Marigolds aren't doing anything, good or bad.

What have been your prevailing temps, days? nights? Must be at least 55 at night, warmer during daytime.

In ground or in pots? Whatever the case, must fertilize, especially so if in pots. Fish is organic, so is blood meal & feather meal. Have you called around to local garden centers and/or farm stores?

What does "The soil is in decent condition" mean? Did you mix in at least two inches of compost before you planted?

All my Tomatoes and Bell peppers, Bok Choy, Lettuce, Basil, Rosemary, Lemon Thyme, Cilantro, etc where all planted within a few days of May 1st.
Tomatoes and peppers are over 4 feet tall and have already harvested about 20 tomatoes and 14 Peppers and lots of Bok Choy and tons of herbs.

So, No that isn't normal.
Sounds like exceedingly bad soil and or weather related.

I would do what Jean suggested.

You have to feed your plants something regardless. And doubly so if you haven't amended your soil well prior to planting.

And like Jean asked - what does "decent condition" mean? Have you ever had the soil in the bed tested for pH and nutrient levels? Have you ever added any of the necessary soil amendments of any kind? Why would organic fertilizers be "hard to find"? They are commonly available in all kinds of forms most everywhere.

Dave

Decent condition in that my lettuces, carrots and potatoes seem to be doing great! Also, the marigolds seem to be fine, too.

I didn't amend the soil with anything this year.

All the plants are planted in the ground -- nothing in containers.

Temps for the past three-four weeks have been 70+ with nighttime temps in the upper 50s or 60s. Might have had one or two "cooler" days at 60s during the day, but not many. It's been over 90 a few days, too.

I'll search again for organic fertilzers, but Lowe's and HD seem to stock Miracle Grow which I don't trust.

Lowe's Organic Fertilizers. They also carry bags of compost and bags of composted manures.

Home Depot Organic fertilizers. Also carry bages of humus and composted manure.

Walmart Organic Fertilizers. Same other bags as above.

Proper 2-3x a year amending of the soil beds with compost and/or composted manures is pretty much a standard recommendation for organic gardening. Compost can also be used as a side dressing for established plants.

Dave

Amend your soil. Just dig around the roots, make sure to disturb them as little as possible and bury some compost.

Thanks, guys. I must not have been looking hard enough for the organic stuff.

Do you think if I fertilized the plants they'd still give me a harvest this year? Or am I out for the year? :(

You can even use the compost like mulch. I did this last year with leftover compost. I wish I had taken photos of the unintentional experiment I did. I had 3 rows of tomatoes. I mulched 2 rows with compost (a few inches laid down over cardboard) but held off on the 3rd row because I still had some chard I was letting go to seed. After a few weeks there was a very dramatic difference between the size of the mulched and unmulched tomatoes. If I ever doubted the power of compost (which I really did not) last year would have made a believer out of me. Like I said, I am kicking myself for not taking pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Adventures in Agriburbia

The tomatoes may be stunted due to being inside in pots for so long. Feb is really early to start tomatoes that cant go outside until May. Peppers are slower, so they should be fine if you had them in big enough pots and good lighting.

Did you not fertilize them for the 3 months they were inside in pots? If so I am surprised they are alive at all.

Tomatoes and peppers will not take off till the weather is a more constant warm, especially at night.
They are still adapting and going from nineties to fifties is more of a shock that some realize.

My corn has shot up in the nineties temps we have had but the chiles and tomatoes are looking more healthy but waiting for true warm weather not this up and down stuff.

I started my peppers and tomats in mid Feb. Was a pain keeping them going for that long, having to take them outside in the sun as often as I could in small increments. A lot of people told me not to plant them out early but I thought what the heck. I had plenty. So I planted some out in mid April and covered them up when it got cold. I was lucky to have great weather. Now they're almost five foot tall with tons of tomats growing on them. I took a chance and it paid off... this year.

Good Morning!

Two things:
1. Soil always needs to be amended with about 85-90% carbon compost (brown leaves, brown straw, wood chips and so on) along with about 10-15% nitrogen compost (kitchen scraps like banana peels, any peels, broccoli stems, uneaten vegetarian spoils, apple cores, coffee, and manure is nitrogen too). Egg shells should also be mixed in for calcium. This should be done in any vegetable and even flower bed at least six months prior to planting. If you haven't done this, you can go to Home Depot or your local garden shop and ask for balanced compost to mix into your soil (be careful not to damage roots) and layer on top so that it slowly goes into the earth with rain. Oh, and obviously it is cheaper to plan/more environmental too:-)
2. The person who mentioned weather is spot on too. Once you've given your plants food, wait for the sun, heat and rains. It's shocking how plants will all of a sudden just take off when everything is right for them!

Hope this helps.
p.s. numbers above can vary depending on what you are going to grow.