Ammonium sulfate

Generally, vegetable gardens need 1/2 pound of nitrogen each year per 100 sqft. Do you know how much nitrogen you added last year?

Llama poop. There's llama's at Dunlap and 12th Ave. If you drop some empty buckets, you can go back later and pick them up. ;-)

And I know where you can get rabbit poop too. Contact me - you know how!

Apparently your University of Arizona does not do soil nutrient testing and instead relies on private labs but still you need a good reliable soil test because a soils pH as well as nutrient levels, and balance, affect how plants grow.

In addition to those soil test you might want to use these simple soil tests to take a good look at the soil you have,

1) Soil test for organic
matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in
a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and
replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24
hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight.
For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the
bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above
that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole
1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains
away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain
away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs
more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the
soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful
of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is
released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a
finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your
soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant
odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria
will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter
can be bad as well.

5) Life. How many
earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5,
according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that
is not healthy.

and help determine what might need be done to make the soil better.

kimmq is kimmsr

I think kimmsr was suggesting the test to make sure that there isn't some other imbalance that is causing the plants to look like they need nitrogen. I can't really argue with that. The OP should get a soil test before just adding fertilizer blindly.

Nitrogen deficiency as serious as that described is easily identified visually. There is no other nutrient deficiency that looks like it. To identify nutritional problems you are much better off having plant tissue analyzed. Check with your lab to find out how to collect a sample.

In Phoenix you are fighting the alkaline pH of soil and water, and the total lack of organic matter in the dirt ... soil sulfur and ammonium sulfate goes a long way towards getting the alkalinity under control and releasing the iron the plants need. A liberal sprinkling of the sulfur and several light treatments of ammonium sulfate throughouit the growing season does wonders for a veggie garden.

Also install a drip system UNDER a thick layer of mulch so you can keep the soil evenly moist. Erratic moisture reduces yields dramatically.

Be careful with sulfur. Even with Phoenix soils, you can drive the pH lower than intended. It will take sulfur several weeks or even a few months to fully react, so be patient with it. The alkalinity is a bit of a nuisance but not hard to live with. An excessively acidic soil will not grow anything.

Water will be a big issue in Phoenix, obviously. Is this only your second season there or have you been gardening for awhile? One of the big things that stunts growth out there is lack of water.

Sorry I wasn't perfectly clear. The corn was planted in an area I have been using for a few years. I think this year will be number 3 for trying corn. The soil looks pretty good, as it has been heavily mulched for several years. The texture is vastly improved from the light tan dogholed moonscape it was when I moved in. The corn grew, tasseled, fertilized only partially. Not a lot of potential ears IIRC. The plants were not the robust green I would expect to see. Golden Bantam was the corn. The bed is 4 ft by 10 ft and was planted close enough to ensure pollenation. Wondering if I should hand pollenate. I did some hand pollenating, but perhaps didn't do it aggressively enough. I just sprinkled pollen on the silks, thinking I should not damage the silks.

The watermelons were sugar babies, in a place I had freshly dug and prep'd last spring. I fed them organic fertilizer, mulched.. The vines grew well, but the leaves were small, approx. 4 inches across in width. Flowered, set fruit, but most of the fruit fell off. I had it shaded when the bad heat came, and watered deeply and regularly. This year that soil is so much better from mulch and organic matter worked in, and there are worms! But no where near 5 per shovelful. Gee, and I was so proud of my new worms.... Lots of babies.

The "good" bed didn't have that many worms, either, but more than ever before, and I was impressed at the size of some of them!

I was not scientific about measuring the nitrogen.

I had no idea am. sulf. was good for pH. I have been avoiding non-organic "stuff", but no crop after all the water and work isn't very organic either! Off to Home. Dep. I go.

Mary, I'll pm you.

I have a complaint! I don't see any way to send a PM!

ernie, did you click my username? My profile is set to email me every time someone messages me. But you are right, I don't see how to send the message. Can you edit your profile, go to Advanced settings and see if you are also set to get an email whenever someone messages you? Then I can see how the system acts with that enabled. Clicking on my own doesn't tell me how it looks for someone besides the owner of the profile.

You don't have to be super scientific about how much nitrogen you add, just havr a general idea. The numbers on the bag tell you the percentage by weight of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in that order. So if you have a 100 sqft garden and you use an organic fertilizer with 1-1-1 on the bag then you need to add 50 pounds of that fertilizer to the garden each year. 1% of 50# = .5#. If it is 20-0-0 then you need to add 2.5# each year. If you take the amount of nitrogen you need (.5) and divide that by the number on the bag (convert to a decimal) the result will be the weight of that fertilizer you need to add to 100 sqft. So .5#/.20=2.5#

Many nutrient deficiencies can produce similar signs and symptoms. Chlorosis, yellowing of leaves, has numerous causes and is not confined to just a Nitrogen deficiency. Perhaps this article, from the University of Arizona, may be of some help.

http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1106.pdf

This, from the University of Illinois, may also be of some interest for those wondering about plant chlorosis.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/focus/index.cfm?problem=chlorosis

kimmq is kimmsr

We may have covered this but have you had a soil test? If your pH is high (that would be expected out there) you may have phosphorus availability problems. Although you don't seem to have a problem with blooming and fruiting, just getting the fruit to maturity. Maybe it is after all just a nitrogen shortage.

I'm not that surprised about the corn not pollinating, I tried to grow a small bed like that once and pollination was very spotty. I think it likes to be in a larger plot where the air is just thick with pollen.

Marymcp: I sent you an email, but somehow had a bogus address. Found another one and just sent you msg.

sweet corn in Phoenix? diluted urine is a good source of N. ;-)

What I tried last year was grass tea instead of compost tea. I think I watched a video or something. You put the fresh grass clipping in a bucket of water and stir it with a stick a couple times a day for three or four days. It didn't smell too good but it was easy. Then I just poured it around the plants. I have no idea if it worked or not.

joepye: how much, or how often?

There was a time when many people thought what was added to the garden should smell really bad, until they discovered that the odor was from anaerobic digestion and that could produce disease pathogens. What many have learned in the last 25 years is that material that smells offensive is not something that should be added to any garden.

kimmq is kimmsr

Home Depot doesn't carry ammonium sulfate any more. I might make a bomb!

The one near my house does.

I'm in Phx. The garden salesperson said he hadn't seen it in a long time. Seems like I have seen it, too, just never considered buying it.

I've heard that rabbit manure is excellent. Plus, you have a local source.

And diluted human urine. One part wee wee to ten parts water. Sprinkle overhead (not YOUR head) whenever you feel like it. Sweet corn is a gross feeder, as you know. Also, it might be better to grow it in a square rather than a row, so that there is more chance of pollination. If you don't see many bees, maybe try a little hand pollination. Just play around with the corn, that's what I would do. Life is for enjoying, not nipping down to the store every time we think we need something.

Ernie, is your dog a lab? :)

If HD doesn't have what you need, find a real hardware store, or a nursery, or farm supply. :-]

Idaho, not a lab. Why do you ask? Do they have an affinity for fertilizer, too?

ernie, did you get in touch with the bunny poop guy? I may need to contact him as well.

I had emailed him ages ago and didn't get an answer. I have been so busy digging out bermuda I have't moved on it.

Ernie, Labs are real garbage guts. They'll eat nearly anything. Love labs but, honestly, they are so food-focused. - Paul

Soybean and cottonseed meal provide more nitrogen than alfalfa meal. Not sure if they raise the ph though.