Thursday, June 07, 2007

Oh no why do I have fungus in my Grow-Box

I recently built raised garden beds and made the choice (mistake?) of using compost from my local landfill in these beds. We've planted all our vegetable plants and they are looking dry, dry, dry. So I water them more.

Yesterday morning I realize that I have tiny little gray toadstools through my entire garden especially near each of my plants. Obviously there is another water. What do I do now? Is the fungus the reason that my plants are doing poorly? Is there a way to salvage my garden? HELP!!!Thanks

I doubt the toadstools are hurting anything. Just disturb the soil surface with the 2-way hoe every few days, to keep those and any other volunteer growth in check. And hopefully there is not anything toxic or high in salt that will inhibit your plants' growth!Sometimes in Grow-Boxes people don't get the water close enough to their plants, and the plant roots are, indeed, suffering from lack of water. It may be also that the soil medium either doesn't hold as much water, or distribute it as well as what we recommend.

How far apart are your rows of plants? Are you using the pre-drilled PVC pipe? Are you using 3 holes drilled at 45 degree angles every 4"? How high off the soil surface are your pipes?Your rows of plants should only be 10-12" apart. YOur pipe should be 3+ inches off the ground, and the water should come within a couple of inches at most, from your plant stems.

You should be watering until water seeps out from under the bottom of your Grow-Box.Watering is critical to the success of Grow-Box gardening, and you CAN'T give your plants too much, but you can surely give them too LITTLE.Make sure that the watering is being done properly forst.Next, be sure that the fertilizers are being watered down into the soil. If that's not happening you may need to dissolve the fertilizers in water once each week and water them in by hand.

To do this, dissolve 3 ounces of Weekly Feed in 5 gallons of water, and water 6 feet of the bed. Repeat 4 more times, until you have watered the whole 30'-long bed with fertilized water.

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