Hi again, bumping this old thread with what is hopefully good news in 2023! We are 2.5 weeks post-transplant and so far all the tomatoes appear to be healthy and growing well! We had a little bit of a late start yet again. Not sure it matters much because we've barely had any sun here in coastal southern CA.
Here are some notes:
- We did not run a soil analysis end of 2022 or early 2023, life got in the way
- End of October, we sowed a bunch of crimson clover to give our first attempt at a cover crop and maybe "fix" nitrogen
- Sadly, the gardener thought they were weeds and pulled them early February just as they began to grow, and tossed them in trash carts
- following the heavy rains we had late winter and early spring, we noticed massive growth in the garden.. a ginormous borage plant was there with tons of little seedlings
- two-weeks before planting, we did not have access to a truck or the back strength to pickup greenswaste compost, so instead, I grabbed a few bags of Kellogg's "Garden Soil" to cover about 2" each row in the main bed (no till); ingredients of this bagged stuff change each season, see below for current list
- while planting, I noticed so many earthworms and other life in the rows; this was very new compared to the 2021 double-dig
- After planting, I scattered Espoma Garden Tone along the rows and scratched it in
- Deep watering by hand every 2-3 days, along the entire row, not just at base of tomato stalk
- Sprayed twice also with copper; going to add in potassium bicarb into rotation, though I suspect this may be unecessary
I was concerned with over-watering due to the clay soil.. but no. Therefore, the theory why we had so many issues last few years: we did not water enough! That could also explain the crunchy leaves.
In 2021, I held back on watering because the soil is heavy clay and remained wet. But, watching the growth this winter/spring I decided, let's just water as if it were raining a lot. Seems to be working. What's interesting, the soil is draining well. I'm sure the "rest" we gave it last year helped, too.. last year, we attempted to grow other veggies there but they failed.
Here's a snapshot I took today. 2.5 weeks is not enough time to predicthow good they will do, but still best I've seen so far, even compared to the years before I got involved! So I'm trying to remain reserved and keep excitement in check. Crossing fingers they continue to grow well! You can see the giant borage plant in the blurred background on the left.
Ingredients of the bagged "garden soil" product: aged recycled forest products, aged arbor fines, composted chicken manure, bone meal, alfalfa meal, oyster & dolomite limes (as pH adjusters), bat guano, worm castings, and kelp meal