Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

A garden is only as good as the ground that it's planted in. Discussion forum for the many ways to improve the soil where we plant our gardens.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old July 18, 2019   #1
cdg
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North/Central Texas
Posts: 67
Default Soil in raised beds ammending

Built new raised beds . Purchased bulk soil . Soil test showed to add 3 lbs. of phosphorus (P205) per 1000 sq. feet . My raised beds total 200 sq. ft . so I should add .6 lbs. of phosphorus total . Is this correct ? I was thinking 5 lbs. of rock phosphate . Would this be right ? Also , ph tested 7.7 so was thinking 2 lbs. of Sulphur this year and retest next year . I am old and not real good at figuring this type of thing so any input would be appreciated . Thanks in advance .
cdg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 19, 2019   #2
cjp1953
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio
Posts: 818
Default

Did you have someone test your soil if so they should have given you recommendations on what and how much for the size of your garden.My test were sent to Penn. State and they sent me the results and how much to add for my garden which is about the same size.Sorry I did not answer your question but some of those test are costly and should provide the information your after.
cjp1953 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 19, 2019   #3
brownrexx
Tomatovillian™
 
brownrexx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
Default

Yes .6 lbs or 9.6 Oz is correct for 200 square feet.
brownrexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 19, 2019   #4
cdg
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North/Central Texas
Posts: 67
Default

thanks much . I appreciate . Texas A&M did the soil test and ph was 7.7 but they did not give suggestions to lower . I figured I would add a couple of pounds of sulfur to try to get it down below 7 eventually since my main interest is tomatoes .
cdg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 19, 2019   #5
brownrexx
Tomatovillian™
 
brownrexx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
Default

Sulfur will do the trick but it is slow so don't expect results before next year.
brownrexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 19, 2019   #6
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Vinegar is NOW and it isn't permanent.
Plus side, it wont make your onions hotter than hell.
4 to 8 ounces per gallon is what I use I think in and ortho dial and spray.
Just regular 5% cheap vinegar nothing fancy.
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 19, 2019   #7
cdg
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North/Central Texas
Posts: 67
Default

Thanks folks . My tomatoes drowned this year and am trying to get prepared for next year if I am blessed enough to get another . Last year was also a bummer , straight from spring to blazing inferno . anyway , thanks so much for all suggestions and opinions .
cdg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 20, 2019   #8
SueCT
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,460
Default

I have considered putting down plastic sheets as a mulch when rain started seem excessive, but have never actually done it. You can buy long rolls of plastic in the paint dept at Places like Home Depot. Digging a slight trench between rows might also help before putting down the plastic. My garden is on a slope, and although i have leveled it off with amendments over the years, I don't think it would be that difficult to make a slightly sloped trench with plastic over it between rows. I have wondered if anyone else had ever tried something like that before. Anyway, not much you can do about the heat except erect some type of shade if possible and water, water, water. Texas can be a brutal place to try to garden.
SueCT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 20, 2019   #9
brownrexx
Tomatovillian™
 
brownrexx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
Default

I have not tried using sheets of plastic but I would if I had too much rain.

This year we had day after day of rain after I planted my tomato seedlings and I was worried about them getting too much water so I bought some cheap plastic baskets at the Dollar store and covered my tomatoes during a couple of the storms. This only works for small plants because they outgrew the baskets fairly quickly but they all came through it and are fine now.


20190514_155814 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

Last edited by brownrexx; July 20, 2019 at 08:38 AM.
brownrexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 21, 2019   #10
SQWIBB
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Philly 7A
Posts: 739
Default

I don't understand the reason for covering during heavy rains. Are the roots drowning?
I would think the only way to limit water would be to cover the area and have a runoff away from the plants.
Covering just the plants will not result in less water during the rain, the same amount of water will still get to the roots as in Browmrexx picture above.

Not sure if I'm missing something here or not?
SQWIBB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 21, 2019   #11
brownrexx
Tomatovillian™
 
brownrexx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
Default

Yes, I was afraid that the roots were getting too much water. I don't cover my plants on a regular basis normally but the week after I planted my seedlings, it rained every day and the soil was becoming saturated. The covers kept extra water from getting around the bases of the plants.

After that period of daily rain in early May, the plants and the soil were fine.
brownrexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:19 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★