Marianne's Response

Why is my garden not producing?

My garden is in north central Florida. We added compost and black cow to the soil this year, along with all-purpose fertilizer, lime, and ironrite. Still, my garden is not producing. The staked tomatoes are tall with very few blooms. The summer squash is bushy. It had blooms but no squash, and the blooms fall off. Cucumbers vined with few blooms and few fruits. Bell peppers, well, ditto. Any suggestions? My garden has done this for the past two years. Before that I just tilled the soil, added lime and planted. I then put a layer of newspaper down and covered with about 4 inches of leaves and the garden did great. What can I do or not do?

Posted by BSLeith on June 18, 2014

Marianne's Response

It does sound like something is wrong with your soil, but instead of lack of nutrients it could be too much water or poor drainage. I suggest you take a soil sample to your nearest Extension Agent, or purchase a soil test from a garden center to see if all that manure created any problems. One symptom of a soil very high in nitrogen is lots of green leaf growth but few flowers or fruit. A soil test will help solve this mystery. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti

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