Garden question (Alamo: house, organic, living)

[mavrick331]

I have a small raised bed garden that I mainly grow peppers and tomatoes in, last year's crop was bad on both. I read on different sites not to plant in the same place. Since I have no other spot in the yard that gets any real amount of sun, I'm stuck with this location. The bed is about 16'X3' and about 18" deep, Should I just replace the all or most of the soil in the bed ? If so can I spread the old soil on my St. Augustine grass ?

Thanks,
Rick

[SnappyBob]

I can probably help but I need some more information. What kind of soil do you have in your raised bed? Was last year it's first time to have anything planted in it? Any raised bed in a sunny location should be capable of growing good tomatoes and peppers, even in a drought, so I feel there must be something fundamentally wrong here. Let's figure out what it is and fix it so you can grow some good tomatoes and peppers this year.

[scooter3418]

Can i piggy back a question about vegetable gardens? We built a raised bed (well two actually) next to each other last year - got great cucumbers, tomatoes, a few watermelon out of em. But one bed in particular we seem to have alot more of a problem with as far as spots on the plants. At first I thought it was some sort of fungus and have tried fungicide as I get the same spots on almost any outdoor plant/bush/flower in our entire yard. Fungicide doesnt seem to work neither does Seven bug killer. I am at a loss as to what is causing this in the vegetable garden as well as in our flower beds in the front and other side of the house - - - is there a special Texas kind of fungus that is prevalent around here that I dont know about (new to Texas as of last year). We have planted peas in the gardens now and same thing as last year, one bed doing great, other has spots (though there are a few spots on the ones in the one bed). . . and the plants in the one bed are starting to die - which makes no sense to me since they are literally right next to each other and get the same amount of sun and water .... any thoughts?

[mavrick331]

The garden was first planted on 2003, every year since its had peppers and tomatoes planted in it. The soil was a garden mix from gardenville, I have tilled in miracle grow garden soil from time to time. Best crops were the first 3 years, has declined since then.

[SnappyBob]

First Mavrick. Have you tilled anything else in besides MG soil? The Gardenville soil should be a good choice. I am assuming it was soil designed for raised beds. The soil should be nice and loose and easy to work with a fork. A raised bed needs to have good drainage. With good drainage comes the need to replace lost nutrients and organic matter. I would recommend that you work in some really good compost like gardenvilles manure compost. (not the AlamoGrow) along with a LITTLE low nitrogen fertilizer. You can do that now and let it sit until you are ready to plant. I think your soil may be running out of nutrients and living organic matter. Miracle Grow feeds the plants but you also need to feed the soil. In fact, if you feed the soil properly all year long you won't have to feed the plants. I would also suggest that if you don't use the bed in the winter time that you plant a cover crop like vetch or even some legumes to help feed your soil in the off season. Or for crop rotation you can grow some cabbage and broccoli in the winter. They are a great follow up for tomatoes. One other thing. Don't be tempted to over crowd that bed. For a bed that size you shouldn't have more than 2 tomato plants and 2 pepper plants. That's all I can think of right now. If you have any more questions let me know.

Now for scooter. Here in south Texas fungicide should be used as a preventative. Put it on as soon as you put your plants out. Once they get a fungus it is too late. Ortho Garden Disease Control is a good one. It could also be insects but there are all kinds of "spots" that can be caused by all kinds of things. Are you already planting peas? It may feel like spring or even summer on some days but it's still a little early. We have had some freezes lately. Are sure your dieing plants didn't suffer cold damage. Plant diseases are difficult to diagnose even for a professional, which I am not. You might take a leaf sample to a nursery ( a real nursery not a big box store) and see what they think. Try not to let you plants foliage get wet especially in cool humid weather. Drip systems or soaker hoses work best.

Best of luck to the both of you. Let us know how things turn out.

[mavrick331]

Thanks, Bob

I'll work on the soil, I am going to try upsidedown planters this year and plant something else in the raised bed this year.

Rick