So frustrated with my square foot garden!

[rwalizer]

I did everything just the way the book said. While everything looks good at first glance, I noticed that my tomatoes, which took forever to start growing in the first place, keep getting blooms that shrivel and fall off. Each dead bloom represents a tomato that I won't be picking! I have resorted to buying tomato food to sprinkle around the plants. Ooooh! I'm so upset. I feel like I spent a fortune in money and energy to build the beds and now I'm buying more stuff to put on the plants that the book's author said would grow like magic if I followed his suggestions. The green beans look okay and the watermelon plant is growing. I can only hope that they will grow produce. So, now I wait and see if the tomato food will help my tomatoes. I put in raised beds because our soil is nothing but clay and sand. I don't know how the colonists ever survived (we're in Williamsburg, VA.). One theory I have is that it isn't the whole area that suffers from lousy dirt, but our home is only 4 years old and I'll bet the builder used a lot of crummy fill dirt on the lot. I really wanted some good tomatoes. Sheeesh! Thanks for giving me a place to vent!

[Tea Time]

Oh, you have my sympathy! Been there myself. The fact is that gardening is way harder than people think! Yep, the settlers knew stuff we don’t, and they still starved! Sobering, isn’t it?

My hubby has been using that book for a couple of years now. It is a well loved book. But we are only now starting to get some results. It isn’t cost effective even now. Sometimes I wonder if the baby plants and seeds we buy are defective or something. LOL! We once saw small cabbage plants on sale for $3.50 EACH. What?

As for the tomatoes… it is likely too warm for the flowers to “set,” or maybe you are watering them a little too much.

Hopefully some more advanced gardeners will chime in, but I do love square foot gardens, so I wanted to commiserate with you!

[Dirtroad]

Water is very essential but can be bad too. Look for caterpillars also. It is there time of year.

 

Wish I could tell you more. We planted corn, sunflowers & tomatoes. No red tomatos yet, but several green... corn & even sunflowers are pitiful. I think we got too much rain for a month and now nothing.

[MomsintheGarden]

I'm sorry you are having problems - it sounds like you have done a lot of work already!

 

First of all, I'd like to say that I like Mel Bartholomew, I really do, BUT sometimes everything does not turn out perfectly, even if you do it all exactly as he says in his books. He's gotten a lot of people started gardening who might not otherwise, so hat's off to him. I just wish he'd at least hint that there might be problems.

 

I've got two books here with ideas for you.

 

1. Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver by Fern Marshall Bradley. If flowers drop and no fruit forms it may be:

- Tarnished plant bugs (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarnished_plant_bug and many others for pics)

- Temperature extremes, below 60 degrees or above 70 degrees at night or 85 degrees during the day (keep well watered if it's going to be hot)

- Too much nitrogen (Nitrogen can stimulate leaf and stem growth, but not fruit. Tomato fertilizer, applied once/month is ok because it doesn't have too much, just lay off for a few weeks)

- Moisture stress (We've had a lot of rain lately, maybe you, too? This is most likely a drought problem, though.)

- Smog damage (doubtful in Williamsburg)

 

2. Rodale's Complete Guide to Organic Gardening by Barbara Ellis & Fern Marshall Bradley.

Causes listed here are:

- Excess nitrogen. Plants with excess nitrogen are dark green & vigorous, but produce few flowers. Don't fertilize with nitrogen, and wait for flowers to form - they will.

- Shading

- Extreme temperatures. Over 100 degrees or below 55 degrees.

- Dry soil. Keep soil evenly moist, but not soggy, and do not allow it to dry out.

 

A couple of other tomato tidbits:

- If you have blossom end rot in your fruit this year, add 1 cup of bonemeal to each planting hole next year.

- Try to water evenly to avoid blossom end rot.

- Pick off green hornworm caterpillars, but not the ones with the white eggs on them. These are the eggs of a parasitic wasp and are a good thing.

 

I hope you get buckets of tomatoes.

 

Blessings,

GardenMom

Edited June 9, 2009 by MomsintheGarden

[Tabrett]

If it makes you feel any better, my cucumbers were eaten by ants, 19 of my 20 peaches were missing one morning (we think squirrels) and my strawberries all died.:grouphug:

[Tree House Academy]

I will remember to be more thankful for the fertile soil here in the mountains on our farm. I am sorry your luck has not been so good with your garden. It definitely takes practice and we are still perfecting ours after YEARS of work. :) One year, we had so many squash that we couldn't pick them fast enough. The next year, 1 stinkin plant grew and the others died. LOL This year, not one bit of the spinach came up, but the baby greens got too big to eat before we could get it all picked. Oh but the corn is growing......

[wildflower]

have you checked the pH of your soil?

have the temperatures been jumping all over the board by you as they've been doing here? sudden shift will cause blossom fall.

Edited June 9, 2009 by wildflower

[WishboneDawn]

One tip I recently heard was to set up a rain barrel and just use rain water within a day or two of it collecting. The reason is that it has a lot more oxygen in it then what comes from your tap and the plants appreciate a lot more.

[Happy]

Tomatoes are finicky things.

 

If it is too cool, they pout. It is too hot, they quit. Tomato pollen dies at temps over 95 degrees. Too little water and they don't grow. Too much water and they die. And when you finally get a luscious, red globe on the plant the dang mockingbirds eat it from the top and the %#&^^@ bunnies eat it from the bottom. :D

 

If you filled your beds with bagged compost, it may still be a little 'hot.' Too fresh. Fresh compost will tie up nitrogen and keep your plants stunted. By fall, these 'maters may jump and grow.

 

Keep at it. I'm an experienced, life-long gardener. Some years are just flat out better than others. Weather is something you can't control and which has a huge effect on your plants.

