To much green no vegetables?

[Anny]

I remember reading some place that if you have alot of leafy green growth in your veggie garden but no vegetables on the plants it mean you soil had to much _________ or not enough ___________.

Can some one fill in the blanks?

 

[momofdrew]

I remember reading some place that if you have alot of leafy green growth in your veggie garden but no vegetables on the plants it mean you soil had to much _nitrogin???________ or not enough ___________.

Can some one fill in the blanks?

 

[Greenthumb18]

I remember reading some place that if you have alot of leafy green growth in your veggie garden but no vegetables on the plants it mean you soil had to much Nitrogen or not enough Potash .

Can some one fill in the blanks?

 

[Augustmomx2]

Pretty sure I read something about too much nitrogen. I guess its common if you use Miracle-Grow too much. Lots of green, full leaves but no veggies.

Not sure about the "not enough" blank....

 

[Anny]

I'm having this issue in one of my garden beds. Thing is I didn't use any Miracle grow or anything other then chicken poop and pine shavings from the coop (that aged over the winter on the beds)

None of my other beds are having this issue just the one.

How do I lower the nitrogen? Does adding potash do that? What can I add to make more potash?

Thanks guys!

 

[HiDelight]

have your soil tested! that is what I would do ..did

do it one time and then build your soil from there

 

[digitS']

Anny, if all the beds were treated the same: maybe it isn't what's in the ground. Could shade be a factor?

A rule of thumb for an all-purpose garden fertilizer is that all the numbers (NPK) are the same: 5-5-5 or 16-16-16, for example. Chicken manure is about 2 to 4 percent nitrogen, 1 to 3 percent phosphorus and 1 to 2 percent potassium. So, it comes pretty close to being balanced.

The wood shavings are another story but they certainly wouldn't have too much nitrogen.

If it is really too much nitrogen causing you the problem, you could try leaching it out but that wouldn't be environmentally responsible since that nitrogen has to go somewhere and into the ground water isn't the best place for drinking water purposes. Also, if your soil actually needs more potassium, that salt is even more leachable than nitrogen and you are just going to wash it away.

Some plants can take a remarkable amount of nitrogen and still have a normal growth cycle. What are you trying to grow in that bed? And, give some thought to shade - it can really change how plants grow and mature.

Steve

 

[obsessed]

I think squash and corn can be used as a mop to absorb excess nitrogen. But I vote for the soil test as well.

 

[jemagsy]

Could be not enough phosphorous - phosphorous aids in the development of fruits and flowers. I agree with the others you probably have plenty of nitrogen.

Just to be sure take some soil samples and do a test on them or if you live in the US have your county extension do one - I think my Co. ext charges $11? It varies though, but the info will either be on their website or you can call them. There are private companies that do soil test/recommendations but I don't know how much they charge.

A good soil test twice a year (or at least once) will definitely help out and the extension office can also advise you on soil amendments and usually has flyers/brochures too.

 

[patandchickens]

FWIW, the "too much" part in the phrase "too much Nitrogen" simply means "in proportion to how much other nutrients, mainly phosphorus and potassium, are available in the soil".

Thus, in the event of a person winding up with an excess of N (and I'm not saying this is necessarily your situation, it'd take a soil analysis to tell for sure) the solution is really really simple, all you have to do is add more phosphorus and potassium and trace nutrients (in some form such that you're not *also* adding any meaningful amount more nitrogen, of course!). So you can straighten things out easily. The only time when this isn't the case is if you have *pathologically* much nitrogen, but that is rare and only happens if you've done something weird

Quite honestly if this is one of your first few years gardening I'd suggest just sittting on your hands and see what happens -- it may be that your plants are simply only just reaching flowering size, and messing around further with things would be a big mistake. If you've been doing this long enough that you are absolutely positive there should, by now, be WAY more flowers than there are, then either they're getting too shaded, or would benefit from a judicious mostly-non-nitrogen fertilizer application, such some of the seaweed products or some synthetic fertilizers whose labels claim to be good for promoting blooming (but read the label -- you want something with a very low first number in relation to the other two numbers, preferably a very low first number *period*, and it wouldn't hurt if it also claimed trace mineral content)

If the plants are flowering but not setting fruit, that is a different matter, btw.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat