Veggie plot

[fairyinboots]

First post, so I hope I am in the right place! I have a small vegetabl

plot in my garden, and usually grow dwarf beans, potatoes and a coupl of cabbages. I have some success and usually have a fairly god harvest This year, however, everything died except the potatoes which are larg and healthy. I am still digging them up now! I use my own compost o my patch, but is it the weather which caused this or have I don something wrong? I am fairly new to growing veg and want to grow som winter veg as well, but need to look up what to grow first, as currently do not know. I am learning still. I am not sure how muc help you will be able to give me with such little info, but you migh know of something I can do to try and stop all my veg dying again Maybe trying to grow something different? Thanks in advance

-- fairyinboots

[David in Normandy]

You may want to try posting this directly to uk.rec.gardening. That is where you will find most gardeners.

[Jim Kingdon]

This is one right place (we are a world-wide group).

Now, assuming you are in the UK, I can't very well blame drought. Not this summer.

In what manner did they die? Leaves brown? Yellow? Bits of the leaves gone (which would mean something was chewing them)? Lack of growth? A few of the possibilities are: (1) fungal pathogens (especially likely in a wet year), (2) insect damage (often possible to spot the insects if you have been looking carefully), (3) something, such as a toxin, nutrient deficiency, or too much of a nutrient, in the soil/compost (can be hard to track down, but trying different parts of the garden in different years might give some kind of idea).

Careful observation and consulting with someone local to you who knows what problems are common in your area can help. You can also try posting photos (via flickr or some such service, not directly to the group). We'd probably need to see what the plants looked like as they began to sicken, not when they were completely dead.

[fairyinboots]

Thankyou. I think leaving the plot fallow will help over the winter with a good winter dig. How did they die, well, they never really grew nothing much happened at all. Ihad some plants, but no veg on them. Thank

-- fairyinboots

[Jim Kingdon]

Not enough sun? (most vegetables want full sun).

The other first guess, if the plants were small, is not enough soil fertility (especially if your soil looks more like clay, sand, etc, than rich dark soil). One approach is liberal doses of compost, composted manure, etc. If using more concentrated fertilizers (chemical fertilizers, organic but more-concentrated ones like fish emulsion, etc), be careful not to overfertilize. My instinct would be to amend the soil this fall rather than next spring, to give some extra composting time.

If the plants were large, but no fruit, that usually means too much nitrogen. Or not enough sun (but I'm starting to repeat myself).

[Billy]

I'm in full agreement with Jim.

Good garden soil is 30%-40% sand, 30%-40% silt, and 20%-30% clay. To check your soil, dig a hole 1 ft deep (not including any organic material that may be on top of it, use a trowel) and put the dirt in a glass jar (lg. mason or 1 gal. wine jug). Shake up dirt with water to make a slurry. Sand will settle out in 2-3 min., silt in 20 min., and clay within 24 hours. The thickness of each layer divided by the overall depth of the sediment will give the percentage composition of each component. You can then amend the soil appropriately. Read up on green fertilizers (mix of plants that fix nitrogen and produce organic matter). Some garden centers will already have a mix of seeds for this purpose. Come late winter - early spring I would cover garden area with newsprint (no color sections) and cover that with mulch. After 6 weeks or more, I'd start planting through the mulch. Use organic fertilizers to encourage the microscopic flora and fauna in the soil. Chemical fertilizers can kill the ecology of the soil.