Chlorosis

Hi all.
I planted my first veggie garden ever this season using Mel's sfg book as instructions.

I created 6in deep beds that are raised 2-3 feet off the ground. Beds are 4ft x 3ft. I created Mel's Mix to fill the beds. My only deviation was that I could only find 2 types of compost locally instead of 5. Cow manure and mushroom compost.

Started all plants from seeds. A few inside. Most outside. Everything was growing well initially. I started seeds and transplants outdoors about May 1. It is now mid June.

In the past coupme weeks, tge leaves of ALL plant washed out and lightened to a light lime or yellow. Some leaves almost white. Google search indicates chlorosis. Tonight I added granular iron and an inch of fresh cow manure compost on top. I hope this fixes my issue. Plants seemed a bit stunted in growth but were otherwise healthy.

Why did my olants suffer from chlorosis? My understanding is that Mel's mix is the perfect blend and fertilizers or such ammendments should not be necessary. I want to understand what I did wrong in order to correct my problem in the future.

Thanks!

Hi all.
I planted my first veggie garden ever this season using Mel's sfg book as instructions.

I created 6in deep beds that are raised 2-3 feet off the ground. Beds are 4ft x 3ft. I created Mel's Mix to fill the beds. My only deviation was that I could only find 2 types of compost locally instead of 5. Cow manure and mushroom compost.

Started all plants from seeds. A few inside. Most outside. Everything was growing well initially. I started seeds and transplants outdoors about May 1. It is now mid June.

In the past coupme weeks, tge leaves of ALL plant washed out and lightened to a light lime or yellow. Some leaves almost white. Google search indicates chlorosis. Tonight I added granular iron and an inch of fresh cow manure compost on top. I hope this fixes my issue. Plants seemed a bit stunted in growth but were otherwise healthy.

Why did my olants suffer from chlorosis? My understanding is that Mel's mix is the perfect blend and fertilizers or such ammendments should not be necessary. I want to understand what I did wrong in order to correct my problem in the future.

Thanks!

Hi TLatham72. Welcome from the Atlanta, GA area. Glad you've found us. I know your area, been through a few times. :-)

Probably the reason is that you only were able to find 2 kinds of compost. The reason Mel suggests 5 is to get a good mix of various nutrients.

Don't feel bad! A lot of us have the same issue with finding good sources of compost. This is why we encourage you to start a compost pile asap. You might also check with your local disposal govt folks. Ours has free compost they give away when it's available. Also folks with livestock might be an option, although it's more long-term as it will probably need to age.

You might also look through the archives/search area to see what others have done.

Welcome from Ohio, T Latham!  Glad you found the forums! If the leaves on your plants are yellowing, that indicates they need a little nitrogen. It takes time for the initial application of compost to develop active microbial life in order to make the soil nutrients available for the plants.  Apply some blood meal to the soil, and water it in - that will provide slow release nitrogen to the soil. Then, for quick application of nitrogen apply some fish fertilizer for a quick shot of nitrogen.  That should get your plants going.

OhioGardener wrote:Welcome from Ohio, T Latham!  Glad you found the forums! If the leaves on your plants are yellowing, that indicates they need a little nitrogen. It takes time for the initial application of compost to develop active microbial life in order to make the soil nutrients available for the plants.  Apply some blood meal to the soil, and water it in - that will provide slow release nitrogen to the soil. Then, for quick application of nitrogen apply some fish fertilizer for a quick shot of nitrogen.  That should get your plants going.

 Ohio's post highlights a tendency for many people making their own compost to buy in ready made stuff under different names.  Often the bulk of the material is wood fibre based as it is so cheap & easy to obtain .  This often leads to a large amount of ground up wood products which are disguised with many different suggestive names . There is a thread called , " Composting 101 ".   it's worth reading it even if it does take several hours .. 

  I ended up reading it many times as I'm a bit thick in the brains department to get enough information from it in one go  .

Which when wood fibre is decaying over the next six or more years it initially robs a lot of nitrogen from the ground . Dried blood fish & bone meal  is handy to sort it out when it happens .

 Whatever you do ...............….read the instructions as it is not good on the bare skin or in your lungs nor if it falls in the crevice's of the plants leaves/stems where it will frequently cause a vicious plant affecting rot once it gets damp

Hi tlatham, welcome to the forum!  

If the leaves truly bleached out to whitish, it just may be shock of sun—much stronger than any grow lights.  I harden my seedlings off over a week or usually 2, for several hours in direct sun, then back it off, extending that time until they are ready for Mr. Sunshine.  

Chlorosis is different.  It’s a yellowing of leaves and general not flourishing.  

Can you post pictures?  They are remarkably helpful!