Poor Performing

[urbanbird]

I have started a new garden with garden bed mix from a local nursery.* I planted all the regular stuff and started out promising.* About 4 weeks into the growing process, everything started turning a yellowish tone, somewhat wilted even though I was watering.* The soil seemed rather packed so I tried loosening with a hand shovel.* I fertilized with fish emulsion and things perked back up for a while.* It has been about three weeks and the plants are half of what they should be, have produced no vegetables, and taking on the yellowish color.* There are no insects or disease that* I can see.* Can someone give me some clues on what can be done?
Thank you!

[Newt]

Hi Urbanbird,

There really isn't enough info here for me to really be helpful.* Any idea what was in the "garden bed mix" from the nursery?* Was it a brand name bagged product?* Was it organic garden soil or did it have a slow release fertilizer added?* Was it peat moss based?* Just not enough here to know what you used.

When you say you planted "all the regular stuff", I really have no clue what that would be.* If you planted tomatoes, cucumbers and squash, they would all be in the same family and the problem could be related to their needs.* But if you planted green beans, potatoes and corn, none of those are related and the cause of the problem could be different.*

Potential causes:
bacterial
fungal
overfertilizing which can cause plants not to be able to take up needed nutrients or can cause rootburn.
overwatering
soil missing essential nutrients

Newt

[urbanbird]

Thanks for your reply.* I know the garden mix was dumped from a truck and was supposedly a mixture of mulch, sand, and top soil.* As far as I know there was no slow release fertilizer in the soil.* Having said that, I can't be assured the soil has the proper amount of nutrients included.* I am seriously considering taking a soil sample and sending it in for testing.*

I have tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant and squash in the first bed with onions around the edges.* These are the ones doing poorly.* Does this help??

Urbanbird

[Newt]

Your reply is a big help.* The soil mix you had delivered was most likely not the problem as it sounds just fine.* It was probably crusting due to lack of organic matter such as compost.* One thought that comes to mind is if it had mulch added, and the mulch wasn't completely aged, the mulch could heat up as it ages and damage the roots of your plants and/or the process of the mulch aging can take nitrogen out of the soil.* If it's a case of the mulch aging and taking nitrogen out of the soil, the older leaves will yellow first and the plants will be stunted.* Was the soil very warm, even hot, when you planted?

If the yellowing of the leaves started with the younger leaves and eventually spread to the veins, that would be a lack of sulfur.* You can read about the basic elements and symptoms of the lack of them here.* Click on the left under the soil.
http://www.greenhands.com/soil/index.html

This explains chlorosis - the yellowing of the leaves.
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactS...ochlorosis.htm
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/focus/chlorosis.html

A soil test might be a good idea.
Newt