Giving a garden one more shot

[staceychev]

Last year was the third year that we tried to garden in this house that has two raised beds from the previous owners. I was ready to write off gardening, but my neighbor took down three trees a few weeks back, and I think we'll get lots more sunlight, so I'm ready to give it a shot again. Experienced gardeners, can I tell you what I've dealt with, and can you give me some advice to hopefully be more successful this year?

I've got two raised beds that are about 4' x 8'. They had a really nice soil in them when we bought the house (previous owner was very crunchy/organic), and we've amended each year with compost.

So, here are my problems:

* tomatoes die. Every. Single. Time. The leaves at the bottom start turning brown and they die. I tried them in both beds, and it happened in both.
* squirrels eat a lot
* the only thing that we got anything from was peppers, and that was just a couple of them in late October

DH thinks we need to just amend the soil with something to make better drainage. I'm worried--due to the weird tomato deaths--that there's a fungus or something and we should dig out and replace the soil. What would you do?

I'm hoping that the trees coming down will give us more sun and therefore better results in terms of the other plants.

Also, I've had decent results keeping squirrels away with blood meal, but doesn't using that too much make the soil too... uh, something?

Sorry for the missive here. I think this is part of the late pregnancy nesting...

[JamieCatheryn]

I'm not great at diagnosing plant disease, but I do know it's recommended you not put nightshades (like the tomatoes and peppers) in the same place each year in case of disease, but rotate instead. If you have a different bed to put them in try that, or take a break from those are grow other veggies like green beans, greens and lettuce, carrots, peas, squash.

[mindymom]

hi,
i'm not much more experienced than you, but i think people will need more information to help you. i'll ask lots of questions so you have a good excuse to write more!

the way you're describing the tomato plants dying could be due to a lot of things - fungus, lack of light, lack of water, bad drainage all come to mind. do you think they got enough light, water, and drainage? what kind(s) of tomatoes have you planted? have you tried any virus/fungus resistant hybrids? (not to say that JamieCatheryn isn't completely right. but i know how hard it is to resist the pull of the nightshades....)

i am hoping someone comes up with a good answer to your squirrel problem. i have had mild success with bloodmeal, too, but nothing to write home about. what else have you tried?

are your peppers producing late because they get planted late? do you start your own seeds ahead of time, or buy plants? do your nightshades get enough heat/sun where you are located? are you planting late-producing varieties?

good luck. i will be to see what people suggest for your squirrels. mine even eat habaneros once in a while.

[staceychev]

Thanks!

OK--let's see. I have rotated the tomatoes, but it happened in both beds. I'm wondering if it's lack of light or poor drainage. What can I do in a raised bed to improve drainage?

As far as the peppers go, I put them in about as soon as I can, and I buy established plants (although I have done seeds, too, but it's a lot of work when I don't know if they're going to produce at all).

I've also tried lettuces (which seem to be bunny and squirrel magnets) and radishes and snap peas and cucumbers. The snap peas grew OK one year--though nothing to write home about. I did get some lettuces and arugula, but not much. The cukes were a dismal failure. The kale never grew, and neither did the broccoli or the beets.

Hmm. Lots of different failures. I'm thinking drainage or sun.

My USDA zone is 6, by the way.

[TheGirls]

Sun sounds like a big one. Also pests eating your crop. Can you cover the beds at all to keep the squirells and bunnies out? They're terrible with lettuce.

If you got some peppers, you do have SOME sun though. Peppers love sun and heat. So do tomatoes. Peas, beans, lettuce, and spinach can make do with a bit less, I find, if you can protect them from pests. Cukes and broccoli both need a long cool spell and don't much like the heat, so you could be putting those in too late. I'm in zone 5 and my broccoli has to be harvested by June or it bolts like mad. Last year was a super cold season and some of the broccoli made it to early July. Barely. I've started Broccoli already to make sure it has time to mature before it gets hot.

Raised beds are usually pretty good for drainage. Have you ever done a drainage test (fill a hole with water and see how long it sits there)? How about a pH and nutrient test (available at a garden center or hardware store)?

[Owen'nZoe]

I agree with TheGirls. It seems unlikely that you'd have poor drainage in a raised bed, but I suppose depending on how the previous owners built them, it could happen. Doing a drainage test would clear up whether it is actually an issue. A soil test would also be a very good idea. In most places, you can get a very good test done reasonably by your local university extension office. Personally, I'd find another spot for my tomatoes this year. It would just kill me to have them wilt 4 years in a row!

For critters, it sounds like you have rabbits and squirrels? A simple chicken wire fence would keep the rabbits out, but squirrels are a little trickier. You could try floating row covers, but they might crawl under the covers. I think your best bet would be to build wire cages to cover your plants. There are quite a few plans for plans to make the cages online. Good luck!

[Erinz]

Blood meal is full of nitrogen, and nitrogen causes lots of leaf growth but isn't great for flowering. So esp in a raised bed I'd go for physical protection. I have massive bird problems and am still figuring out a good system for protecting my plants. If I had squirrels or rabbits I'd be all over a good fence AND a good tall wire cage for each bed with hinged doors or something. Dang I can't stand critters getting into stuff! ACK! Heartbreaking. I've had it happen way too much so I don't mess around anymore!

The browning leaves on the tomatoes could also be from overwatering. Are you waiting until the soil is a bit dry and then deep/slow watering? Also be sure to try and avoid splashing on the leaves with water or dirt. MULCH really well.

I think the pp who said testing the soil might have something there too. You could find out if you need to do some organic ammendments to get things to go. I like using kelp meal and teas on my plants, esp when setting fruit.

Give it another go!