sprky (In my best authoritative voice) put your amendments down and step away from your garden before you hurt it.

Amendments are like tools. No they are more like drugs and you my friend are addicted. Different amendments are for different situations. Some acidify the soil and lower the ph. Others make the soil alkali and raise the ph. Some add nitrogen or some combination of N, P, or K. Some help soils retain water. Others help soil drain better. You are using them without regard for their purpose, without rhyme or reason.

You are acidifying your soil several different ways (Raising the ph). At the same time you are using amendments to make your soil more alkali in several different ways (Lowering the ph). You are fertilizing your soil with things that contain nitrogen in several different ways. You are adding lots and lots of calcium in several different ways. To much of one amendment can cause your plants to not be able to (uptake) absorb other amendments. To much calcium is not a good thing. To much nitrogen is not a good thing. To high or too low a ph is not a good thing. You need to have a better idea of what you are doing before you start using amendments.

The question you should be asking is... Whats wrong with my soil? One more thing. Whoever told you that tilling 6" deep is fine for tomatoes does not have a clue. Don't listen to that guy anymore.

Without knowing what the soil is like you are adding the amendments to. Its impossible to know which amendments you need and which ones you don't.

It was said: "You are acidifying your soil several different ways (Raising the ph). At the same time you are using amendments to make your soil more alkali in several different ways (Lowering the ph). "

Actually, it's the other way around.

Acidify lowers pH.
More alkaline raises the pH.

jean001a you are right. I got them backward. My daughter just arrived for a visit after midnight yesterday. I haven't slept more than 2-3 hours since Monday night. I guess the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me.

sprky (In my best authoritative voice) put your amendments down and step away from your garden before you hurt it.

I'll add one more thing: Take several samples of your soil and have them tested. Then if it needs amending, do it. Otherwise you are probably over loving your garden to death.

Adding amendments without knowing what you are starting with is a potential waste of money, time, and effort. Too much nitrogen can give you lush growth with no fruits. Too little and your plants won't thrive. There are an assortment of issues caused by other deficiencies and over enthusiastic application.

A Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center document about Epsom salt myths that in part states There are two reports from over 60 years ago on tomato production. When tomatoes are grown on magnesium deficient soil, a foliar application of Epsom salts can relieve magnesium deficiency in tomato plants; no effect on yield was reported. An automatic application of Epsom salts to plants or soils that are not magnesium deficient is a poor management strategy that can injure the plants and contaminate the soil.

That applies to any amendments made without knowing what, if anything, your soil needs.

Betsy

WOW did I drop the ball here.

In spite of my best efforts to provide all necessary info I left out alot of stuff, which I felt was unimportant to keep the post shorter, but it may change things.

This 12 x 30 area was basically a sparse weed patch, to start off with, we had tried for several years to get grass to grow it simply would not. When I tilled this area for the first time I had to water it before I could till, and then I could only till several inches at a time. I repeated the water and till I had tilled as deep as the tiller would go. I took a Soil sample to the garden center before I started planting. There first suggestion was to make an 8-10" raised bed, over the existing soil with 100% new soil. Since that option was cost prohibitive, they recommended I put at least 3" of compost made up of different types for the next several years tilled into a depth of around 6", after I had already tilled the soil. I too questioned the 6" depth, what they told me was the you only need to go 6" as when you till next year the remaining will be tilled deeper, and in several years you will have a deep loom; Hope I explained it right.
To get a depth of 3" on a 12 x 30 area you need 90 cubic feet, which I am close to. The peat is being added for water retention and will only be around 1/2".

If this is still all wrong please tell me what I need to do so i can get my plants in.

he said "I took a Soil sample to the garden center before I started planting>
and what did they say? sounds like your soil is to alkaline.

This 12 x 30 area was basically a sparse weed patch, to start off with, we had tried for several years to get grass to grow it simply would not.
The first question to answer is why didn't the grass grow?

What is the amount and quality of sun light this area receives? What is the drainage like, does water stand on top very long after a rain?
I would not give much stock to the soil test that was done at the garden center.
Most of these amendments are aimed at improving the organic matter in order to improve the soil tilth.
This is a good thing but it takes time to happen it may be several more years before you see much result.
It has been shown thru many studies that clay soil, even hard pan is some of the riches soil in minerals, but it must be kept loose. What are your cultivation practices? Are you keeping the top loose or applying proper mulch (not plastic)? To encourage earth worms to do it for you. The plants can not benefit from most of the amendments you mentioned until the micro organisms in the soil convert them into a form they can use. In order to do that they need oxygen and proper moisture.
At this point I would not add any thing not even to the planting holes.

