Plants growing smaller and more. Getting despondant

[Marb67]

I am fed up with the same thing every year. I sow various veg and a lot stay thin, wispy and straggly or either stay the same of grow smaller ! Yes smaller. I know it sounds impossible but I was given some rare spinach at a country house veg garden shop. I planted it out in thee soil and it hardly did anything. I then dug it up and planted in deep pots taking care to keep moist. They have all got smaller and smaller until the base of the stems have gone thin and dynes are looking like they are dying. I won't be even able to get seed off them for next year. I plant rocket in abundance in soil and compost with thin, whisper results. Poached egg plant started healthy and around 20 plants just one survived. Radish stay the same size for weeks with no swelling. I have some now that have been growing for weeks and they still have not swelled. I thought they were supposed to be fast growing. Bought a small pot of tarragon which has been sickly all season with brown patches. Cared for it and even now it is smaller than it was when bought in March. Basil grown from seed with the toms in the greenhouse just goes silky and brown patches on the leaves.red Sorrel I bought 3 years ago manages to push one or two leaves out per month. Smaller now then when first bought. On M&S hardly bigger than the sets i planted. Amsterdam Carrots planted in container stayed tiny, some never formed. I could go on with more examples.

I do have some success so it's not all bad but it bugs me when seemingly easy veg and salad fails every year when I do all the right things on paper. Ok, my garden is small and walled with limited sunlight but still enough for growing. It's the winter it's more limited. I get a lot of pests like flea beetle, leaf miner, damping offaphids, slugs, so its hard going.

[zazen999]

What's the pH of your soil?

And how did you post this in an invisible board? The Kitchen Garden Expert should not be visible any more. I've moved it to Vegging Out.

[Marb67]

No idea what ph is and I have this bookmarked on my ipad so I posted which doesn't make it invisible ;-)

[WendyC]

Perhaps it might be worth testing the ph or even going the whole hog and sending off a sample for analysis. Not sure who does it mind! RHS?
I think you may have the answer in your post though. It's sunlight or lack of it. We are past the equinox now so therefore more dark than light :-\ if you are shaded it won't help. How much sun do you get each day? Now and in mid summer?
What does grow well? Perhaps focus on those.
As for pests I think they have found your way into a lovely microclimate and are no hurry to leave! I know I have less trouble with aphids at the allotment than at home. This I think is because it is colder and windier so don't thrive as well. Unless you want to spray everything you will have to be vigilant and be prepared to act quickly.

[Four Seasons]

Plants need nutrients oxygen water and light. If you get one of them wrong then your plants will struggle. When you get them all right then your main foes are predators, funguses and viruses.
But this year has been a good growing year so if you cannot get a decent crop this year you will definitely struggle in a an average year.
My money is on lack of light.

[zazen999]

No idea what ph is and I have this bookmarked on my ipad so I posted which doesn't make it invisible ;-)

No need for the wink; could you please unbookmark the board as it isn't there any more and then people won't ask you why you posted it on something that doesn't show up on the main site any more. Thanks.

pH - is the acidity of the soil - did you not do this at school?

[Potstubsdustbins]

What to you do to put back nutrients into your growing medium.

As above you should test the PH of your growing medium to acidic or to alkaline and things just will not grow.

Potty

[Marb67]

No need for the wink; could you please unbookmark the board as it isn't there any more and then people won't ask you why you posted it on something that doesn't show up on the main site any more. Thanks.

pH - is the acidity of the soil - did you not do this at school?

Yes, did it at school etc etc. I think you misunderstood me as I never mentioned at all that I didn't understand PH. No need for the wink ;-) I said I hadn't tested it for PH, NOT that I didn't
understand PH.

I have no idea that a page is no longer there when it's bookmarked. If it was no longer there it would have come back as page not found or whatever.

This year a good growing year ? Nope. I have had better seasons than this. A slow, cold start in spring followed by a burst of extreme sun and then cold was not good. I would say this year for me was best for toms because of extended sunlight and heat.

[Snadger]

Eventually you will finish up with invisible plants on an invisible board!

Not much constructively I can add to what has already been mentioned.

Nutrients,light,growing medium, temperature and water are the main requirements methinks.
Its getting the correct percentage of each thats the tricky bit!

[Bigmallly]

I wonder if your soil needs a bit of organic matter adding Marb. Maybe some rotted manure or your own compost if you have any. When I plant out, rightly or wrongly I place 2 or 3 chicken pellets in the hole & have had great success. Good luck, hope you get it sorted..............no, I'm not gonna wink at you.....

[rustylady]

No idea what ph is and I have this bookmarked on my ipad so I posted which doesn't make it invisible ;-)

Sorry Marb, but this could easily be read as "I have no idea what ph means" Maybe if you used a few more words and proper sentences your meaning would be clearer.

As to your plant problems, I can only agree with what the others have said.

[zazen999]

Yes, did it at school etc etc. I think you misunderstood me as I never mentioned at all that I didn't understand PH. No need for the wink ;-) I said I hadn't tested it for PH, NOT that I didn't
understand PH.

I have no idea that a page is no longer there when it's bookmarked. If it was no longer there it would have come back as page not found or whatever.

This year a good growing year ? Nope. I have had better seasons than this. A slow, cold start in spring followed by a burst of extreme sun and then cold was not good. I would say this year for me was best for toms because of extended sunlight and heat.

*shrugs shoulders.

You said you had 'no idea what pH is'.

And I can only advise that the board isn't there any more...If you insist on bookmarking something that doesn't exist then whatever. When people don't respond in future you will know why

[Bigmallly]

You said you had 'no idea what pH is'.

Isn't it amazing how important the word "the" is.

[Four Seasons]

Yes, did it at school etc etc. I think you misunderstood me as I never mentioned at all that I didn't understand PH. No need for the wink ;-) I said I hadn't tested it for PH, NOT that I didn't
understand PH.

I have no idea that a page is no longer there when it's bookmarked. If it was no longer there it would have come back as page not found or whatever.

This year a good growing year ? Nope. I have had better seasons than this. A slow, cold start in spring followed by a burst of extreme sun and then cold was not good. I would say this year for me was best for toms because of extended sunlight and heat.

Sorry I don't get this. It's been a brilliant year for most things and you say you've had better years? So replicate the conditions of what your good years have been and take it from there. What you have described doesn't sound like a weather problem though. It was a cold start to this year but once it got going it's been fantastic.

[Marb67]

Ok, hands up I now see what you mean. Yes it could be interpreted as I don't know what PH is so sorry for that. My mistake 100% humble pie being eaten as I write.

There is no way my websites bookmarked automatically tell me that the site is no longer there on my ipad but if there is please let me know. To be fair, I clicked on it and it took me to the page. If it no longer exists why did it let me post ? I didn't see any message saying "this page is no longer live"

As for feeding etc I do mulch the soil with compost made from my waste bin. I also feed its seaweed, chicken manure and blood fish and bone whenever required. The light is a few hours in the summer and less in winter but I am thinking of perhaps putting reflecting mirrors or something on the walls to boost light. It could work !