Let's see those '10 gardens

Nice garden, Scott. We're supposed to be able to plant in mid April. This year both the weather and I were late. Now I think the new soil I got has too much sawdust (it is one of the ingredients) in it, stripping the nitrogen. Yellowish, weak growth. I just gave everything a shot of fish emulsion and a foliar spray of dilute Miracle Grow. If indeed the nitrogen is low they will get more green and lush in the next week.
The garden soil is a mixture of sand, manure compost, sawdust and native soil. The compost is from the mushroom farm, so it is mostly spent.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

Nice garden, Scott. We're supposed to be able to plant in mid April. This year both the weather and I were late. Now I think the new soil I got has too much sawdust (it is one of the ingredients) in it, stripping the nitrogen. Yellowish, weak growth. I just gave everything a shot of fish emulsion and a foliar spray of dilute Miracle Grow. If indeed the nitrogen is low they will get more green and lush in the next week.
The garden soil is a mixture of sand, manure compost, sawdust and native soil. The compost is from the mushroom farm, so it is mostly spent.

Sawdust jacks the ph all out of whack, Lance. Turns the soil acid. That's why we put it on blueberries, they love acid. Test it and adjust it and you'll be golden. I never heard about sawdust tying up nitrogen. I can't think of a mechanical reason for that to happen.
A bunch of dolomite lime and you'll be good to go.
You're lucky, it's a cheap fix. You can't use too much, either.
If you think your nitrogen is tied up, top dress the lime with compost or composted cow manue. It's cheap, too.
The rain will leech all the nutrients to the plants and you'll be double golden.
I wish I'd have caught you before you used sawdust. It's the worst organic material you can use in a garden. You're seeing that now. Sorry, brother.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by shilala

Sawdust jacks the ph all out of whack, Lance. Turns the soil acid. That's why we put it on blueberries, they love acid. Test it and adjust it and you'll be golden. I never heard about sawdust tying up nitrogen. I can't think of a mechanical reason for that to happen.
A bunch of dolomite lime and you'll be good to go.
You're lucky, it's a cheap fix. You can't use too much, either.
If you think your nitrogen is tied up, top dress the lime with compost or composted cow manue. It's cheap, too.
The rain will leech all the nutrients to the plants and you'll be double golden.
I wish I'd have caught you before you used sawdust. It's the worst organic material you can use in a garden. You're seeing that now. Sorry, brother.

Very good info. Thanks

[rack04]

Next year I plan on installing a couple 12'x3' raised planter beds. Should I add a course of gravel to the bottom of the raised planter to increase drainage or just fill it to the brim with good compost?

I will likely be growing tomatoes, squash, asparagus, cucumbers, peppers, mint, sage, oregano, cilantro, basil, dill, rosemary, and parsley.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by rack04

Next year I plan on installing a couple 12'x3' raised planter beds. Should I add a course of gravel to the bottom of the raised planter to increase drainage or just fill it to the brim with good compost?

I will likely be growing tomatoes, squash, asparagus, cucumbers, peppers, mint, sage, oregano, cilantro, basil, dill, rosemary, and parsley.

It depends on the soil underneath. If the bed will drain well without the gravel, no need. If it won't, gravel is a good idea. Earth fabric between the gravel and the soil will keep the gravel doing it's job.

Originally Posted by shilala

Sawdust jacks the ph all out of whack, Lance. Turns the soil acid. That's why we put it on blueberries, they love acid. Test it and adjust it and you'll be golden. I never heard about sawdust tying up nitrogen. I can't think of a mechanical reason for that to happen.
A bunch of dolomite lime and you'll be good to go.
You're lucky, it's a cheap fix. You can't use too much, either.
If you think your nitrogen is tied up, top dress the lime with compost or composted cow manue. It's cheap, too.
The rain will leech all the nutrients to the plants and you'll be double golden.
I wish I'd have caught you before you used sawdust. It's the worst organic material you can use in a garden. You're seeing that now. Sorry, brother.

Sawdust and wood chips require more nitrogen to decompose than they contain.
I will check the ph but the tomatoes, potatoes and a couple of squash got planted with fish emulsion and worm castings and they look good so far.
We have chickens but the manure is mostly pine shavings and is good only for a top dressing mulch. The shavings resist composting.
Our neigh-bors have horses so I should hit them up for some sh!t.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

Sawdust and wood chips require more nitrogen to decompose than they contain.
I will check the ph but the tomatoes, potatoes and a couple of squash got planted with fish emulsion and worm castings and they look good so far.
We have chickens but the manure is mostly pine shavings and is good only for a top dressing mulch. The shavings resist composting.
Our neigh-bors have horses so I should hit them up for some sh!t.

Then you have a double whammy. If the sawdust is fixing the nitrogen and the ph is off, the plants can't eat. It doesn't matter how much food you put in there. I honestly don't think the sawdust is tying up the nitrogen, you put tons of food in there. It takes very little sawdust to goof the ph, though.
I had hundreds of chickens for years, I bedded with straw specifically because I didn't want to compost sawdust for years to make it usable.
The plants that look good in the worm castings, once they root out past the worm castings and reach the sawdust, they may go yellow on you, too.
Like I said, lime the hell out of everything. You cannot put enough lime in the beds to hurt anything. I'd use powdered stuff to correct the ph, then get a truckload of the lime chips they use for underneath sidewalks, and you'll never need lime again. You can work those chips in and you'll never know they're there.
I'd tell you to add nitrogen, but once again, I don't think you need it, and you're real likely to burn the plants.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.