Whats wrong with my Pea's

This is my first SFG, for the last week or so my pea's and other veggies has been turning light green/yellow. Is it from over watering? I watered every day, then I stopped watering for 3 days to see if the coloring would turn back green, nothing. I did spray alot of neem oil on them one day to control bugs, about 8 ounces. Not sure if that would cause it. They are spaced 3 inches could they be plated to closely. Any help would be nice. thanks.

everakuma wrote:This is my first SFG, for the last week or so my pea's and other veggies has been turning light green/yellow. Is it from over watering? I watered every day, then I stopped watering for 3 days to see if the coloring would turn back green, nothing. I did spray alot of neem oil on them one day to control bugs, about 8 ounces. Not sure if that would cause it. They are spaced 3 inches could they be plated to closely. Any help would be nice. thanks.

can you give details about what you used for the soil blend? and what compost sources you used?

that might be helpful.

if i had to guess, i would think nitrogen problem, but i don't use pesticides of any kind so have no clue whata lot of neem would do. if i had to guess on the neem, it would be that the pores of the leaves are all clogged and unable to do co2 exchange. .

hopefully someone with experience on this would chime in.

were the plants perfectly fine before the pesticide?

I use mel's mix, peat moss, vermiculite, and miracle grow compost. Reason I thought it may have been neem oil was it started changing color when I sprayed 8 ounces of neem oil on it. If i knew how to post a pic I would

8 oz of Neem seems like a lot to me. I haven't used it in several years, but as I remember I used very little oil when diluting it according to directions -- maybe an ounce per gallon of water. If not the Neem, then I go with a possible nitrogen deficiency. The beans in one of my gardens started turning yellowish so I used a soluble fertilizer for vegetables and they are beginning to green up a bit. I think sometimes the compost we buy is not balanced enough and there are no nutrients in peat or vermiculite. I try not to use much commercial fertilizer, but sometimes it helps. Another thing you might try is blood meal as that will give small nitrogen boost.

3" apart is right for beans -- they like to be crowded.

everakuma wrote: If i knew how to post a pic I would

Hiya, somebody wrote some pretty good 'how to post a picture' instructions that you can find here

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/how-to-f33/

I will try and get a Nitrogen supplement. Didn't know I would need anything else other than Mel's Mix. Figured out to post a pic, here it is.

I wonder if the mix is low in nutrients. Mel's book recommends using at least 5 types of compost, to make sure you have the right nutrients. You've used only one, so that might be the problem. Also, you might want to check what's in the Miracle Gro compost; sometimes bags marked as "compost" actually contain also a high percentage of other ingredients (including vermiculite, or perlite etc.). If that's the case, your mix will be lacking nutrients.
It's worth it using some fertilizer to see if that actually improves the plants. If it does, then you know what the problem is, and you can gradually amend the soil with a mix of composts such as chicken or farmyard manure, mushroom composts, or your own compost if you have some.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10288017&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=miracle+grow&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=search&ts=1263218550491&isSearch=true

found the product you're talking about.

i bet you DO have a nitrogen deficiency as the ingredients in this compost is 30% peat. so you hav ea LOT of peat moss in your soil.

also, there are fertilizers in the compost bag you purchased, so in 3 months, you're going to have to add more fertilizers.

the composts mel talksabout in his books are things like mature cow manure, chicken manure, garden clippings that have composted into black soil, rabbit, mushroom compost, you get the idea.

he also suggests a minimum of 5 for a good balance of nutrients as just one kind wouldn't be sufficient for growing all different kinds of things.

so definitely add a bit of fertilizer and also amend heavily with a compost blend (see earlier in this reply for suggestions of composts to blend together)

ever, this is a dumb question, but here it is anyway, did you plant these from seed or from plants you bought?

Happyfrog, thanks for the link; I wonder if this actually has 70% peat, since the info says "% peat free", and if something is 30% peat free it means it contains 70% peat! I found that a lot of the commercial premixed compost contains that much peat or peat substitute. That would explaing why the plants might not be doing very well. I wonder if the excess peat might also keep the mix too wet - which also can cause yellowing of the plants.

What about adding coffee grounds around the plants? A bit of acid & a bit of nitrogen. Don't add too much. But it should be free. I don't drink coffee, but all of my coworkers do and, while they think I'm a bit weird, they let me bring the grounds home for my compost bin. I will sprinkle some around the roses and milkweed every once in a while, too.

I picked up some blood meal today, has 11% nitrogen. Hope this helps my pea's. Also they were planted from seed. Never transferred them from pot.

Thanks ever.... it was just odd that none of your other plants look that sickly.

plb wrote: I found that a lot of the commercial premixed compost contains that much peat or peat substitute. That would explain why the plants might not be doing very well.

This is a harbinger of threads to come; just like last summer. Pre-mixed composts can be heavy on the cheap stuff and light on the good stuff. Also, packaged composts are sold prematurely sometimes, before they have finished thoroughly breaking down. The most common remedy is the addition of blood or bone meal.

I realize it's difficult for first year gardeners to come up with quality compost. But start preparing now to make your own compost for next year so you'll know for sure that you have quality compost to add to your Mel's mix.

[quote="boffer"]

plb wrote: I found that a lot of the commercial premixed compost contains that much peat or peat substitute. That would explain why the plants might not be doing very well.

This is a harbinger of threads to come; just like last summer. Pre-mixed composts are heavy on the cheap stuff and light on the good stuff. Also, packaged composts are sold pre-maturely sometimes, before they have finished thoroughly breaking down. The most common remedy is the addition of blood or bone meal.

