After I moved into this home I began growing tomatoes every summer in
two different locations.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?

Unless you have a buildup of some of soil borne disease, I would suspect that
your soil is depleted. As a simple test, buy a couple of highly disease
resistant tomato plants dig a planting hole large enough to hold a bag of
composted cow manure, mix the manue with the soil and plant the tomatoes. If
they grow, then you can experiment with heirlooms or other less resistant
tomatoe cultivars.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?

Unless you have a buildup of some of soil borne disease, I would suspect that
your soil is depleted. As a simple test, buy a couple of highly disease
resistant tomato plants dig a planting hole large enough to hold a bag of
composted cow manure, mix the manue with the soil and plant the tomatoes. If
they grow, then you can experiment with heirlooms or other less resistant
tomatoe cultivars.

(pc macdonald) wrote in message . com...
After I moved into this home I began growing tomatoes every summer in
two different locations.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?


This may be a well-planned troll. But in case it is not, my guess is
that the pH or nutrient profile have gone way out of whack. Probably
no earthworms either. Soil test, add what is missing, if anything,
then add one foot of leaves, then wait for some balance to be
restored. If the soil is too alkaline (which it might, given that wood
ash has a pH of 10.4), you can still grow some veggies, such as chard
or beet, that will grow up to a pH of 8. Potatoes will do well if the
soil is too acid.

(pc macdonald) wrote in message . com...
After I moved into this home I began growing tomatoes every summer in
two different locations.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?


This may be a well-planned troll. But in case it is not, my guess is
that the pH or nutrient profile have gone way out of whack. Probably
no earthworms either. Soil test, add what is missing, if anything,
then add one foot of leaves, then wait for some balance to be
restored. If the soil is too alkaline (which it might, given that wood
ash has a pH of 10.4), you can still grow some veggies, such as chard
or beet, that will grow up to a pH of 8. Potatoes will do well if the
soil is too acid.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?

Unless you have a buildup of some of soil borne disease, I would suspect that
your soil is depleted. As a simple test, buy a couple of highly disease
resistant tomato plants dig a planting hole large enough to hold a bag of
composted cow manure, mix the manue with the soil and plant the tomatoes. If
they grow, then you can experiment with heirlooms or other less resistant
tomatoe cultivars.

(pc macdonald) wrote in message . com...
After I moved into this home I began growing tomatoes every summer in
two different locations.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?


This may be a well-planned troll. But in case it is not, my guess is
that the pH or nutrient profile have gone way out of whack. Probably
no earthworms either. Soil test, add what is missing, if anything,
then add one foot of leaves, then wait for some balance to be
restored. If the soil is too alkaline (which it might, given that wood
ash has a pH of 10.4), you can still grow some veggies, such as chard
or beet, that will grow up to a pH of 8. Potatoes will do well if the
soil is too acid.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?

Unless you have a buildup of some of soil borne disease, I would suspect that
your soil is depleted. As a simple test, buy a couple of highly disease
resistant tomato plants dig a planting hole large enough to hold a bag of
composted cow manure, mix the manue with the soil and plant the tomatoes. If
they grow, then you can experiment with heirlooms or other less resistant
tomatoe cultivars.

(pc macdonald) wrote in message . com...
After I moved into this home I began growing tomatoes every summer in
two different locations.

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?


This may be a well-planned troll. But in case it is not, my guess is
that the pH or nutrient profile have gone way out of whack. Probably
no earthworms either. Soil test, add what is missing, if anything,
then add one foot of leaves, then wait for some balance to be
restored. If the soil is too alkaline (which it might, given that wood
ash has a pH of 10.4), you can still grow some veggies, such as chard
or beet, that will grow up to a pH of 8. Potatoes will do well if the
soil is too acid.

(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.

(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.

(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.

Take a soil sample and have the county agent test it and tell him you
want to grow tomatoes.

(FarmerDill) wrote in message ...

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?

Unless you have a buildup of some of soil borne disease, I would suspect that
your soil is depleted. As a simple test, buy a couple of highly disease
resistant tomato plants dig a planting hole large enough to hold a bag of
composted cow manure, mix the manue with the soil and plant the tomatoes. If
they grow, then you can experiment with heirlooms or other less resistant
tomatoe cultivars.

Take a soil sample and have the county agent test it and tell him you
want to grow tomatoes.

(FarmerDill) wrote in message ...

Our soil is predominantly clay. Every year I would turn over the
soil, add ammendments such as peat moss, sand and vermiculite. I
would also add a 50 pound sack of that material that breaks up clay
(sorry, can't remember name.)

For the first ten years I got wonderful tomatoes, fertilizing at first
with a KMart fish emulsion fertilizer, and later with Miracle Grow. I
plant in basins to conserve water, but give the garden a serious
flooding at least once per month. We also get 15 to 20" of rain each
season, so I'm not concerned about fertilizer salt buildup.

Over time I started getting less and less fruit. Lots less. It
seemed to get worse the season after I put a five gallon bucket of
fireplace ash onto the soil prior to turning it over. I did that two
or three years in a row. My yield dropped to practically nothing.
The guy at the local farm supply store didn't think that the ashes had
much to do with the problem.

I suspected nematodes so I sterilized the soil with the Vapam trick,
watered the soil and left it covered for over a month. No difference.
My yield dwindled to a single tomato on six scrawny plants.

I can grow basil, parsely, thyme, lavender, rosemary, peppermint,
chives. No tomatoes, no eggplant, no squash. I didn't even bother to
plant a garden last season, the first time in over 25 years.

May I solicit some suggestions?

Unless you have a buildup of some of soil borne disease, I would suspect that
your soil is depleted. As a simple test, buy a couple of highly disease
resistant tomato plants dig a planting hole large enough to hold a bag of
composted cow manure, mix the manue with the soil and plant the tomatoes. If
they grow, then you can experiment with heirlooms or other less resistant
tomatoe cultivars.

I agree with getting a soil test. You have added a heck of a lot of stuff,
including some things that may not be needed (for example, gypsum - breaks up
clay, but I gardened for many years in clay soil without ever adding it).