2021 GARDENS

[smurfy]

40 minutes ago, snagfinder said:

If you dont like the big jungley  plants buy varieties that are determinant. Mine are starting to die off from the bottom up like they do every year about now. Wish i could figure out why.

i have no problem with big jungle size plants. mine like to do  the same thing snagfinder. my current issue is the wilt and driving me crazy. so i've discussed this with 3 different people. my brother who by know means is an expert, a guy with a  degree from the U of M in agriculture and does farm field inspections for a living, and the local farm coop people here in town, here is the rundown they gave me.

BROTHER.......he lives in wisc, has his tomatoes in pots..........mine are in the garden, no raised beds or pots. he did alot of googling. so he takes his pots and dumps about 3 at a time in a wheel barrel. mixes it all up, ands some fertilizer new soil and some type of sulfate in the dirt. says that pretty much took care of it.

 

U of M guy.............explained to me it might be my soil and the PH level. maybe to much acid for tomatoes.  i told him what my brother did and though by adding the sulfate would help IF that was the issue. the one thing he also said when i told him my routine with the leaves and grass clippings........that stuff takes time to break down and actually benift the garden plants.

 

COOP GUY..........when i talked to him i explained to him my issue. he said right away the same thing........could be the acid in the soil. he asked if i put grass clippings down i said  yea and i take my maple leaves in the fall, mulch them up then till them in. he said right away your soil has to much acid for tomatoes and we headed right for a rack and gave me a bag of aluminum sulfate. so a spread a somewhat liberal about around the plants and watered it in. he said give it a couple weeks and it should see a difference.....hopefully. this friday will be 2 weeks,  and i think i am seeing a little bit of improvement, although some of the plants could be to little to late.

 

in my research and directions on the bag it appears the ideal time to put that sulfate in the ground prior to planting in the spring. so NOW i am contemplating how to go about this next year. do i not use grass clippings and not put the leaves in and till up????  i try my best to rotate things every year. but i know i will be adding the sulfate before i plant...just havent decided if i am going to put it in the area i plan to plant the tomatoes of the whole garden.

[snagfinder]

Sucks they grow so nice and look great and then it seems like right when they are full of tomatoes it happens.

 I was thinking maybe at that stage they must need something my soil is lacking.  People talk about epsom salt I tried it

around two plants on Wednesday and watered it in guess i will see what happens but will be hard to judge since the problem had already started.

[smurfy]

I do the Epsom all the time. As I was told it benefits the tomato itself. I don't get that blossom end rot using epsom salt.

[snagfinder]

That probably means it isnt going t fix my issue if you use it and have the same problems. I dont have the wilt issue (at least with the tomatos) but like i said mine just start dryig up from the bottom up

[smurfy]

1 hour ago, snagfinder said:

That probably means it isnt going t fix my issue if you use it and have the same problems. I dont have the wilt issue (at least with the tomatos) but like i said mine just start dryig up from the bottom up

your probably right........when the leaves or a branch on the tomato plant dries up i simply take it off. 

[fishingstar]

when do you put the grass down? Years ago I put fresh grass clippings down around everything that was not planted in rows. It got moldy and I had problems with blight in my tomatoes. A few years ago I sent in a soil sample to the u of m it cost 17.00 but I got a base line on how my soil is doing. They test your phosphorus, potassium and potash. I found out that I needed to add a lot of nitrogen.  

[smurfy]

27 minutes ago, fishingstar said:

when do you put the grass down? Years ago I put fresh grass clippings down around everything that was not planted in rows. It got moldy and I had problems with blight in my tomatoes. A few years ago I sent in a soil sample to the u of m it cost 17.00 but I got a base line on how my soil is doing. They test your phosphorus, potassium and potash. I found out that I needed to add a lot of nitrogen.  

when i put the grass clippings down its after there established a bit, and after i have it all weeded and after a decent rain. i dont use the fresh green grass clippings. i get mine at the city compound where they dump there grass clippings from the baseball and softball parks they maintain and can get enough of the dried clippings i need.  

 

for fertilizer i've used 10-10-10 and this milorganite. the milorganite is supposed to be a good source of nitrogen. i also have a firepit in my back yard and spread  the ashes in the garden. i believe thats the potash and i found it helps keep cutworms at bay. this year i used a product from menards called chicken poo as fertilizer.

 

i'd pay 17.00 bucks to have a soil sample done again......how did you go about starting that process. ????/ maybe the co-op here in town could do it??????/

[fishingstar]

I dug down a few inches put it a zip lock bag, put a check in with it and sent it to the u of m.

Look on there web site  for soil sample. they will have directions and address.

I did it in the fall and got my results over the winter it took like two months to get the results.

[going4it]

I just trimmed my cherry tomato tonight. Not all of the branches but probably half of them. Hopefully it helps

[smurfy]

for the time being anyway, i dont have dead branches, just alot of wilted stuff!!!!!!!! before it starts to get roasted hot out i'm going to check them over good and see what i can do. i did talk a walk around the garden, not sure if i just want to believe it but it does look like the sulfate i added just might be doing some good.  i hope!!!!!!

[bobberineyes]

I don't know smurf, if I'm gonna dump grass clippings on the garden I'd use my own. That way I know there's no herbicide or weed killer on the grass before it was cut, a buddy told me his neighbor killed off his whole garden by accident that way..

[smurfy]

3 hours ago, bobberineyes said:

I don't know smurf, if I'm gonna dump grass clippings on the garden I'd use my own. That way I know there's no herbicide or weed killer on the grass before it was cut, a buddy told me his neighbor killed off his whole garden by accident that way..

I hear ya, thought of that often. I may skip the grass clippings next year. Maybe save a bunch of maple leaves to put under my cukes.

 

Haven't killed anything off yet, I don't bag my grass so .....

[smurfy]

man that rain last nite sure was great to see. got not quite 1/2 inch...........take whatever i get at this point!!!!!!

[snagfinder]

A little rain would go along way but looking surprisingly good. A few more days should about do it.

[smurfy]

wow that is some nice looking corn!!!!!!!!

 

here in cold spring we had a nice thunderstorn, lightning and 1.4 inches of rain this morning. that sound help a little.

[snagfinder]

My dad checked the gauge by sweetcorn path he said 1.1 inches. Thinking that will make a huge difference for the stuff that should be ready in 6 days or so.

[smurfy]

39 ears of sweet corn ready for a hot bath.

[smurfy]

2 1/2 hours later 12 meals ready for the freezer.vthey will chill in the fridge till morning then hit the freezer.

[deadgooses]

Looking good! That is tomorrow's project.

You put cheese in with your corn?

 

[smurfy]

17 minutes ago, deadgooses said:

Looking good! That is tomorrow's project.

You put cheese in with your corn?

 

Nope.

[smurfy]

Needed to take care of some garden stuff before I leave for a week Tuesday. 2 gallon jug of cukes and qt jar of pickled green beans 

[going4it]

Starting to kick in now. Second round of blts today. Cucumbers lined the bottom of the box. 

[Wanderer]

Your guys’ stuff looks GOOD!  We don’t garden much - only when we need to.

[smurfy]

my garden is slowly producing, but i am less then impressed. i think its a combination of alot of things. after doing abunch of research and talking to people i am going to change things up. our country store in town will send in a soil sample thats a start and i think i'm done putting grass clippings in. from what i hear that could be a sourcse of lawn chemicals seeping into the ground.

 

it was also recommended not to use straw unless you know it hasnt been sprayed .

[snagfinder]

Made 14 quarts of spaghetti sauce yesterday. Habaneros seem do to doing stellar but the rest of my peppers are a little lack luster.