SFG GARDEN FAILURE

Help,

I am in the Chicagoland area, zone 5

Did I do something wrong?  I have not posted for a month. I have been busy with the garden and yard.

I thought I did everything PERFECT and by the book mixing up my MM. I bought all of the right ingredients, mixed in small batches to make sure it was really mixed up. I have about 10" of MM in the bed.   Put in my beds and waited for warmer weather.  I even invested in a Dripworks drip water system

I admit that my seed starting in the house was less than awesome, but I did get a few tomato and peppers to sprout.  I then bought starters from the local stores.  I planted a month ago and thing are SO slow growing.  My seed tomato's have barely grown, maybe 1/2".  Even the store bought starters are doing little in the way of growth.

What should I do?  Can I fertilize or shall I just wait?

This was so expensive to set up, there has to be a fix for me.

Thanks for any advice

Dani from Burr Ridge

Yipes. That sounds pretty tragic. Do you have some pictures of your set-up?

Also, I'm wondering what your weather has been like. In May, my county had the honor of being the cloudiest county in the country. My plants grew very slowly. I tend to think of Chicago as having overcast, so just wondering. The second thing that comes to mind is, did you use any bagged manure? Unfortunately, the manure supply across the country appears to have been tainted with grazon.

Well, I'm sure someone with good ideas will be along to help shortly.

Yes, i did use bagged compost and manure, but the manure was only one of the four that I could find.  Also, that was the only manure available that was not still "hot"  Also, I sifted all of the compost and peat through a 1/4" screen and it was beautiful.  No twigs, no rocks, just soft 'dirt-like' stuff.

Dani From Burr Ridge

Hello, so sorry to hear this.  Perhaps there’s an issue with the MM itself, or weather.  We had no rain here—Zero—for almost a month.  No growth was happening.  Water from a hose isn’t rain.  

Sometimes the compost is lots of peat, and you will end up with a peat-rich, nitrogen poor mixture.  Can you look at the ingredients of the manure you used?  You may need to add some stuff to your mix to make it come closer to MM.

danieggert wrote:Did I do something wrong? 

No, you probably did not do anything wrong.  Probably just a case of, "I fought nature, and nature won..."

Many gardeners find the first year to be very challenging and less than optimal results.  When a new bed is established with Mel's Mix it can often take up to a year for the soil food web to develop enough for the microbes to break down all of the organic matter that was added and make plant available nutrients.  For example, if some of the compost used was not fully matured at the time the MM was made it will continue its composting process after it is added to the bed. During this time, the composting process will "steal" nitrogen from surrounding soil to facilitate the composting process. When this happens, the plants in that soil suffer due to the lack of nitrogen.  To make matters worse, seedling plants that were purchased from nurseries or big box stores were fed regular diets of nitrogen-rich fertilizers to make them grow fast and look good for the prospective buyers. When they are taken home and planted into the garden they are suddenly starved of that nitrogen.

Meanwhile, back to the solution.  From your description is appears that your plants are missing plant available nutrients, including nitrogen. You will probably see a boost in growth if you add some blood meal to their diet.  Dig a hole next to the plant, but not against the plant root ball, throw a handful of Blood Meal into it, and cover it up. Then water the area to "liquefy" the blood meal. The microbes will go to work on it, and the plants will thank you.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Encap-Sta-Green-All-purpose-Food-14-0-0/1001447210

As your MM matures in the beds, you will see dramatic improvement in plant growth and production. Then, no additives will be needed.

OhioGardener wrote:Many gardeners find the first year to be very challenging and less than optimal results. 

My first year garden practically exploded into life. So It's the subsequent years that have given me trouble. I might try the blood meal on my SFG#1.

I am a big blood and bone proponent.

Dani, There is a good chance the weather has played a role in slow growth. Paraphrasing OG, Nature usual wins. I have heard the same complaint in California and southern states (Zone 9) that their plants are just sitting there. This from both SFG gardeners and row gardeners.

I hate to see you use any fertilizer at this point. Blood meal is an organic source of nitrogen, but it can also lead to "all green and very few fruits". Looking at the day and night temps of IL it looks like you have some good weather ahead. No rain until possibly this weekend. Wait another week or 2 and see how the plants look. As the MM warms up, the microbes will become more active breaking down the compost into nutrients. (I'm assuming you haven't put on mulch at this point and that all of the MM is moist throughout the bed.)

Another thing to remember is that tomatoes and peppers love the hot steamy days and nights of summer.  I grew up in northern IL and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't see a lot of growth until July or so, but then watch out!  I also second the "no fertilizer for now" advice given above...hang in there and if you still don't see growth in the next 3 weeks or so, then consider other measures.  Rarely does a wait-and-see approach hurt anything!

So glad to hear you are following the method as prescribed "by the book." This helps to eliminate a lot of factors and narrow in on what is causing you some trouble.  

Be sure to avoid hose water if you can as it will set plants back. Please share some photos. I would love to see pictures of what you are growing. Photos will help in evaluating your situation. 

Love on your plant babies and let them do their own thing. They just might suddenly surprise you. Fertilizer is junk food. You might get the satisfaction of a sudden burst of leafy green growth, but over time fertilized plants can under perform compared to their non-fertilized siblings. 


Don't give up hope. Happy gardening!

Cmonster90 wrote:Be sure to avoid hose water if you can as it will set plants back.

Most interesting comment, not sure how that will set plants back. Can you provide more facts to support that?

For years I have used a hose between the water faucet and the timer that controls the drip irrigation on the raised bed. The only water that the plants get other than the occasional rain goes through that hose. Haven't ever seen the plants being set back.

Hose water is what many people have available.