Seedling Progress
First off here's the cold frame I built... Rebar, 1/2" PVC, and Vapour barrier, and then some binder clips to hold it all together.....
not HAY (contains seeds) but STRAW pickup!... almost got hay until i learned the difference only days before i went to pick it up....
Garden photo update....
Squash.... they're soo unhappy....
So I started looking it up today, since all of my squash plants (table queen acorn squash + black beauty zucchini) have started turning yellow... and looking like they're dying... I was wondering if maybe it was lack of water because we've recently had ALOT of hot sunny days with no rain... kinda unusual for us... but as I started to read more and more.... I'm thinking it may be a few things...
- lack of water and tons of sun
- not hardening them off before transplanting
- nitrogen deficiency
- soil PH level
a great site i found with TONS of information on growing summer squash is...
so since number 1 and number 2 are kind too late to do anything about I'll deal with number 3 and 4....
so for number 3, nitrogen deficiency, from my understanding a good fish emulsion will help add nitrogen to the soil... as well as some manure... I also read that legumes can transform nitrogen from the air in the soil into nitrogen that plants can use... but that seems like it may take a bit too long.. unless maybe I intercrop some legumes with my squash... I'd have to read up on that though because I'm not sure if they would compete or not... I also read that back in the day farmers would dig holes in between the squash plants and bury manure so that the plants could get to the nutrients as it decomposed and leached into the soil.... not having any manure on hand... that may be an option for a later time....
so looking at all my options and possibilities I kinda feel like the first solution I'll try is a fish emulsion... or maybe kelp... sounds like the best thing to do with it is to dillute it in water, and use it as a foliar spray in the early mornings on dry leaves when rain is NOT predicted anytime soon... the nutrients should be absorbed quickly and what is not is washed away in the rain.... be careful to not have wet leaves in the dry sun though as that will cause leaf burn..... most people seem to put it in the water buckets and foliar spray once every 2 weeks... and sometimes more often... and if using in a water bucket then water the ground first and then water with the emulsion, this should help the nutrients get to the root zone instead of sucked up by the dry dirt. and apparently dogs love it too, so keep the bottle of the emulsion out of reach.... also you can use FE (fish emulsion) on seedlings as the nitrogen really helps with leaf growth in plants... so may also want to be stopped later in the season to get more fruiting and less leaf production... what plants need when they start budding is a good supply of potassium, and then once they are fruiting a balance of nutrients and micro-nutrients, or just lots of organic matter for the microbes to work on... (hopefully I'll have a lot of comfrey this year for that).
additional info from here and a few other places
I also have some microryzzhal fungi (nitrogen fixing bacteria) and am wondering if maybe mixing a wee bit of that into the soil or with water would be useful at all....maybe I'll try it on one and see how it goes... it's only supposed to be good for a year or 2 anyways.... and I have an excess of it...
Now onto PH level...
the current PH level around the squash is sitting around 7.25'ish.... which i think is a little alkaline for them... so I will need to acidify the soil a bit.... maybe some evergreen (pine) needle mulch, or saw dust mulch... I may also try.. agricultural sulfur... which should be fairly natural... aslong as it isn't processed in any way... I've also heard about using left over coffee to acidify the soil or coffee grounds... just make sure its organic coffee so you're not adding more chemicals and crap to the soil... and epsom salt and tea bags apparently all help....
so overall looks like...
- Kelp = good for potassium
- Fish Emulsion (FE) = good for nitrogen
- adding organic matter = good for nitrogen (longterm)
- Cover crops in the winter that get turned in = good for nitrogen longterm
- mulching with pine needles, sawdust, coffee grounds = Helps acidify the soil
Man o Man there is soooooo much to learn!!!!! I always feel so overwhelmed with how many different things can affect plants.... o well i think its one of those things where you just try your best and do what you can and overtime get better and learn.... gardening is a slow paced activity... something very strange and foreign for me.. and a definite change of mind set.....
and more Photos....
This is all just my thoughts and research... so nothing here is definite... everything varies in nature.... so what might work for me may not work for others....
