Bridget

STOP.  Your soil is not the problem.  Send me a picture of your beds and tell me what is underneath them.

Bridget

STOP.  Your soil is not the problem.  Send me a picture of your beds and tell me what is underneath them.

Jon and Bridget
Thank you for writing back. Here is my guess. You are trying to grow in An overfertilized bog. This is giving you root rot and fungal overgrowth. This system is not the controlled environment of indoor hydroponics. Save the soil. Open (or drill) drains in the bottom of the boxes. Cover the bottom of the boxes with one inch of pea gravel so that soil does not block drain holes. Refill with your old soil.No fertilization for this year, the miracle gro has enough. Next year 1 pound blood meal max for all the boxes. Put some mulch over the topsoil after the plants are in to prevent fungus from bouncing from soil up to growing plants. Water from soil level rather than over head sprinkler. Cage or support all tall plants. Best to youSteve Miles HCMG
On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 7:42 AM <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

Good morning Steve,
Thank you for your response. I am Bridget's husband who handles the raised bed gardens. I asked her to pursue the U for some soil ideas. The gardens are/were manufactured by "eco garden system". Whom I believe are now out of business. The concept behind the garden is to have a water base reservoir below the soil, being separated by a piece of perforated sheet of plastic. Obviously the water is wicked into the soil from the underside. Here lies the issue in which you shed an enormous light unto for me. The CEO of the gardens informed me that the soil had no more nutrients in it, and had to be replaced. My original soil recipe consisted of 2.2 cubic feet of sphagnum moss on the bottom layer, on top of the sheet of perforated plastic. Followed by approximately 20 cubic feet of Miracle Grow Raised Bed Soil. The first year was a bumper crop. As Bridget mentioned, last year was not. Recently I reluctantly removed all the soil. And have purchased 1 1/2 yards of "garden soil" from a local nursery. It consists of black dirt and compost. Sold in bulk. I purchased and added approximately 8 cubic feet of perlite to the soil as it was being loaded via Bobcat into my trailer. My plan is to add 3 cubic feet of sphagnum moss to the bottom layer of each cleaned garden. Followed by approximately 20 cubic feet of the garden soil/perilite mixture. Obviously, I don't want to do this again. Between my in-laws, my Dad, and myself, we have 5 total gardens, and would appreciate feedback from you on what to do about this soil issue in the future. I've attached some photos. My garage is directly to the north of the gardens. The retaining wall and grass are to the south. Incorporating pretty much full sun. My plants pretty much have consisted of tomatoes, tomatillos, some broccoli, and bell peppers. Any advice would be very much, extremely appreciated. Thank- you, Jon
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Sent from myMail for Android
Wednesday, 26 May 2021, 10:27AM -05:00 from Bridget Gessner <personal data hidden>:

>---------- Forwarded message ---------
>From: Steven Miles MD<<personal data hidden>>
>Date: Wed, May 26, 2021 at 9:49 AM
>Subject: Ask a Master Gardener
>To: <<personal data hidden>>
>Bridget
>This is the first time that I have written directly to anybody but you should stop removing dirt from your boxes.
>It is highly unlikely that the soil is the problem.
>Send me a picture of the box garden. Indicate which direction is North.
>What are the boxes sitting on? Do they have a bottom or plastic sheet underneath?
>Steve Miles

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