Welcome!

"Have a few raised beds, two of which are new and one I made in the fall of last year. The beds were filled with 1/2 loamy topsoil and 1/2 mushroom compost from a nearby nursery. I have a couple of issues to discuss"

Seems like a very good mix, that's a good start.. However, I hear that mushroom compost can have some herbicides and things to sterilize the growing medium(mushrooms need sterile medium to thrive).. Perhaps the possible chemicals could of harmed your plants.. But If you sourced it from a reputable place, that Is unlikely.. It was just a start.. That mix seems very good, in general... I used mushroom compost and had good succes, inwouldnt worry about that, but it is a thought..

Another thing that comes to mind as you said that you let several inches of soil to dry before watering.. transplants are very tender, they should be kept slightly moist until they acclimate, then you could let the soil dry.. You also said that you left for a few days and came back and the Sam thing happened to your peppers, it is likely you let the soil dry out to much.. Try and keep the soil more moist, and just dry out very slightly.. Thats really the only thing that comes to mind.. It's probably underwatering.. Transplants are especially sensitive to drying out, some even recommend soaking them fora few hours before planting.. Raised beds also dry out quicker than the underlying soil.. If it is underwatering, mulch would help... I would keep it more moist and only let it dry very slightly, until they perk up.. Do not soak them, just keep moist..

How much are you watering? How frequently?

Also, fertilizer is another possibility.. Did you apply fertilizer at any time? I would hold off and not apply fertilizer until the plants recover and acclimate.. Maybe fertilizer burn? Don't apply fertilizer - the mushroom compost/soil has more than enough nutrition for your plants for now.. Don't make your problems worse.. If you did apply fertilizer - what kind? How much? When? If you didn't- most likely it is underwatering.

Best of luck,
Joe

Did you harden off the seedlings before transplanting?

There could be many issues @ work here -- watering, fertilization, contamination ....

Successful gardeners know their soil ph. Do you know yours?

Ph could be an issue because I see where you used 1/2 "topsoil" and 1/2 mushroom compost. Where did you get the topsoil? I think your 1st step should be a reliable soil test to find out the ph, phosphorous & potassium (potash) -- By no means am I stating that your soil ph is out of whack. However, you are going to need to troubleshoot & soil ph & fertility seems to me the logical place to start.

Good luck!

As mentioned, it It Is probably the stress from transplanting, as well as from underwatering..

Deporah, I hear where you are coming from, don't get me wrong, but I seriously doubt in that little of a time, the pH would have fried the plants.. It would have to seriously be out of balance, which I highly doubt.. No doubt, a soil test is good, and as I mentioned, could be one of your possible problems, but in your case it really sounds like underwatering and transplant shock. A soil test would take weeks, if not longer to get the results, by that time your plants would be totally dead.. You have to act now, you don't have much time to dance around...

Keep the soil slightly moist..
Dont shock them anymore with any fertilizer,etc..

Hope they pull through for you,
Joe

PS- what are you watering with, the tap?

A picture would be helpful.

was the top soil from the nursery too? here in CA mushroom growing media are usually steam sterilized, i've not had much problems with mushroom compost, i usually "test" new planting media, I plant radish seeds first, it germinates quickly , if it grows , I plant other veggies

I think that SFFOG is on to something...

Test the soil with radish. I doubt that the Bay Area weather is so hot that underwatering or so cool that overwatering would be a problem. Also I feel that seedlings purchased are usually "pre-hardened off" because they are displayed outdoors (in a shade house) I know nothing about mushroom compost, but since the tomatoes (seemingly) are the only survivors you might have a severe Ph imbalance as suggested by Deborah

Yes it is likely that the transplant are at least somewhat hardening off.. But did you read the Original posts - he let's the soil dry out SEVERAL inches - that could be 3 in, 5 inches, etc.. Transplant roots are normally in the top several inches.. If he let's that soil dry out frequently, that is most likely the problem, he is droughting his seedlings.. I agree that a radish or other plant tests are a very good idea.. But dont it sound like merely letting the soil dry out far to much? It sure does to me..

Yes it is likely that the transplant are at least somewhat hardening off.. But did you read the Original posts - he let's the soil dry out SEVERAL inches - that could be 3 in, 5 inches, etc.. Transplant roots are normally in the top several inches.. If he let's that soil dry out frequently, that is most likely the problem, he is droughting his seedlings.. I agree that a radish or other plant tests are a very good idea.. But dont it sound like merely letting the soil dry out far to much? It sure does to me..

