RE: Missing piece(s) of the puzzle

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• Subject: RE: Missing piece(s) of the puzzle
• From: "Cliff Warren" c*@hotmail.com
• Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 15:18:38 -0700
• List-archive: <http://www.hort.net/lists/pumpkins/> (Web Archive)

If it's any consolation, I feel exactly the same way. But I would do this:

Get a soil test. This more than anything will tell you what you have
and help you make decisions for the future. I did this, and it changed
my plans... I now know a little more about what I need to do. I could tell
you, but this advice would be specific for my patch. For example, my
soil is very heavy in salts... I now know that I need to take steps to lower
the salts and avoid adding things that will raise the salts.

I plan on incorporating mychorrizae (check the spelling) to my growing...
I don't know, but I hope this helps. I had a plant go totally down with
something last year. But from what I read, these diseases aren't necessarily
an "all or nothing" sort of situation. One plant may go down, another might
just be severely limited because of the disease. Yet it might not be
immediately apparent what the problem is.

Regards, Cliff

Hello list

I just wanted to send out a plea for advice. I have been growing for 4 years
now and have had a bit of a plateau around 400 lbs. So far we have been adding
compost, chicken manure (sparingly), set up wind barriers, rain water
resevoirs, hot houses in the spring, mounds, etc. etc.

My question is more for the soil preparation for the area directly around the
main root. Earlier, growers were mentioning coffee grounds (how much?,
where?, why?) and high amounts of compost (to what depth?, right around the
main root?, what kind of compost?) Is there anything else I could or should
try in order to crack the 500 lb mark?

Thanks for any input.

Dan Marshall
Stonewall Manitoba

marshlit@mts.net

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