Newbie from Pennsylvania

Frugalkate 6/9/2011, 9:21 am

Hello all,

My name is Kate and this is the first year I've tried Square Foot Gardening. So far, so good. I have potatoes, onions, brocolli, cauliflower, toms, cukes, beets, carrots, eggplant, radish, peppers, lettuce and corn going. For some reason though my root veggies are very small - carrots, raddish, beets and I can't seem to understand why. Hopefully I'll get some good advice on here.

Anyway I look forward to learning from you all and having some very nice and interesting conversations with everyone.

**Furbalsmom** 6/10/2011, 4:12 pm

FrugalKate

How nice to have you join us.

Regarding small root vegetables, how long ago did you plant them? Do you have pictures? Perhaps they were just too young to harvest?

All tops with no roots or small roots is a condition usually caused by planting too close or by not thinning plants. Excessive nitrogen fertilization can also contribute to extensive top growth at the expense of root growth.

We look forward to hearing about your progress. The first year is always exciting as we learn the needs of different plant.

Again, Welcome. Please share pictures when you can.

shannon1 6/11/2011, 2:27 am

Frugalkate,
Sounds like you are off to a great start. I have not grown root crops so I'm afraid I have no help to offer. I am looking forward to see what the others say as I am planning on planting some this fall. Have you had a garden of any kind before? If you have, I think you will be pleased by how much easier a SFG garden is to take care of. We do love pics so post some if you can. Again Newbie from Pennsylvania 396615

floyd1440 7/9/2011, 8:13 am

Being new to this I built the gardens them filled it with a mix of good top soil and compost, not Mel's Mix. Fotunately I purchased his book and need to address the soil problem, but am needing advice as to remove my original mix completely. Now the boxes are 1 foot deep and should I remove all my dirt and put Mel's mix in? I am also on a grade and could pick the boxes up and put them on top of the old mix to levels them.

And were do you find course vermiculite?

Floyd

**camprn** 7/9/2011, 8:32 am

If it was me, the economy being what it is, I would just remove the top 6" of garden dirt in the boxes and fill that with the Mel's mix. ( i would use the dirt removed to place in the bottom of the new boxes Wink

). If my garden was already planted I would wait until the growing season was over and do this in the autumn, as part of garden cleanup. Then you will be ready to go in the spring!
Newbie from Pennsylvania 396615

to the SFG Forum!

**walshevak** 7/9/2011, 9:03 am

floyd1440 wrote:Being new to this I built the gardens them filled it with a mix of good top soil and compost, not Mel's Mix. Fotunately I purchased his book and need to address the soil problem, but am needing advice as to remove my original mix completely. Now the boxes are 1 foot deep and should I remove all my dirt and put Mel's mix in? I am also on a grade and could pick the boxes up and put them on top of the old mix to levels them.

And were do you find course vermiculite?

Floyd

Here is the forum's vermiculite database. https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/Vermiculite-Entry-Form-h1.htm

Search your state to see where others have found vermiculite.

Kay

shannon1 7/10/2011, 12:17 am

I agree with Camprn, Mel's mix need only be 6" deep so no need to completely empty your boxes. If they are getting enough sun exposure I see no reason to move them. If you have problems with weeds you might want to put down a couple of layers of plain cardboard before adding the MM to block them. Likewise if you have mice or voles you can put down a layer of hardwear cloth to keep them out.

floyd1440 7/10/2011, 8:07 pm

camprn wrote:If it was me, the economy being what it is, I would just remove the top 6" of garden dirt in the boxes and fill that with the Mel's mix. ( i would use the dirt removed to place in the bottom of the new boxes ). If my garden was already planted I would wait until the growing season was over and do this in the autumn, as part of garden cleanup. Then you will be ready to go in the spring!
to the SFG Forum!

That sounds like a plan. My garden is already planted and doing well; to well actually as I planted everything at once, now I know was WRONG, but well will adjust that next season. But thanks for the advice of removing the top 6" and topping the boxes of with Mel's Mix this fall.

And thanks for the link for vermiculite. I purchased mine from Agway but did not ask what grade it was as I thought there was only grade. My hope is they will take it back and perhaps secure some course for me; it was a 4 sq ft bag for less than $20.

Will keep you posted and thank everyone again.

Floyd

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	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.