Wayne: My second planting of Star Brite is almost too vigorous. I may have applied too much nitrogen at planting. But they'll settle down soon and put on a big bloom. Where do you get the IRT 100 and what sizes do you use? Will that warm the soil more than black poly? Are you using clear poly cloches over the IRT 100? I'm planting my melons in level basins surrounded by dikes about 6 inches tall. This allows flood irrigation once a week. If it's hot with no rain the plants need irrigation once a week or they quit growing and in a few days start to lose leaves. I also need to apply more nitrogen once a month or growth stops. Last year I had Star Brite from the same hill from June 20th until the end of October. The quality was great throughout. Do you get any foliar disease? We do during the rainy season: August and September. It's some kind of leaf spot and will really knock the leaves off if not sprayed. I'm not sure what's the best spray. I like seeing your posts. Let me know how you are doing.

Anney, I have just explored Dr. Dirt's site re using cornmeal as a plant fungicide. As usual he is giving incomplete advice. He takes ideas posted on GardenWeb and that other gardening Forum we can't mention here and gives them his own spin omitting important information. To date, after much experimentation, I have not had success controlling any tomato diseases/blights/fungus using cornmeal. Some have reported good results but I am not been able to. For those who would like to try a cornmeal tea do a search here on GW for Cornmeal Tea to find formulas I have posted. Also do a search for Aspirin Technique which has been my personal best, cheap remedy to date. Some claim it is not organic but to date aspirin has been certified safe for human consumption. The IMPORTANT part of attempting to control tomato problems with WHATEVER one chooses to use is to begin treatment EARLY in the tomato's growth...when the plant has grown a second set of true leaves is a good time to begin.

Janice: According to Clemson I was within the planting window but towards the end ( I am in the central area). I planted April 15th (planting for my area is April 5-25). But you do have a good point about planting earlier. I usually like to plant at least some early (in March) under row covers to get earlier fruit. I do know that this year fruiting (and also my leaf yellowing problem that seems somehow linked to fruiting) is at least a few weeks later than normal. But I chalked that up to the high-nitrogen chicken manure which caused a lot of green leafy growth at the expense of fruit. Two years ago I grew peppers with great success, I've tried squash and cucumbers in these beds 2 or 3 years ago which both failed miserably. But I have added a lot of lime and fertilizer since then. My pH in these beds 2 years ago was 4.0 -5.5 so one would not expect squash to do well. Last two or three years these beds have had tomatoes and peppers, because I care the most about tomatoes and wanted to put them where there was the most sun. Thanks so much for your time. It's been very helpful. :)

I've never had it happen either Jerry, but it does happen from time to time. Traditionally, it was most common in boggy areas, and sometimes in loam that already had decent amounts of OM. The move to walled raised bed gardens though, seems to have created more opportunity for problems resulting from excessively high organic matter content. If the raised beds were created using mineral-based soils, it is less of an issue. However, we are seeing more and more cases of garden plantings suffering from too much moisture/not enough air. Another contributing factor, it seems to me, is the bagged 'soil'/amendment industry. Many of the products are sold as 'soil', but a close inspection of the ingredient label reveals that most of these products are the waste streams of the wood/pulp industry, the meat processing industry, and even the municipal sewer treatment 'industry'. Now, each of these, when properly processed, can be perfectly fine amendments to a soil. However, when people are unaware of how to apply them properly, or are 'victims' (not really the best word) of misleading labeling practices, then these products can contribute to excessive organic matter content. Basically... John and Jane Suburbanite, hoping to feed themselves and their children healthy food and create a little oasis all their own, engage in a little DIY and fall prey to an industry that is now largely in the hands of the big box stores. They want to keep things tidy in their little half acre, and build a few raised beds, as well as some nice perennial plantings. They go out to Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, or some of the other large stores staffed by sales people trained by the product vendors. They are steered towards the bagged 'soil' products which do not contain any actual soil at all. Even the sq. ft. gardeners can fall into a similar situation with the over-use of compost. Too much water-retaining capacity, not enough drainage nor porosity for air (CO2/O2, etc...) exchange.