Before you plant, dig down a about a foot and make sure the soil is damp all the way down. If not, water the whole bed that deep, not just the area you will plant.

After planting, keep the surface of the soil damp for the first week, then gradually shift to watering more deeply and less often, until you are watering for 1.5 hours once every 2 weeks and nothing in between. Note that you will not do this long watering by hand!

Do not plant when sunshine is predicted, nor when you will be going out of town in the next few weeks. Plant on a cloudy day and stick around to take care of plants.

I think that photo's of the garden plot and of the damaged plants would be helpful. My comments were based on my knowledge of West Coast weather patterns. At this time of the year, weather in the SF is very moderate...thus I don't think that one could kill/damage seedling without GROSS mis-management of watering. I think that normal morning dew would supplement extreme drought to keep the seedlings at least "alive"

Also the OP had trouble with strawberries which in my experience are fairly indestructable. That is why I lean towards problems with the soil. But this is pure speculation and therefore taken with "one grain of salt"

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the responses! I really appreciate it. I created a photobucket account so you can view photos of what I am talking about

I have a few things to clarify. First, is that with new transplants I tried to never let the soil dry out. I applied straw mulch because the top of the soil would crust over when it got even slightly dry. I would let the soil get dry up to my second knuckle (~ 2 inches) with the strawberry plants which have been in the ground for about a month now (I will post pictures of the strawberries in a sec). Also, I live in the east bay which is definitely warmer than the coast and doesn't really receive any morning fog. It has been in the mid 80's for the past 2 days here.

I don't think there are any problems with the mushroom compost or the topsoil as the compost is steam sterilized and the topsoil is from a reputable place. Is there any way that planting new transplants into freshly made raised beds would have hurt them?

I do not know the pH of my soil, but I am thinking of going to get a test for at least the key minerals (npk).

I have no doubt what eventually killed most of my basil and all of the peppers in the new raised bed was a lack of water. However, the basil and jalapenos were having issues before I left and while they were getting plenty of water. The brown spots and wilting on the basil occurred the day after we transplanted (also wilting on jalapenos). One interesting thing is that I transplanted a bell pepper into the same bed after the jalapenos, but before I went out of town and that one plant seems to be doing just fine.

The transplants were definitely hardened off as the nursery I got them from had them in the sun for at least a week.

In the original raised bed that I made last fall I used the same growing medium, but with the clay topsoil from my backyard and all seeds germinated (carrots, cilantro, basil).

I am watering with the tap (very slowly and trying not to spray the leaves). Undoubtedly some plants get sprayed a little, but I try to keep that to a minimum.

I think I answered all of your questions. Thanks for the help!

Greg

Here is a link that might be useful: veggie photobucket

Hmmmm Did your plants look healthy when you purchased them? Could it be a pest issue?

They looked prefectly healthy. Stocky, no flower buds, nice stems. I have never had so much trouble with transplants before.

RAW: If you re-read my original answer .... "By no means am I stating that your soil ph is out of whack. However, you are going to need to troubleshoot & soil ph & fertility seems to me the logical place to start."

Troubleshooting defined: Troubleshooting is the process of diagnosing the source of a problem. The basic theory of troubleshooting is that you start with the most general (and often most obvious) possible problems, and then narrow it down to more specific issues. A proper ph range will negatively affect plants. It doesn't matter how much fertilizer you throw on them because they can't utilize it. While he's waiting on the soil test results he can tweek his watering.

I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE. Last April I put in a 4'X12' twelve inch high raised bed. I had someone come till up the ground for me. We tilled in a few bags of mushroom compost. Then I started double digging in topsoil & more mushroom compost along with composted manure yards at a time. I must have double dug that sucker 5 times because I was building it up 10 inches, too. Native soil is throughout my garden depth but is more concentrated the deeper you go. (Think French Intensive Gardening). Where I live the native soil is quite acidic. We can grow blueberries by spitting on the ground & dropping a seed. That being said, my soil ph came back from Clemson Extension as 7.4!!! Soil test was extremely positive for everything but ph. So you see, I know of what I speak -- no guessing going on here! Any experienced gardener knows that a soil test is never a waste of time and money.

Good luck & take care -- Deb