all. While looking at my squash leaves I noticed some mottling. I was worried it was beginning stages of mosaic. But after looking at this link http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/cucurbit-problem-solver/leaf-disorders/ I am wondering if it is a deficiency of some sort. Calcium? Most of my squash plants, beans and cucumbers have some of this leaf discoloration from one degree or another. Are those at home soil testing kits acurate? Does this look more like a disease or deficiency? Thanks, Jen

Howdy DC: Lets see, watermelons first. The crux is, by maintaining proper soil nutrients (for plant uptake) adjusted on a weekly basis allows a much greater production period? Would that extend out to possibly turning an annual plant into a perennial or pseudo-perennial in theory. By example I mean maybe you could plant a watermelon crop in ths spring of 2009, harvest through the entire year and then continue on at least into the summer of 2010. The correlation was between soil nutrient levels and plant nutrient uptake on a weekly basis? I assume nutrient uptake was a measure of certain nutrients found in a particular part of the plant tissue. Peer reviewed science. I'm guessing, but the vast majority of farmers probably don't know what a peer reviewd journal is, that's fine, if I was farming it is unlikely I'd have time to read them let alone keep up with the science in more than one field. Really it is the job of extension services to bring the information obtained from research to the field level. If you asked any grain farmer whose family has been farming for at least 2 generations I think they would say that productivity has increased dramatically over the last 100 years. So long as the research continues, I expect that trend to continue though, others would disagree for a number of reasons. One reason for my optimism comes from examples such as yours about the 4 ranchers. This indicates to me that all of the unknown still exists waiting to be discovered. The research conducted at universities has limited value unless it has passed what is essentially the gold standard in science, peer review. In the horticultural sciences, that means passing peer review by organizations like The American Journal of Horticultural Science. An equivalent in medicine would be The Journal of the American Medical Association. That is not to say farmers can only learn from extension services. Know doubt you know of private consultants. Having been one myself, I know they can have some distinct advantages over universities. They especially learn from a wide spectrum of literature and experiences. If I was farming for money, I'd take it where I could get it, even if it was from the back of a cereal box, BUT NOT WITHOUT SCRUTINY AND EXAMINATION. Speaking of Ag schools, I've been in touch with a friend of mine at one lately. Until the last 5 years or so, the school was an excellent research university, among the best in this country if not the world. He tells me it is going down the toilet, that they have lost their focus and sight of their mission. Very unfortunate. Ag research AND farmers have been a Tour de Force in this country for many decades.

It is not possible to get an accurate N reading from a home soil test kit. Even many professional soil testing labs do not test for this nutrient. N is the most mobile of the three primary plant nutrients and is very difficult to assess. It will read differently based on time of year/time of day, whether the area is in sun or shade, how much moisture is in the soil, quantity and type of organic matter and a host of other various factors. At best, you will only get an approximate reading at that point in time. It is also the single nutrient that is most often naturally lacking or deficient in an unamended cultivated garden. Blood meal is a good source of fast acting organic N but sometimes it is too fast :-) In a warm, humid environment, blood meal will convert to ammonia rapidly and this can often burn fragile roots. You need to be very careful with your application rate - no more than a pound per 100sf. A slower, less soluble source would be better. Together with the organic matter of the compost, I'd guess the blood meal plus fish emulsion may have created too high a N level, at least temporarily. And I don't think this is aided by your watering practices (which would flush the excess soluble N) - 6 minutes is not a sufficient duration for any kind of proper soil depth penetration or to satisfy the needs of young, rapidly growing seedlings. It is far better to offer water at the root zone (not with sprinklers, where most evaporates before it hits the ground) for a longer duration and less frequently. You want to check and make sure the water penetrates down into the soil at least 6-8 inches. The bark, if applied very heavily, may also be impeding water penetration as well. I dislike bark for a veggie garden. Better to use a finer textured mulch - chopped grass trimmings, shredded leaves, compost, composted manures, etc., as these will help to retain soil moisture rather than repel it.

I know nothing about squash. Don't attempt a replant of tomatoes now...it's too hot for most varieties to set, anyway. If you want to try and see if you can get some fall tomatoes before the frost...you can set out some new ones in August. Just be aware that if you are fighting blight or other fungi from the rain on your tomatoes, that it's likely the spores will remain on the ground and your next batch (if they are in the same spot) can get it, too. I've never bothered to test my soil (I can tell it's bad...you could make bricks with the dirt in my backyard)..and I garden in raised beds with a mix of good soil and compost. I live considerably south of you, but I find that most veggies are done in July anyway. It's too hot and it's always feast or famine in this part of Texas. There are virtually no veggies that appreciate the weather here in summer (with the possible exceptions of peppers and some herbs). My tomatoes look terrible...I was gone on vacation when it rained everyday, and they are being killed by some fungal disease...I don't do chemical stuff, and they are just too far gone, it looks like. I will probably pull them out, and let the basil and jalapeno take over.