I would consider this a learning year and accept what you can get. Take the experience to make improvements next year.

As you've discovered, cucumbers and squash do not like to be transplanted. Going forward, if you find two seedlings coming up too close together, you are better off snipping the stem of one seedling and letting the other grow, rather than disturbing the roots of both.

As for your soil, I'm a big proponent of lasagna gardening. I've done that in most of my yard for irises and perennial shrubs with much success. However, if you plan to lasagna garden and not till amendments into your soil, I'm not sure how beneficial a soil test will be. If a test tells you that you are short on something, the best way to fix it is to turn the proper amendment into the soil, not lay it on top. (Folks, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong there).

Given your plan, I would purchase a good quality soil mix (ideally one suited to vegetables) from a local quarry or nursery. Lay it on top of the cardboard or whatever you're covering your native earth with. Cover that with a mulch and let it sit and do it's thing until spring.

Another option is to do the soil test, find out what your soil needs. Layer the proper amendment on top in addition to compost then till it all together (grass and all). Cover that with plastic to kill the weeds and grass, then let it sit until you're ready to plant in the spring.

Whatever you choose, fall is definitely the appropriate time to be thinking about your soil for the following spring.

Thank you for the kind words... went to check on my babies this evening and they all look ok. Watermelon still looks a little sad but I guess maybe it's just putting out roots.

In the attached pic you can see the curled leaves I mentioned on my cucumbers. It's so weird.

Oh and I know I should have weeded the crabgrass... I guess I didn't realize it was going to get so big. I pull those which are too close to the seedlings.

This post was edited by jwhittin on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 20:12

Here is my watermelon

Here is one of my squashes... I had transplanted the extra one because I couldn't bear to remove one of my only two survivors... It's perked up a bit though the original leaves shriveled up. I guess that's normal?

My other squash. Definitely looks better today, because I didn't water them.

Your soil looks poor. You should have amended it before you planted. Now those plants won't do well in that soil w/o fertilizer.

I guess I had assumed the soil was ok since it used to be covered in wild growth. But it does seem very dusty and dry, with lots of ants. Oh well there's always next year. I have a composter and lots of ingredients to use.

You could use a good liquid organic fertilizer to get through this season. I think you can still get something out your plants.

A hydrolyzed fish fert would be my top choice, followed by an emulsified fish fert.

For vegetables, I would be inclined to turn in lots of good compost and quality soil rather than lasagna layer over the top of it. You want nutritious soil at least a couple feet down, particularly if you're planning on growing things like tomatoes which have deep root systems. The lasagna method, you're just putting stuff on top, which is only going to give you a few inches of nutrient rich soil if your underlying soil isn't healthy.

However--and this is a big however--I didn't realize the grass you're going over is crab grass. I've been blessed never to have to deal with it, but I've heard horror stories. Maybe those with experience could chime in with whether or not turning over crab grass is a good or bad idea. My thought process was the turning would happen in the fall, cover with a heavy sheet of plastic from fall through to spring to sufficiently kill whatever wants to grow back. But in the case of crab grass, that might not be good enough.

Crabgrass is an annual and in my experience it's fairly easy to take care of in the veggie garden. Just hoe them off or pull them and that's the end of that. The only issue with crabgrass is its copius amount of seeds that can sprout up.

I'm not usually a fan of cultivating around plants or between plants while they are growing but with your soil the plants will probably appreciate it. Water well, fertilize, top dress with compost if you've got it (or mix it into the soil if you can), and mulch heavily so the soil doesn't dry out too quick.

Rodney

This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Fri, Jun 20, 14 at 15:25

I'm hesitant to use too many chemicals (though I will destroy my poison ivy with Roundup...). I will look into the hydrolyzed fish fertilizer for sure.

Last year I was given a squash plant that did ok in the same soil. Got a few squashes out of it anyways, until it fell over. So my soil can't be too terrible I guess...

I have lots of cardboard and fallen maple/oak leaves left over from fall. Would either of those work well as a mulch? Or should I bite the bullet and buy some mulch?

Cucumbers and watermelons don't really take off until the weather is consistently warm and they have a dozen or more leaves. Once they get going they grow quick. Yours don't look that bad. It's not uncommon for leaves to fold up during the day, especially with yours since the roots aren't very big yet. The plant is just trying to reduce water loss from its leaves. Just make sure to keep the soil moist but not soggy. Once they get bigger that means damp at 2 or 3 inches below ground.. soil can be waterlogged even if it's dry on top. Give them a balanced fertilizer once they get a little bigger and give them some time. Oh and keep the crabgrass away.. it will steal nutrients and crowd out your plants. Then work on the soil this fall when you're done growing.

I prefer the hydrolyzed over the emulsion primarily because it doesn't have much odor at all, and I think the NPK ratio is better.