Lettuce in Elevated Raised Bed problems
Celestino
10 years ago
Hi I'm new to gardening and I planted these lettuces last Thursday. They weren't looking too well yesterday and today they look like this. I don't know what to make of it and am in need of help. Thanks!
Other useful info. They were last watered on Saturday. The weather has been mostly cloudy the past few days and light sprinkle yesterday.
-Celestino
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gjcore
10 years ago
digdirt2
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Noobie Lettuce Raft Problems
Comments (16)I have tested my solution right after mixing and it's only slightly acidic. Within a week the ph drops significantly. A bit of a mystery. The water I use is very pure, the Pine River is pristine and originates in the Weminuche Wilderness in pre-Cambrian formations. The town of Bayfield sent me an analysis of the water (I haul water 8 miles from town) and it's very clean. If anything, it should be slightly basic, since the last few miles of river are in Leadville limestone fm. The intense mineralization found at the head of the Animas River (next river to the east) and within the Silverton Caldera is absent on the Pine. ( A natural spring near my cabin at 10,700 feet elevation and above Silverton runs a ph of 4!) I use Dyna-Grow, maybe that contributes, but I suspect the minerals in the water play an important role. Maybe some kind of reaction. But as I said, it isn't immediate. If you drove a truck over Red Mountain Pass in winter, I'm sure you won't forget it. You might have come over Wolf Creek Pass though, quite easy by San Juan standards. My daughter's father in law rode a semi loaded with farm implements off Red Mountain Pass in January of 2009 over a four hundred foot cliff. Backwards, which is what saved him. He ended up in the stream below and the trailer acted as a shock absorber. The next time you travel Red Mountain, look over the edge at mile marker 89. No one believes he lived through the fall. Mark...See MoreGarden Soil and Drainage for Raised elevated garden box
Comments (7)Randy... Definitely drill holes in the bottom. You don't want any standing water. A lot of 1/4" holes will do. It looks like you've used regular lumber, which is prone to rapid rot. In a situation like that, I would paint the inside with at least two liberal coats of evaporative cooler coating. You can buy this at hardware stores, Walmart, etc. This is a benign substance, similar to asphalt, and will last for quite a while, protecting the wood from moisture. Do this after drilling the holes, making sure the coating doesn't fill the holes. I would treat the outside with Thompson's Water Seal to further preserve the wood. I would elevate the four posts on bricks or concrete blocks to combat rot. Treat the bottoms of the posts with Thompsons or a copper-based material. Your bed will require 16 cubic feet of artificial soil, which could be expensive, but you only have one small bed. You might first find 10 cubic feet of good peat-based potting soil (five 2-cubic foot bags). mix in five cubic feet of coconut coir (2 bales), and one cubic foot of worm castings. The potting soil will have good water retention, the coir will provide good drainage, and the worm castings will supply the soil organisms. Notice that I didn't mention compost. You shouldn't need it. The mix I described above won't have meaningful amounts of fertilizer, so you can control the nutrients you supply with a water soluble fertilizer such as Jack's 20-20-20, which includes minor nutrients. Have fun....See Moreelevating soil in existing flower bed advice needed
Comments (4)Misty, pretty much the only things where you can cover up the crown would be things that root all along the stems, and as far as I know, all the things you're talking about won't do that, so they'd all need to be dug and replanted higher up. Covering the crown of most plants will kill them. If they were tomatoes you could just add soil and let them root along the stem--but that's not what you have! I have, with a few things, been able to stick a shovel under them on a few sides and manage to "elevate" them, and then "pack" soil into the void I've created under them, but I doubt that that would work with big plants. It may sound like a big project, but if you do parts of it at a time it might not seem like so much work! MIGHT not! Having said all that, with my hardy hibiscus--'Disco Belle'--when I pulled all the nasty rock mulch out from the crowns of the plants I DID fill in the "depressed" area with soil, so, technically, you could say that I buried the "crown" (a couple inches) deeper, but with hibiscus there's not really a crown like with most other plants--it's more like "buds" like peonies. When I've done it, a couple times, it was over winter or in VERY early spring, before there was any growth visible at all, so, basically, what I was doing was just burying the "root" a little deeper where the new buds would form for the next year's growth, so when they started growing in spring the new "shoots" just grew up thru the soil to form the above-ground stems when they got to the surface. No guarantees! But it worked for me! If you try it do it when they're TOTALLY dormant. With hibiscus the depth of the "buds/eyes" doesn't seem to make any difference as to whether or not they'll bloom! I repeat! No guarantees! Good luck with your project! Maybe some day we'll get to come back at a swap to see "all your new improvements!" Skybird...See MoreElevated raised bed done! Nighttime gardening...
Comments (12)bossyvossy... The only chemical I use is this:It works and is the only thing Ive found to deter pests here in Florida. First couple of seasons I have gardened here, aphids and mites were problems for me. Tried many things and this hit a home run. Sure its not ideal at all but it works. Outside of this Im organic... Try it, it really works....See More
Celestino
10 years agoflorauk
10 years agowoohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
10 years agoCelestino
10 years agoHere is a picture of the lettuce after a good watering. They look to have responded well. Thank you @seysonn and @florauk for the tips.
@woohooman Good to hear you're a fellow San Diegan. I live in National City, about 3 miles from the bay. The weather here is fairly cool and thankfully it doesn't fluctuate quickly or in extremes. Thank you for the tips about those santa ana winds. I will also check out that informative pdf.
All the tips and advice are really helpful. I'm really enjoying gardening. It's my first season.
florauk
10 years ago
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