nitrogen starved?

[longshot]

I have a small garden.. about 8feet square , I plant tomatoes & cukes mainly & have experimented with a little of some other stuff, but mainly just wants those 2, about 1/2 dozen plants each... anyway last season the cukes didn't grew worth a damn & were practically growing yellow & rotting fast... am I lacking nitrogen in the soil, I have heard about it but never experienced it? TIA

Rob

[Newt]

Hi Rob, It sounds like you have a disease or fungus in the soil. The problem with very small garden spaces arises when the same veggies or veggies of the same family are grown year after year. You should find this helpful.

this site by Eliot Coleman (the best authority I know of for organic gardening): "Alternate vegetables with green manures, such as red clover and buckwheat."

I would suggest that you either grow veggies from a different family for the next two to three years and grow your tomatoes and cukes in containers in a different area. Also, keep the soil covered with a cover crop (green manure).

are some possibilities for your cuke problems.

[golfcoursemechanic]

try this. in the spring before rototilling , put a good coat of topdressing sand on the soil. it's cheep . sounds to me you have to much fertilizer if your quks are truning yellow or your giving to much water. the sand will deff. help.