Beans and cucumber died!! :(
natasha.rand
Posts: 10
I have planted up my £££ woodblokx tiered raised bed and in one section there is home made compost (well rotted years black gold from the bottom half of my compost bin) and a bag of manure. I don't have loads of spare soil so was a bit lazy/cheap and didn't add enough topsoil. I feel like it is maybe just too rich and they couldn't survive it. The nasturtiums are doing OK but the green beens and the cucumber have almost died.
Do you think I should plant something that will enjoy this rich soil? or should I find some topsoil to dilute it?
If the nasturtiums weren't doing ok, I would just dig in some top soil but not having loads of room around them, I'm not so sure I can do that without upsetting them....
pictures are of Day 1, 1st June and the other 3 are today 12 days on.
Thank you in advance for any recommendations
Tash
Last edited: 12 June 2017 12:19:08
Posts
I can't see that well rotted compost would have caused such problems.
Was the manure you added well rotted or fresh? If fresh, that's likely the cause as it will have burned the roots.
I think you need to top up the planters too, just leave 1-2" gap at the top for watering there's not enough room for the roots.
A good mix would be John Innes no.3 along with your black gold compost and some horticultural grit.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Thanks Pete,
I bought a bag of composted manure from the garden centre and mixed it in with my homemade compost. _Definitely not fresh manure, but i think it maybe still to rich.
With regards to depth of soil, the planters are on top on soil and the roots can keep going down beyond the depth of the planters themselves. I made sure that I loosened the ground within the planters before I started to fill them. The height of the back planter is 3' or so, so I am not worried at all about having not filled them up fully. I imagine I'll be adding in at the beginning of each season anyway. It's only because it's year one that they aren't fuller.
Thank you for the advice of John Innes No 3, my sister said the same but I thought I may need to add less rich compost rather that rich??
Grit sounds like a good plan though.
Thanks
JI3 is just a standard potting compost for mature plants - it has nutrients, but is not especially rich.
You could empty them out and mix in some JI3 (or JI2 would be fine or JI1 which has almost no added nutrients) and grit, mix it all up really well and fill them up again which would dilute the effects of the manure.
But if the manure wasn't fresh I'm not sure why you've had problems unless it was a particularly strong manure. Is there a chance that it just got too dry?
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Thanks Pete,
It hasn't dried out at all, it's been less than two weeks, I watered (puddled) everything in as I planted and it's been raining a fair bit. I've kept checking everyday - which is the benefit of growing at home rather than the allotment that I sadly gave up after many years because with two young kids and no hoses on site the watering became to difficult in the summer.
In the other sections of the planter I mixed in quite a bit more top soil - for the carrots especially knowing they like sandy not too rich soil. I thought the beans would be alright but I don't think they are.
Thanks again
Maybe it was just poor weather conditions that caused your problems. The nasturtiums look fine. Try sowing some more beans, there's still time.
My 1st year growing cue's (in the g/house) so can't help with that I'm afraid, but I do know they need lots of feed and lots of room
Good luck!
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
You can't rely on enough rain getting into such a narrow gap and penetrating down to the roots. They will still need regular watering.
I agree with Pete about filling the planters more. The plants will get better air circulation and look a whole lot more attractive sitting higher up.
Thanks for your reply Obelixx, I keep losing my reply - i hope i've posted you a message. I'm not quite adept with the forum yet.
Got your message. Plants like cucumbers and squashes need a great deal of watering and, in confined spaces, I find it's best to grow them up a support so they don't trail all over the ground. This also helps them ripen better as they are in the sun and also protects them from slugs and snails and just plain rotting if left on the ground.
Do try again with beans or peas.