Amy5813
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Joined: Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:50 am
Location: Louisiana

Plant concerns

Recently I noticed the plants in my vegetable garden don't look so well. My sweet potato plants have discoloring on the leaves, my cucumber plants don't look as green as when I first planted them and flowers seem to bloom and then fall off within the day, my squash and zucchini plants looked dried up around the edges and flowers fall off shortly after blooming while many of the leaves and stems at the bottom die, my pepper plants the leaves at the bottom have small holes and fall off the stem if barely touched, tomato plants aren't very green and don't seem to be growing much. Trying to figure out what I should do to prevent any more damage and keep the plants healthy and growing. It is a raised bed 5ft by 8ft, made with untreated cedar, it's a little more than a foot deep and my husband lined the bottom with weed paper. We put it in two weeks ago. He also set up an irrigation system that runs in the morning (rain gauge says little less than 1/2 inch). The ground around the bed stays rather damp so I've cut off the automatic watering system to monitor how much water is enough.

imafan26
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Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

As far as the flowers falling off, that might not be a big problem. Some plants do drop flowers shortly after blooming in 1-3 days. Pale color, stunting are usually signs of not enough nitrogen or micronutrients or too much water.

A raised bed should drain but if you put down weed paper it might slow that down if the weed paper was put in upside down. Weed paper only drains in one direction. If the holes are aligned the other way, water pools instead.

You did not say what kind of soil you used and how you amended it. Nor, did you say what kind of fertilizer you are using.

The garden is only a couple of weeks old so it is unusual to have some of the other symptoms so soon

A raised bed should drain well.

Cedar does not have to be treated and it is rot resistant so it is a good product if you are going to make raised beds out of wood.

Instead of weed block, other materials like multiple layers of black and white print newspaper or thick cardboard works as a weed barrier but will slowly decompose over time and it does let the water through. Weed block may keep plants from developing a deep root system which helps to support tall plants like tomatoes.

While some people do put soil in their beds. Most people do not have ideal soil.

For a raised bed
1/3 good topsoil
1/3 compost made from a variety of sources not just one. You may have to mix a few different bags. One of the bags can be composted manure. I don't like to add more than 1 inch of manure over the bed. It has a lot of salt.
1/3 drainage material like coarse sand, aka builder's sand that you use to make concrete, or cinder

There are other recipes.
https://learn.eartheasy.com/2014/04/3-us ... ised-beds/

It is better not to water on a schedule until you know your garden. Water the bed until it is thoroughly moistened. To check you need to dig down with a trowel and see how far down the moisture extends. The soil should be moist but not soggy and it should be moist 4-6 inches deep. The soil when you squeeze it should not squeeze out any water and it should be damp enough to hold together but easily break apart (friable). It should not be mud. When plants are small or the temperatures are cool, your soil may hold on to water longer so watering should be adjusted to the plant needs. As the weather gets hotter and the plants get bigger, the watering will need to be increased as needed

Soil and compost do not provide a lot of food for heavy feeders like tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers.

It is better to get a soil test before you plant your bed and to make the bed a couple of months ahead of time to give it time to settle. However, the reality is that few people plan that far ahead.

At this point, I would use miracle grow once a week. It will give you the fastest result if the problems are nutritional. If the yellowing is from lack of nitrogen, then miracle grow should show improvement in leaf color in 2-3 weeks.

If the problem is being compounded by over watering, adjusting the watering should help the plants recover provided their roots are still in good condition.

Next time I would
Take out the weed block and use either newspaper or cardboard at the bottom of the box. If there are no weeds of concern, you don't even have to line it at all.

Get a soil test. You can usually get one at your local extension service in the US. It can take a couple of weeks to a month to get the results. It will tell you about your pH and your fertilizer requirements. You can usually call your local master gardener or the extension office if you need help interpreting it, or you can post it on this site.



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