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I need some advice on a "Garden" i recently started. I have NEVER had a garden before so i decided to try it. I plated some Tomatoes, Jalapeno plants, Sweet Basil, and some other Vegetables. My soil is a hard clay, but i tilled it and added some Plant Vegetable soil mix. The plants have been in the ground for about two months now. The problem is they look exactly like the day i planted them, minus some leaves. There has been NO growth what so ever. I even added some Explode plant and vegetable food, and nothing!! What am i doing wrong??!!
I have a friend whose soil is clay. She has spent years adding and mixing good topsoil in her yard so flowers will grow. She replaces and adds a little at a time (section by section), a continuous effort. Maybe you need to work on your ground more.
My soil is also red clay, as is almost everyones' in this section of N.C. I grow an annual garden, fairly large, get loads of Tomatos, Watermelons, Cantalopes, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, corn, peppers, okra, onions, garlic, squash - yellow, zucchini, butternut, potatos, and several herb varieties. A couple of things you can do to improve yield. 1. mulch all of your plants, grass clippings work well 2. Add lime to your soil, my garden is about 100 ft wide and 45 ft deep, yup, long rows... I add about 200 lbs of lime and 100 lbs of fertilizer 10-20-20, annually and will continue until my soil turns to loam. Each year it gets easier to till and work, don't try to rush mother nature. I suggest you get a lawn mower/bagger on the back, a lot easier than raking.
If you have had your plants in the ground for 2 months it could be more of a weather issue than a soil one. The plants you listed tend to "sleep" when temps are low at night - they don't die, but won't grow until temps rise. Exposure to an extended period of low temps will extend their period of stunted growth. I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but in NC we have had many nights below 40 and that has not helped my tomato plants but they aren't dead so I'm hopeful that they will begin growing when the temps pick up.
If you fertilize too much you will get lots of leaves and little fruit. The advice I've recieved is to fertilize at planting (assuming you are mixing good organic material in with the clay prior to planting) and again once fruit starts to set. You could also do a soil sample and see if you need to change anything at this point.
Welcome to gardening. It is addictive. And I do NOT have a green thumb but I'm managing to grow a few things thanks to the wonderful help and advice I've received from others.
I need some advice on a "Garden" i recently started. I have NEVER had a garden before so i decided to try it. I plated some Tomatoes, Jalapeno plants, Sweet Basil, and some other Vegetables. My soil is a hard clay, but i tilled it and added some Plant Vegetable soil mix. The plants have been in the ground for about two months now. The problem is they look exactly like the day i planted them, minus some leaves. There has been NO growth what so ever. I even added some Explode plant and vegetable food, and nothing!! What am i doing wrong??!!
This may be a silly question, but, are you watering these plants?
If so, then you probably need to concentrate on adding as much organic matter to the soil as possible, and maybe some course sand or grit for drainage.
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