What kind of squash? Is the cuke trellised?

Dan

Hmmm.... the symptoms sound like overwatering, which causes a N deficiency. Either that or you have a fungus in the soil that they are more susceptible to than the other plants. Keep an eye on the leaves, and check to see if the undersides are staying wet or damp for extended periods of time.

Hi Dan. We have yellow crookneck and zucchini. Okra, we are watering for 30 minutes in the am and everything dries pretty quickly in the sun. I guess fungus could be a possibility but there are several seperate raised beds. Doesn't seen likely unless the original soil had the fungus. Could the soil just be N deficient? How could I fix that?

All these plants need lots of water. Did you incorporate purchased soil into native? If not, you may have a perched water table which means lots of subsurface water. Stick a finger in or dig down 6" and if saturated cut back. I'm presuming with no answer you are not trellising cukes which cuts down their water use. Eggplant and onion respond to N deficiency so if they aren't showing may not be N.

Dan

Sorry Dan, Yes we do plan to trellis but we are talking about plants only a few inches tall at this point. Dirt is not saturated 6" down. We did not incorporate the native soil as it is almost PURE sand.

Did you incorporate any fertilizer? You didn't say. Compost may be very poor in nutrients. Now that they are already planted, it would be worth it to water with fertilizer. I like fish emulsion. I find it to easy to burn plants with MG. If they green up from that, then I would begin to side dress with a good organic fertilizer.If they do not respond within a few days I would incorporate some fertilizer and restart with new seeds. Organic fertilizers are readily available everywhere now, and for a small garden, not that pricey. There are several brands of organic all purpose fertilizer in Walmart. Both of those plants are greedy, unless it is just to cool out for them.

Hi skatcon, thanks for the response. Initially, no we did not incorporate any fertilizer. However after the plants going from green to yellow in only 4 days, we did apply Scotts� All Purpose Flower & Vegetable Continuous Release Plant Food, but have seen no improvement. I guess I should add that we recently had DAYS of rain, but this made no change better or worse. Again, even with all this rain, the soil is not saturated, although not dry either.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scott's

Personally, I think you are just trying to grow vegetables in a place that those particular vegetables just don't and won't grow well. Sand, and "sandy soil" are two completely different things. You can grow food in sandy soil, it's actually a GREAT place to grow food...so all you have to do is just add "soil" (meaning organic matter). If not I think you will be limited to foods which naturally grow well in sand.

Ask your compost source what their source was. If they get it from a place that grows mushrooms, it may have been mushroom compost, which is SPENT/USED UP compost, and it has virtually no nutrients in it at all.

There is nothing wrong with incorporating compost into your sandy soil, it can only help it. Your plants need the minerals in that soil, as well as the nutrients in the compost (if it has any).

But why use compost when you're pouring on the chemical fertilizers? The chems mostly kill the micro-organisms in the soil/compost that break down the nutrients to feed the plants, so what's the point? And most of those fertilizers salts only contain Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. There are a bunch of other nutrients needed, but the chemical companies are only wired in to NPK.

You're asking what could be lacking, but you don't want to get a soil test... HUH? I'm sure you waste your time and money on a lot of stuff, so include a soil test. $10 or so can get you a lot of useful info. If you've got a serious deficiency (or excess), you can keep doing what you're doing, year after year, and still get the same results. Einstein said that is the definition of insanity.

Many people avoid getting soil tests because they seem scary. What do you do once you get the results? Most results have suggestions right with the numbers. If you still don't understand, CALL THEM and ask. These people sit in a lab all day and are probably THRILLED to talk to a live person asking questions. You're probably making their day.

For Lexington, SC, here's the info on your local Cooperative Extension Service. If they give you choices, ask for the Master Gardener, then ask him/her who does soil tests in your area. Ask how to collect a sample properly (it makes a difference). The Master Gardener also knows about plants, and is sitting there waiting for you to ask something so they can show you how they're not wasting your tax dollars. But get the soil test. You're going to feel pretty silly if it's a quick, cheap, easy fix, aren't you? Well, JOIN THE CLUB!

LEXINGTON COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
605 West Main St., Ste. 109
Lexington, S.C. 29072

Phone: 803-359-8515
Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Sue (been there, done that)

Here is a link that might be useful: Required soil nutrients