Mix problem

18 years ago

I'm an experienced gardener but this is my first attempt at using Mels mix. I set out 32 broccoli plants in an 8x4 bed and they did really well for a while. We have strong winds here and what i've found is the plants get blown around by the wind and create holes around the stem of the plant so bad that some actually come out of the planting holes. I've had trouble with wind before, but the mix is so loose it won't hold the plants like soil does. I'm hoping that someone else has a fix for this problem. I thought about caging or staking but that's a lot of extra effort. Does anyone have any simple fixes?

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Comments (8)

snibb
18 years ago
farmgirl...I've got one, send me your email address...
arjo_reich
18 years ago
lol, why not just tell us all what the fix is so we can all benefit from the experience?

or are you just hitting up on her... ;-p
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flatlander
18 years ago
i wish you would have gotten some good ideas on this as i have the same problem. brocolli may be one of the more susceptible plants to the wind since there is so much foliage mass. i've also had a problem with the wind blowing the mix out of the bed when it gets dry making mulching a requirement for me. i ended up building a wind break fence out of plastic but my wife complains that it's to ugly...so far no neighbors have complained. if i plant brocolli in the mix again, and i probably won't, i'll need a better solution.
btw, i don't seem to have a problem with other crops like lettuce, beets, etc. again i think it's due to the mass of the broccoli plants.
kristimama
18 years ago
Snibb, do tell, please. We're all curious. LOL
snibb
18 years ago
arjo-now, that is funny!....the only reason I send email pictures is that I cant figure out how to get them on here! I had to send some of my pictures to Darth to get things in here, and now they seem to have disappeared...nope, I have no secrets...really.....
farmgirl_ne
Original Author
18 years ago
No solutions and I'm not getting hit on! What a bummer! Flatlander, I've thought about putting up a snow fence similar to your plastic attempt. My neighbors would sure wonder what I'm up to :-)
willowone
18 years ago
Have you tried putting down plastic and securing it with your grid material to keep the mix from blowing out? If you used weed barrier it would still allow moisture and air. You could do this for individual squares or whatever size you needed.
As far as a wind break. Put up two posts with lattice between and grow some sort of vine on it. It would break the wind and look nice too!!
queuetue
18 years ago
This is my first SFG, but I'm planning on sinking a stake (I have tons of small bamboo) next to anything that looks like it might sail away on the wind, a few inches deeper than the bed. I probably won't tie them, just put it nearby to add stability (and move them as the plant gets bigger)

If you have bottoms on your beds, it won't be as easy.