[OrganicAnn]

There are many things that could be wrong with your vegetable garden and sometimes it is difficult to figure out. You probably can't do too much to correct the soil now, but there are things you might be able to do for next year.

 

For this year.

 

Make sure you water if you don't get rain every few years. You need to water deeply when you do water. Do you have mulch? It keeps the moisture in.

 

Plants will keep putting on more flowers even if the early ones drop off. If you have any tomatoes that are partly eaten or deformed, pick them off.

 

Look under leaves for eggs and/or for holes that indicate various infestation. Pick off leaves, fruit or bugs as needed.

 

For next year.

 

Have your soil tested. Don't try to guess what is wrong with it. You can do this through your county agent (probably). Amend you soil accordingly.

 

Plant a cover crop in the fall (especially to help if you are deficient in something).

 

Rotate your crops. Research companion plants.

 

Do you buy your tomato plants or raise them from seed? We only buy plants is something bad happens to the ones we raise. We we start them in Feb/Mar inside. When we do it well, they out perform any plant purchased.

 

Finally, sometimes you just have a bad year. You can be gardening for years and really know what you are doing and bam! one year everything is a problem.

[gardening momma]

Make sure you water if you don't get rain every few years. You need to water deeply when you do water. Do you have mulch? It keeps the moisture in.

Do you mean every few days? I'd hate to have to wait a few years for rain. ;) :D

[asta]

I've done the square foot gardening thing. In addition to everything everyone else has said...

 

You said that your lot has crummy dirt - did you not make the "dirt mix" that the author suggested? Veggies really don't grow in sterile dirt (like is found on construction sites).

 

Do you have any flying insects? I was having problems at one point, and then I realized that I had NO bees to pollinate my veggies. With Tomatoes, a gentle shaking of the plant every day can make them pollinate in the absence of bees.

 

How many leaved branches do you have? In the beginning, I was so excited to see something growing, that I didn't want to prune anything. Now I know that, if I don't prune some of the "under branches", all of the plant's resources go to the leaves, not to setting fruit.

 

HTH

 

 

a

[laughing lioness]

Tomatoes like heat and water. I agree about ammending the soil. For acid loving plants (like tomatoes) you can get "grounds for gardens" for free at any Starbucks. Coffee grounds- sprinkle around the tomato plants (don't bury them or you'll burn them out :)). That might help some.

[rwalizer]

You said that your lot has crummy dirt - did you not make the "dirt mix" that the author suggested? Veggies really don't grow in sterile dirt (like is found on construction sites).

 

 

a

 

 

Yes, I did make "Mel's Mix" in the beds just as the book said because of the yucky dirt around here.

[OnTheBrink]

My SF garden is doing ok, but I noticed the lettuce and spinach plants are a bust. I don't know why, but they're just not taking off like they should be. Tomatoes are in pots, but with the same Mel's Mix from the book, and are doing fine.

 

I'm sorry your garden isn't going as well as you'd like. I'd be pretty frustrated, too!

[Karen sn]

Honestly, the best garden I ever had was before I "knew" how to do anything.

For me, going by the book is a sure way to have a complete disaster.

I plant when I feel inspired and don't wait until the sun and the moon are in the right place. (Although I agree with it in theory - it just doesn't work for me).

 

If you have a local feed/seed store you could talk to one of the old men there and I bet he could help you. It could be pH, poor nutrients, bad seeds, etc....

[Tammyla]

Tomatoes are finicky...My gardening neighbor claims they should be watered only before noon and to avoid too much water on the blooms. Aim for the soil and keep it well drained and moist but not mushy. She also recommends specific types of tomatoes for our area and not to grow peas near them:001_huh:.

[rwalizer]

Thanks for all the advice and moral support. Early in the season I dug out one of the tomatoes because I though they were a lost cause and a I took it to a local garden center. The lady there told me that the dirt that was still on the plant roots felt to dry and maybe they were not getting enough water. It has been raining like crazy here. It seems like raised beds would dry out quicker than dirt not in beds so I started watering on the days that we did not get rain. I was using Miracle Gro once a week, but the same lady also told me that it diesn't supply a sustained feeding, it gives the nutrients all at once and is used up too quickly. Too much water? Not enough water? Ther right fertilizer? How did human beings ever learn to grow food?

[abreakfromlife]

My gardening neighbor claims they should be watered only before noon

You don't want to water anything after noon b/c the sun will burn the leaves where the water is. And some things don't do well being watered at night b/c then the water sits on them all night....early morning is best for watering plants.

 

 

op - gardening is definitely an art and not a science.

 

but I noticed the lettuce and spinach plants are a bust. I don't know why, but they're just not taking off like they should be.

same with mine.....they are growing so slow, or not at all. This cool weather should be helping them, but the lack of sun probably isn't. I'm frustrated with them....every other year my lettuce has done great and I really want some of my own lettuce. My peas are growing like crazy tho.

[Tammyla]

I'm using Mel's mix with great results. Could the Miracle Gro you are adding be the problem?

 

 

Thanks for all the advice and moral support. Early in the season I dug out one of the tomatoes because I though they were a lost cause and a I took it to a local garden center. The lady there told me that the dirt that was still on the plant roots felt to dry and maybe they were not getting enough water. It has been raining like crazy here. It seems like raised beds would dry out quicker than dirt not in beds so I started watering on the days that we did not get rain. I was using Miracle Gro once a week, but the same lady also told me that it diesn't supply a sustained feeding, it gives the nutrients all at once and is used up too quickly. Too much water? Not enough water? Ther right fertilizer? How did human beings ever learn to grow food?