"Take several samples of your soil and have them tested. Then if it needs amending, do it. Otherwise you are probably over loving your garden to death."

This reminds me of one of my favorite gardening sayings "More plants have been loved to death than ever died of neglect." Over-watering, over-fertilizing, over-[fill in the blank] are some of the most common reasons you will see for plant failures on this forum.

Yes, please get the soil test, bets nailed it right on the head. Go to your local extension office and get a real soil test kit, don't do the "do-it-yourself" tests as they are woefully unreliable. I don't even know if I would, trust the garden center soil test, to be honest. County extension is the best route, in my opinion.

Sadly, it's a very common misconception that native soils are deficient and need constant amending. Clay soils, for example, are usually in a good Ph range (somewhere around neutral) and have calcium, phosphorous and potassium in more than sufficient levels. So all the calcium, P, and K amendments do nothing at best and can actually hurt at worst.

When I got my soil test, it was very similar to the example I listed above. The PH, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous and Potassium all were listed in the "Optimal" to "Exceeds Crop Needs" range (Penn State soil test), per their recommendation the only thing that should ever be added is nitrogen in sufficient amounts throughout the season... And this was without so much as adding one bag of amendments.

If you do have a reliable soil test and need help reading it (from people who are not trying to sell you things) then please post information here; I'm sure many are willing to help.

I agree a proper soil test would have been the thing to do before you added the amendments, but at this point a test on your already amended ground may not be that helpful. Your garden soil now is in a state of transformation. The available amounts of nutrients the test would show now could be quite different from a test done at the end of the season. I would take a soil sample from around the edge of your garden to see what your native soil is.

I agree with all the above. One of my favorite bloggers grows in pure tilled clay. He tills it with a tractor then adds fertilizer and tills it again before planting. Just because nothing will grow before being properly tilled does not mean the soil is bad. It could be that the soil is compacted and won't accept water and is difficult for roots to grow though which sounds like what the OP described.

Why not just look up what soil you have?

http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm

Its a clunky GISMAP interface but you should be able to enter your address or GPS coordinates and find out exactly what soil you have.

What I would do:

Stop adding any kind of chemical stuff to the soil; Gypsum, Epsom salt, any acidifier etc.

Stop all chemical fertilizers like miracle grow. They are just salts that will build up in your soil.

Incorporate via deep tiling (you want at least 1 foot deep, 2 feet is even better) enough composted organic mater such that it does not exceed 25% of the soil volume in the bed. How do you do this? Get a bucket of existing soil and screen it through a 1/16 inch screen. Soil will mostly sift through, organics will mostly stay in the sifter. Figure out the respective volume, not weight but volume.

You probably have too much organic matter in a shallow tilling. I would plow, then till to at least 12".

Plant and enjoy. Save all that compost for the next ten years.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Web Soil Survey

Thank you all for your input. I had a long talk with our local county extension office yesterday, I explained every thing that I had done from start to finish. Unfortunately a full soil test is out of the question right now as it will take 4 to 6 weeks for the results. Which would be too late to get plants in. However the gal said if I brought in some she would look at it and give me her unscientific opinion. She also felt the BER was more then likely due to the amount of rain we had last year, as alot of people were dealing with it. After she looked at the soil I brought in she was almost positive that was the cause of the BER as the soil definitely need amendments for better drainage and aeration. She also told me knowing the garden center that I had taken my sample to to start off with they were probably steering me in the right direction however it was best to get a total soil analysis, and to do this at the end of the season. She said to go ahead and add the bags to the garden, as they will help with drainage and aeration and plant. In the hole only add the 1 tablespoon blood and bone meal, and use root stimulator if i wished. She also stressed to not add any fertilizer like Miracle-Gro or tomato tone as there would be plenty. She also stated I may get alot of growth and reduced tomato production. So I am going to follow her advice and plant as well as get a soil analysis at the end of the season.

Oh no, I added epsom salts to my tomato bed...and iron phosphate....oops! (and vermi compost goes with tomatoes)

I guess I am over loving my garden too. Maybe all the rain we have had will wash a lot away so I can get a test and add correctly.

I remember 3 years ago I planted tomatoes without fertlizer and although they did not get very tall (4 feet) they produced more tomatoes than I could eat.

Maybe I should let my rich soil do its thing :)

Karen