Amending your Soil

[Nylah]

so I am gettin the itch again to stary gardening

my biggest challenge still seems to be my soil

I added 2 raised beds last year - one specfically for vegetables but they didnt do that great overall.

I didnt cheap out and buy inexpensive soil. I bought the high-end soil and compost and still the vegetables struggled to grow as well as my flowers.

I did start a compost bin and will add it to the vegetable bed once spring comes but.....I'd like to know what else can I do to improve soil content?

[Yuriatin]

Re: Amending your Soil

Ny - the first thing you should do IMO, is get it analyzed.

If there's too much ammonia, too much nitrogen, not enuff phosphurus etc, then no matter what you do or buy or compost wont make the soil healthy enuff for your plants.

[Nylah]

Re: Amending your Soil


I think I will have to fork out the money and buy one of those kits.

[Green_Biscuit]

Re: Amending your Soil

Nylah, alot of times a county extension service will test for free. If you tell me where you are, I will help you track yours down. Also, did you happen to use pressure treated lumber for the raised beds? That could be part of it, too. What was the origin of the soil you purchased? Wht did you try and grow and what happened?

[Nylah]

Re: Amending your Soil


Oh, I had no idea about that Buscuit I am in Edmonton Alberta thanks

I did purchase pressure treated lumber before I knew that I should have bought untreated lumber However I did line the beds with the garden plastic because the garden ppl told me that would prevent leeching.

I cant remember where my soil came from. The name is on the tip of my toungue...anyhoo, I just know that it was highly recommended from one of those speciality garden centres.

If I remember to check when I go in to the garage, I will post later.

In one bed it was all vegetables: tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, green onions, regular onions, bok choy, kohlarabi, sweet peppers, zuchini, lettuce and spinach.

except for the lettuce and green onions, the rest had a hard time bearing fruit or even staying alive even though I babyed them. I did keep in mind which vegetables u are not to plant next to each other.

the other bed was all flowers. Lilac bush, calla lilies, monkswort, tarragon (that one grew like crazy), foxgloves, petunias, lavender, russian sage, and a few other new perinnials that I dont recall at the moment

I did extra fertilizing depending on what the garden ppl told me I needed. I added bone meal to some and extra organic matter and they all fought to thrive

I never had it this bad and dont want this year to be a repeat.

[Green_Biscuit]

Re: Amending your Soil

Okay, few more questions please. How deep are these raised beds? Is the bottom of the plastic permeable (meaning water can flow through?). What kind of fertilizers? Were they organic? Did you buy the plant seedlings or grow them? Do you remember what each looked like (as in, the tomato plants were green but didn't fruit, or the leaves curled, were yellow, etc). The tarragon thriving is interesting...most herbs do better in poor soil, believe it or not. Will check that one. It is hard to tell so far what is going on. They could have been waterlogged...overfertilized, etc etc.

Why would you want to plant a lilac in the raised bed? Are you trying to avoid weeds with these or what?