Would a tree make that much of a difference?
 

Hi, we garden on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada's and have a
large willow tree on the East side of the garden. The beds that are
closest to the tree (about 20' to the west) are planted in melons this
year and we noticed that those melon plants are very stunted, while
the beds farther away are doing fine. Yesterday I watched the beds
and the most stunted bed (closest to the willow) doesn't get sun until
11am. Our sun sets around 8pm right now (up to 9 during the longest
days in June) so these plants do get 8 hours of sunlight. After 11 it
gets really really hot and doesn't cool off until evening.
I started to think that maybe the melons might shut down during the
hottest part of the day, and since they missed all of that morning
sun, that might be what's stunting them. Also, could the roots of the
willow be sending something toxic? I have done soil test and come up
with 6.pHs. We use lots of chicken and horse compost. We had soft
rock phosphate every year (our soils are deficient in that product).
Last year I grew beans in the same spot and they did great.
Thanks for your time.
Janet

Would a tree make that much of a difference?
 

Would a tree make that much of a difference?
 

Janet said:

Yesterday I watched the beds
and the most stunted bed (closest to the willow) doesn't get sun until
11am. Our sun sets around 8pm right now (up to 9 during the longest
days in June) so these plants do get 8 hours of sunlight. After 11 it
gets really really hot and doesn't cool off until evening.
I started to think that maybe the melons might shut down during the
hottest part of the day, and since they missed all of that morning
sun, that might be what's stunting them.

Morning shade/afternoon sun is always more of a stress than morning sun/
afternoon shade.

Also, could the roots of the
willow be sending something toxic?

I couldn't find any information fingering willows as allelopathic. *Any* tree
will compete greedily with a vegetable garden for water and nutrients
(*especially* water), so that competition, combined with the morning shade,
could explain what's stunting your melons.

Tree roots entering the veggie garden to steal water and nutrients are a
particular problem of mine...
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Would a tree make that much of a difference?