What would be too much

[nnjjohn]

Redbaron, you are absolutely right.. every season when I thought I was a know it all and used too much ash and lime.. and horse stall mix with wood chips.. I mean ,,i watched and thought I was tending but knew something was wrong when my neighbor at my campsite plants after me and gets huge tomatoes before me.. I mean ..I am more into it now more than ever.. the deer here are yard metro deer.. they will eat my plants too given the opportunity. they are really like pets around here,, not so afraid to stay away so, I have to fence my beds.. today a rabbit got in one bed..i will soon redo the fencing (galv wire) plastic the bite a hole right through , especially the woodchucks. Anyway, I'm no pro but definitely seasoned

[TightenUp]

john

how are the seedlings? any rebounding?

i was at HD and they actually had a decent selection. have you been shopping yet?

[nnjjohn]

yes, they aren't growing but standing firm about three inches lol.. the stems are purple and thin... i might try transplanting a dozen of about twenty some that seem to be cligging in bigger pots . I think it may help with loosened potting soil. but thanks for asking..I also want a few different tomato plants like rutgers and ramapo if they become available.. really looking forward to getting a soil test.. been very busy and think tomorrow I may have time to mail a soil sample in for tests.

[TightenUp]

a family member came home with some determinate rutgers tomatoes. i guess there are determinate and semi determinate or semi indeterminate.......not sure

anyway i now have 2 diff rutgers strains to try out. if i had extra rutgers i'd offer but i really dont. i will most likely have extra sungold f1 seedlings if you're interested along with about 10-15 other varieties i have backups of. i started too many seeds this year.

today was the 1st day outdoors for most plants. they got about 1 hour of shade... tomorrow i might introduce a little sun or just a lot of shade. the 10 day forecast gets better everyday. after tomorrow night the lows are in the upper 40s and after i finish hardening off its time to plant out

get those samples in. if i remember correctly they take a couple of weeks. then you'll have to amend your garden before plant out.

[nnjjohn]

yes, i know what you mean, tomorrow i must mail it out,, have a few jobs to finish ans also going trout fishing upstate this weekend. I suspect I put too much lime and wood ash in my garden beds, I added way too much every season too. I will post test results either way. got to sign off , thanks again and be well!

[COMPOSTER]

I am growing both types of Rutgers also. From what I have read the indeterminate is the original and the determinate in an improved version of Rutgers. The reason I am trying both is to see if the determinate will grow well in 5 gal containers. I seem to have better luck with determinates in containers and there are so few determinate heirlooms that I figured I would give the Rutgers a chance.

[nnjjohn]

Just wanted to say I finally sent in my soil samples to Rutger's University for testing. I know it could be a few weeks but hoping to find out before planting. I will certainly post the test results here. I also want to get a few Rutgers plants too.

[nnjjohn]

Hey everybody, I had Rutger's university here in nj email me my soil test results and they also recommended I should lower my ph.. ph was 7.3 ..so i bought today epsona yo lower ph garden soil? I guess it is a safer than alum.sulfate as it suggests on the 6lb bag for ten dollars. Anybody use this stuff in their gardens to lower ph ?

[zeroma]

No experience with epsona yo lower ph garden soil, but happy to see you got your soil test results.

How were the rest of the results on NKP etc.

[nnjjohn]

All the other metals were adequate with the exception of magnesium and iron which were high.. but not very high.. ph was 7.39 and they recommended not adding anymore lime /wood ash or compost.. I might not add much if any this stuff from home depot.. it is in a blue/white 6 lb. bag .. i might sprinkle a row away from the plants , i'm not even sure if it is needed with a 7.39 ph.. guess i'll check back here and wait for replies before adding this stuff.

[nnjjohn]

http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/pdf/products/Esp_Soil_acidif.pdf this is the stuff i might experiment on two of the five garden beds .. these two beds tested 7.39 nut could have been much higher last few seasons when i dumped in too much lime sawdust and wood ash.. maybe this season I will not need to reduce this 7.39? Any recommendations always appreciated

[rtpr24]

Tom Kay from the Flower Farm advised using just white wine vinegar. (cheap) Said the soil critters love it. Just don't put it on plants. Will kill weeds also.

[Worth1]

DO NOT put straight vinegar on your soil.
At least I dont.
For a quick fix use 5% acidity vinegar pour into to an Ortho dial and spray completely full.
Set sprayer on the 6 or 8 oz setting and saturate your soil.
You can spray your plants and all it wont hurt.
If you are worried you can wash the plants off after spraying.
In just a matter of no time you will see your plants leap with new growth.

One word of caution.
If your soil is saturated with too much nitrogen the plants will now take it up like it never has before.
DO NOT fertilize for at least 3 days and look for new growth.

Remember you only want to do one thing at a time if you are not for sure what the problem is.

That is true for everything.

Worth

[nnjjohn]

okay you guys suggest I go get my money back and try a 5 percent to water ratio.. worth , you saying like a cup of white vinigar to a gallon water and sprinkle it all around my plants existing and also the two empty beds i'm going to plant this week ? we have spotty thunder showers this pm.. the beds are kinda wet enough to do this now.. think i'll try this method you two proposed..thanks.for sharing

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by nnjjohn

okay you guys suggest I go get my money back and try a 5 percent to water ratio.. worth , you saying like a cup of white vinigar to a gallon water and sprinkle it all around my plants existing and also the two empty beds i'm going to plant this week ? we have spotty thunder showers this pm.. the beds are kinda wet enough to do this now.. think i'll try this method you two proposed..thanks.for sharing

The Vinegar is 5% acidity it says so on the container the ratio in the dial and spray has settings.
From 8oz to 1 tsp per gallon.

Worth