I realize it's difficult for first year gardeners to come up with quality compost. But start preparing now to make your own compost for next year so you'll know for sure that you have quality compost to add to your Mel's mix.[/quote

This is my first year SQ Ft gardening. I'll keep this in mind if it seems like it's not working well.

Thanks for the advice!

Ever impatient, I made my first 2 gardens with just 2 kinds of compost - the 2 stores I went to didn't have the variety so I winged it. My peas (and beans) looked just the same as that. I figured that my compost was lacking who knows what - so I added a side dressing of Garden Tone and within a week or 10 days they started growing, my peas all look beautiful now and my beans are flowering.

Now I did't do any trouble shooting, and crossed my fingers - but I think it is recoverable - and given the peat content of the MG compost, perhaps a general all purpose fertilizer with micro nutrients might be just the ticket??? (I made sure to water thoroughly after I added the fertilizer).

Use something organic, like fish emulsion or seaweed extract. They are both very good for vegetables and won't hurt your health.
If you have the patience to do that, you can make your own plant fertilizer for free using nettles or comfrey leaves; google that for instructions.

There's a show called The Edible Garden about a woman in England and she soaks stinging nettles until they're stinky then buries them around her tomatoes and she says that works great. We're going to put a raised bed around my pea patch this year, so hopefully I'll have peas again this fall Hopefully an amendment will straighten your peas out straight-away!

I found a greenhouse out in the country that isn't commercial and he had lots of great compost. We used mushroom, leaf, cow manure, shrimp, and we also get worm castings from a homeschooling family on the way to work. I love to support them! Their son studied vermicomposting (composting with worms) and loved doing it, so they turned it into a business

I recently added blood meal to my SFG, it doesn't look like its doing much. My pea's look the same. Although the leaves are turning tannish and hardening, and falling off they are still pale. They are sproting pea's though, but they look pale. I think it may be the lack of nutrients in the miricle grow compost. Is it too late to add a few bags of compost on top of the existing mel's mix soil? Or would it need to be churned with the existing soil mix?

Can you post a photo of your peas? Try some compost tea. The way I make it is not the way a lot of other people make it. If you look on line there's all this stuff about aeration and adding aquarium pumps, etc. Me, I fill a 5 gal bucket 2/3 full let it sit over night. In the morning a shovel or 2 of compost is what I add and stir. Stir it a few times over several hours and then I use this the next day watering the plants by hand. Worth a shot...

this is exactly what my peas look like but they only got to be about 5 inches tall. It's so close to planting the summer crop , I just pulled most of them up. Now, I know to add some nitrogen if I try again this fall. Thank you everyone!

boffer wrote:

plb wrote: I found that a lot of the commercial premixed compost contains that much peat or peat substitute. That would explain why the plants might not be doing very well.

This is a harbinger of threads to come; just like last summer. Pre-mixed composts can be heavy on the cheap stuff and light on the good stuff. Also, packaged composts are sold prematurely sometimes, before they have finished thoroughly breaking down. The most common remedy is the addition of blood or bone meal.

I realize it's difficult for first year gardeners to come up with quality compost. But start preparing now to make your own compost for next year so you'll know for sure that you have quality compost to add to your Mel's mix.

I have certainly learned my lesson. I am going to make the time to make the MM. It has to be cheaper than the blend I purchased this ye
ar to fill my 4x8 bed. I spent approx. $168 on the blend - eight 2 cubic foot bags. If I make MM myself, I will need:
Four 1 cubic foot bags of compost - (40lb. bag mushroom compost $6.49, 30lb. worm castings $19.95, McEnroe 40lb bag - $7.49, 50 lb Black Kow - $10.97, mine - free)
One 3.8 cubic bag of peat moss (2-2.2 cuft bags @ $12.95 per bag
Two bags of vermiculite (4cuft course $24.95 or 4cuft medium $17.95)
Total: $95.75 before tax.

How many boxes do you think this will fill?

Four 1 cubic foot bags of compost - (40lb. bag mushroom compost $6.49, 30lb. worm castings $19.95, McEnroe 40lb bag - $7.49, 50 lb Black Kow - $10.97, mine - free)
One 3.8 cubic bag of peat moss (2-2.2 cuft bags @ $12.95 per bag
Two bags of vermiculite (4cuft course $24.95 or 4cuft medium $17.95)
Total: $95.75 before tax.

How many boxes do you think this will fill?

8 cu ft of vermiculite
8 cu ft of fluffed peat moss
4 Cu ft purchased and
4 cu ft of homemade handcrafted compost

You have a total of 24 cu ft. A typical 4 ft X 4 ft X 6 in bed takes a minimum of 8 cu ft and with settling after watering, many people use up to 10 cu ft per box. So about two 4 X 4 beds plus one 2 X 4 ft bed.

Furbalsmom wrote:

Four 1 cubic foot bags of compost - (40lb. bag mushroom compost $6.49, 30lb. worm castings $19.95, McEnroe 40lb bag - $7.49, 50 lb Black Kow - $10.97, mine - free)
One 3.8 cubic bag of peat moss (2-2.2 cuft bags @ $12.95 per bag
Two bags of vermiculite (4cuft course $24.95 or 4cuft medium $17.95)
Total: $95.75 before tax.

How many boxes do you think this will fill?

8 cu ft of vermiculite
8 cu ft of fluffed peat moss
4 Cu ft purchased and
4 cu ft of homemade handcrafted compost

You have a total of 24 cu ft. A typical 4 ft X 4 ft X 6 in bed takes a minimum of 8 cu ft and with settling after watering, many people use up to 10 cu ft per box. So about two 4 X 4 beds plus one 2 X 4 ft bed.

How many cu ft. does a 40lb bag yield? 50lb bag?