Jim.

Good garden soil is 30%-40% sand, 30%-40% silt, and 20%-30% clay. To
check your soil, dig a hole 1 ft deep (not including any organic
material that may be on top of it, use a trowel) and put the dirt in a
glass jar (lg. mason or 1 gal. wine jug). Shake up dirt with water to
make a slurry. Sand will settle out in 2-3 min., silt in 20 min., and
clay within 24 hours. The thickness of each layer divided by the overall
depth of the sediment will give the percentage composition of each
component. You can then amend the soil appropriately. Read up on green
fertilizers (mix of plants that fix nitrogen and produce organic
matter). Some garden centers will already have a mix of seeds for this
purpose. Come late winter - early spring I would cover garden area with
newsprint (no color sections) and cover that with mulch. After 6 weeks
or more, I'd start planting through the mulch. Use organic fertilizers
to encourage the microscopic flora and fauna in the soil. Chemical
fertilizers can kill the ecology of the soil.
--
FB - FFF

Billy

Get up, stand up, stand up for yor rights.
Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight.
- Bob Marley