Veg not Really growing!

[Mark the Bodger]

I finally finished my raised beds and planted various veg in them. What you can see on the photos was planted about a month ago, trouble is, it looked the same about a month ago nothing has really grown and positively nothing has seemed to die off, its just stayed the same.

Only 2 things that i can think of that would affect this is;

1. The raised beds had to go at the end of the garden to allow maximum space for my little boy to run riot in the rest of the garden! this unfortuately meant that one of the beds is under the canopy of the tree. Is this why they're not growing much?

2. In a rush to get something planted i have only got topsoil in the beds and im not sure how much goodness is in the soil. Could this be the case, if so can i do anything this year, or shall i dig some manure in at the end of the season.

Or is it just because of the wonderful British weather?

Any help will be greatfully recieved as usual.

Thanks in Advance

[Beanz]

I guess that it is a combination of things. Pick from:
Too shaded
No goodness in soil
Too dry (raised beds do dry out quicker than open ground
Cold
Sorry cannot be more specific but if I had to have a punt I would go for soil and moisture first.

[Mark the Bodger]

Wow, that was a quick reply,i'll make sure i water them a bit more frequenly, im planing on putting some sprinkler arrangment - but thats on the winter job list.

Any way of putting goodness into the soil now or shall i wait and see how things go for this season?

Cheers.

[Beanz]

Miracle Grow works well in situations like this.
Good luck!

[Samurailord]

You could also get hold of some chicken manure pellets and liberally scatter them around your plants before you water which will help get some more nutrients into the ground.

If you dont put weed killer or ween'n'feed on your grass you could use any cuttings you have as a mulch to try and prevent evaporation, just make sure to leave a space around the stems of your plants to avoid them rotting.

Andy

[WendyC]

I like the use seaweed extract (comes in a brown bottle) when things need a boost. As said before any feed and water will reap rewards.

[Chooklady]

I'll second the seaweed extract, it's great stuff. Use it in your watering can with the specified amount, it's like rocket fuel In future, you really need some good rotted material in your boxes to promote growth, so don't miss out that part, so when you come to plant next year, throw a load in

[Potstubsdustbins]

In this situation if you have no objection to using it I would go for Miracle Grow both as a foliar and root drench. It will work very quickly for you.

As to shading yes this can be a problem but I notice that there was sun on the containers when you took the pici. How many hours of direct sunlight do they get?

I also notice that at least one of the containers if not fully filled with growing medium, what is below the container? If its hard standing then I would say the filling may be to shallow.

Potty

[Feral007]

I used manure tea, and some comfrey tea on my new bed that had only top soil on it. Also used seasol. Since you are watering anyway, using a tea gets the goodness into the soil as well as the water. You could use the chicken pellets in a bucket with water to make the tea. The smell will disipate quicker if you use it as tea, rather than adding the pellets.

I was just imaging the remarks from a boy who couldn't breathe anything but chicken pellets while he's running on the grass. I'd also mulch the plants. We use hay to mulch - lucerne hay as its full of nitrogen and so it's feeding as well as keeping the soil damper. You need to make sure it is organically grown hay (no pesticide sprays used on it) tho or it is worse than not using anything.

Mulching well between the plants should help.

My plants are at a bit of a standstill here, but that's because it's the middle of winter. I'm wiling the wombok to start growing again :/

[Two_Sheds]

,i'll make sure i water them a bit more frequenly

No need, really. Flowering/fruiting veg needs about 22 litres a square metre, per week. Non-flowering veg needs about 12 litres.
You definitely don't need a sprinkler, hose, or to be doing it every night.

Your vbg is looking about the same as mine. Although they aren't putting on top growth (it's been too cold) their roots will be growing.

There is ample "feed" in soil for plants to grow: look how big trees get, and nobody Miracle-Gros them.

What you will need to do is add humus to your topsoil (which trees do with falling leaves every autumn), by adding homemade garden compost, as a mulch.

Too much feeding will make the plants grow big but sappy, which will make them much more appealing to pests like aphids.
Grow them slow & tough

[Jono]

In the future, might be worth growing plants that don't mind some shade in the shady bed. Leafy stuff is good, such as chard, lettuce and kale.

I've got rhubarb in a shady corner of my garden and it is doing well, so that might be an idea.

[Feral007]

Ooooh Twosheds....grow em slow and tough.......sounds quite kinky!

[PyreneesPlot]

My veg has been very slow this year - I'm blaming it on the weather too. Warmth arrived last week and there is real signs of life in the plants now.

[Mark the Bodger]

Thank you for all your advice, i has been very useful.

Potty
-Not sure on the amount of direct sun, the small one would probably get about 6 hours, but the other two will be less than that, certainly the one under the canopy.
-with regards to the half empty/half full, underneath it is a little bit dug over, but i ran out of soil at that point.

TS
-thanks for the advice on not overwatering, that saves a bit of job, i'll just be a bit more patient.

I'll look at putting some mulch down and i'll look into the Miracle gro stuff.

Thanks Again

[Jamesy_uk]

I had the same issues Mark, pretty much my whole allotment was in go slow mode until we had the warm spell a few weeks back and it sprung into life, that coupled with some blood, fish and bone feed I think helped.