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Florida Gardening

When/How to amend soil before fall?

11 years ago

Hi everyone- I tried to grow watermelons starting in April, but I was rather unsuccessful. We got off to a good start, but since they were on the ground and we had a lot of rain where I live (semi-inland SW Florida), most of the watermelons have rotted or gotten worms. So...I'll be pulling them all up and waiting until fall to plant anything more.

So my question is, in the meantime, how (with what and how much) do I amend the soil and at what point should I do this before my fall plantings?

Thanks!

Vanessa

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Comments (9)

shuffles_gw
11 years ago
I highly recommend cow peas. They can help keep the weeds down, produce nitrates and add carbon to the soil. They also protect against nematodes. You don't need anything fancy. I have used black eyed peas from the supermarket. Now, I use pink eye purple hull crowders. In September, I just run the lawnmower over them. Sunflowers are good too. You can plant both together.
tinael01
11 years ago
I would go get a bunch of free horse stable sweepings, dump it on the bed, and cover it all with plastic for a few weeks to boil the weed seeds out and bake the nematodes. In fact....I will be doing that myself on Sunday morning!

Or you can buy black kow and peat moss and mix it all in.

Or you can do both. Start a compost heap somewhere and google composting. It doesn't last long in the Florida heat...so you've got to keep at it.
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I use a green compost bin that our city loans people to have r vegetation hauled away. Then I put c. a foot of broken crockery on the bottom and a few sawed up branches for drainage, as the bin lacks holes and I put all my fruit and veg trimmings, egg shells and used tea bags in it, after it is 1/3rd full I mix in some chicken manure tea, I use only enough fluid to dampen it, because the bin has no holes in it. then I keep adding the fruit and veg et cetera until it's 2/3rds full , add some more manure tea, I also put in the cardboard rolls from paper towels and toilet paper, and used paper plates. Then after it sits there for c. 6 weeks I turn it out into a 6' long by 2 feet deep trench for it to break down more. As I take it out of the bin I mix it up more, as aeration is an important part of making compost. When I pre-soak the larger chunks of fruit, the completed compost takes a third less time to break down. I make compost c. 4 times a year. It is better than c. 90% of the compost I've ever bought. I used to feel silly giving all my compost to be hauled away by the garbage crews and then paying c. 8 bucks a bag for compost from a store. Now I have wonderful compost at all times available without having to lug it home. One of my favorite gardening memories: when a new batch of compost was ready for her garden, my mother used to run her hands through that rich, dark and friable substance while she wore a soft and endearing expression; as if she were seeing not compost, but was viewing something enchantingly wondrous, as I would if there were colorful precious gems in front of me. As a child I used to think mom was a bit eccentric. Not so much now. Lux.
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guessing .... compost is rather benign ... so go for it ... as compared to a fert.. which could dump all its fert in the next rain ... one could probably argue.. that as soon as the leaves ALL go yellow ... the plant is probably dormant ... no need to wait until they actually completely dry and go brown ... soil temps is probably key .... but with AIR temp fluctuations .... 80 one october day ... 50s for the next two ... it would be hard gauge the average soil temps ... and night temps would be key ... it really doesnt matter if its a fine 80 degree DAY ... and then goes down to 40 at night .... does that cover most of your issue??? ken ps: i would not consider uncomposted manure to be the same beast .... too much urea in it ... but you arent talking about that ...
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shuffles_gw
11 years ago
tina, I'll second that about horse stable sweepings. I have hauled yards and yards of it. If you want to see a banana plant go nuts, just pile a couple cubic feet around the base - and step back! Lately this geezer just plants crowder peas and sunflowers for the summer.
tinael01
11 years ago
LOL! I take it the raja puri has done okay for you! :) Let me know when you get fruit.
shuffles_gw
11 years ago
tina, my next nanners will be apples and Orinoco. Actually, the big bananas came from a Dwarf Cavendish - back when we didn't have a freeze every year. This is our first year with Raja Puri and Ice Cream. What kind of diameter does the Raja get to? I think I planted it too close to my, also new, carambola. I hate to move it so young, but with the rain lately, it should do OK.
shuffles_gw
11 years ago
Also, tina, I forgot to mention how much I have learned in my short time with GW - especially this group. What an eye opener! Till now, it has been pretty much trial and error on my own. Thank you everyone!
FLgardenmom
11 years ago
The when is NOW! Perfect time, because as mentioned above, the heat will help compost down. I did sunn hemp last summer and doing it again this summer as my research found it to be the best at adding nitrogen, repelling nemotodes, and amending my sand (no soil here!).

I'm sure that horse manure is great, but I don't have the means to transport that. So, last year, my first year of creating soil, I did a lot of leaves and alfalfa. I was pleased with the results. I have lots of compost and leaves this year, so skipping the expense of alfalfa (although I chose it because it was the cheapest). I'm still doing the sunn hemp.

Becca
nessz79_10a
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you all!
natives_and_veggies
11 years ago
Thanks Gardenmom! I'd never heard of sunn hemp. I just ordered some seeds.

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