everything stopped growing !??

claudiaf 8/12/2013, 8:43 pm

Hello All, This is our first year doing squarefoot gardening. We started out with 4 boxes and mixed up Mels mix on a tarp according to the recipe.The first round of lettuce and radishes were great.I replanted a few weeks ago but everything is SMALL and not growing.The pepper plants are stunted as well as zuchinni,cucumber,pretty much everything. People tell me I need to add fertilizer. I've been adding diluted worm compost once a week for the last couple of weeks but still disappointed ,nothing is big enough to harvest.Any suggestions? We live in the Pacific northwest,Washington state. Thanks and I hope you are enjoying your harvest.

**camprn** 8/12/2013, 8:45 pm

Welcome to the SFG Forum. Before you replanted did you add fresh aged compost to the garden / squares? If not, your friends are right, you need to feed the plants. The thing about compost is it feeds the mix which in turn feeds the plants.

claudiaf 8/13/2013, 12:01 am

No, I didn't add more compost. Maybe thats the problem.I was under the assumption with mels mix you did not have to add any ingredients once you made up the mix.Thanks for your response:beer chug:

**gwennifer** 8/13/2013, 4:20 am

Hi claudiaf and $glad you\'re here$ to the forum! Glad to hear your first round of veggies grown in your new boxes did great! The rule of thumb with Mel's Mix is you replenish the nutrients after you harvest by adding that fresh scoop of compost to each square before replanting. This is covered in the book, as well as how to start your own compost pile since it's such an essential part of SFGing.

Come and join us in the PNW regional forum! We have several regulars who are enjoying the SFG method here in Washington. Would love to see pictures of your new boxes too.

And let us know if you have any other questions!

**camprn** 8/13/2013, 8:46 am

Claudiaf, so now that we have determined that you need to add compost to and feed your garden, I have a suggestion.

Gather 5 different types of compost, as you did when building the garden, (or your own home made compost will do) and put a 1 to 2 inch layer of compost on top of the mix covering the entire bed. Water it well every other day and you should see improvement shortly. Alternatively you can do the topdressing of the compost and, following the label directions, use a liquid general fertilizer to give the plants and immediate boost.

If you have not already found it, the threads about the essentials of SFG can be found on the left side of the main page of this forum, click the hover tab and begin there. Grab yourself a copy of the ALl New Square Foot Gardening book too.

claudiaf 8/13/2013, 9:29 am

Thank you for the suggestions,I'm going to add a top layer today and see if that helps.

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everything stopped growing !??

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