Bad garden for 3 years

13 years ago

When i first created my garden i had awesome results for 2-3 years. It seems every since it has done really bad (3-4 years). I try to take care of the soil as much as i can. I throw all fruit/vegetable ruffage on the top of the soil for compost. I till 12-12-12 into the soil every year. I also throw all my grass clippings on top of the garden (for a weed barrier and for compost). My father thinks its because i grow the same type of things every year. I rotate where i put my tomatoes & hot peppers but he thinks the take the same type of nutrients. He suggested to grow something else or wait 1-2 years to plant again (which i really don't want to do). What i grow and is what i really like is Hot peppers, Tomatoes, a few herbs, & a few sweet peppers. This year a few of my plants are doing ok but overall my garden is doing pretty bad. In the past few years i've blamed it on the weather but the weather this year has been pretty good. So i can't blame it on that. It just seem like nothing takes off that great. Here it is almost August and for example my jet star tomatoes are only about half way up their 6 foot cages and i don't even have one ripe tomato yet.

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Comments (4)

sjetski
13 years ago
It is easy to replace what peppers and tomatoes take out of the soil, no need to rotate backyard gardens with those two.

And as (bad) luck would have it, 2011, 2012, and especially 2013 had very peculiar weather which set many people's gardens back in different ways. I have extended family in the greater Chicago area, all of them gardeners, a couple of them former farmers, and we all agree that the past 3 years have been tougher than normal. I'd blame it on the weather, or your soil may be depleted in a specific nutrient or two. No way to know for sure unless you get a soil test (county extension office or certain universities).

Otherwise, i would just throw in a more complete fertilizer, not something that just has the three main minerals (NPK). One of the things i use to re-mineralize my soil is Azomite, along with other good stuff like Espoma Tomato-Tone and more recently, Urban Farms Texas Tomato Food.

Also, during times of tough spring weather, it's often better to plant out a little later than the May 15th norm. Wait for the evenings to warm up, and for the torrential rainstorms to end. Otherwise you risk having those sickly yellow chlorotic looking transplants that take forever to begin growing. This year I waited till the last week of May, and first week of June, to put plants in the ground, my plants never turned yellow or diseased partially because of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Azomite Minerals

This post was edited by sjetski on Sun, Jul 28, 13 at 20:52
judo_and_peppers
13 years ago
I don't know squat about in ground plants, but if worst case scenario you do need to wait a year, you can always grow some peppers in pots that year.
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Djole
13 years ago
Check the pH of the soil! It can slowly, over the years slip into value that's not suitable for the plants you are growing. Good luck!

Cheers,
Djole
kypepperman
13 years ago
I agree with the ph factor. I would say next year add plenty of pelletized lime. the grass clippings and fert will lower the ph quite a bit. your county extension office will gladly help you with the right combo of fert and minerals you need.