Re: [tomato] Questions about soil

Thomas Giannou (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Sat, 3 Jul 1999 13:09:31 -0700 

Dear Tantrika,

The fact you have plentiful earthworms is indeed a good sign.  You mentioned
crabmeat and seaweed reducing acidity... have you tested the pH of your
soil?

Have you had any diseases on your plants to contend with?  Do the bugs leave
your plants alone?

It sounds like you have plenty of organic material going in that soil...
probably a good reason for the worms to be there.  Worm castings make great
fertilizer too!  My wife dug up a worm where we have roses that was 1/2 inch
thick... I've never seen the likes of it.  I'm still kicking myself for not
taking a picture of that critter.

Here it is July 3 rd and we really haven't had a hot day yet this year.
This spring seems to be really prolonged here in Spokane this year.  My
Raspberries are starting to ripen up.  I'm going to have the best crop of
berries this year than in the past 18 years.  I had to put up bird netting
to keep the rascals out of the berries.  I put up pvc pipe to hold up the
netting... it was cheaper than wood.  So, I put some emiters in the pipe and
am misting the berry plants.  They like lots of water.

Best Regards,
Thomas Giannou

----- Original Message -----
From: Tantrika <hummer13@earthlink.net>
To: <Tomato@GlobalGarden.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 03, 1999 12:23 PM
Subject: Re: [tomato] Questions about soil


> Thanks Thomas, then I should be ok for a while.  I have all organic soil
in
> my beds and have addended them every year with Llama and aged horse
manure,
> as well as giving the plantlings fish emulsion when I plant them and
> occassionally throughout the season and organic blooming boost now and
then
> and I mulch them as well.  The soil is filled with worms, so I guess
that's
> a good sign :)
>
> maybe all I really need to do is plant cover crops in the beds during the
> fall :)  I'll look into getting some mycorrhiza...I did find out about a
> soil conditioner that has crabmeat and seaweed which reduces acidity and
is
> a good substitute for lime, as well as being a nutrient fixer...I don't
> think I need it currently though as my soil is pretty good :).
>
> I have the same problems with them being slow (except for the lettuce and
> arurgula and chard that is) because of weird weather as well.
>
> I was just wondering about potential *future* problems.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> At 11:07 AM 7/3/99 -0700, you wrote:
> >That may be true in certain parts of the country, but I have been
planting
> >tomatoes and peppers in the same location for several years and haven't
> >noticed any problem.  Of course, I use mycorrhiza with my plants and a
good
> >organic fertilizer and rock dust every now and then to put minerals into
the
> >soil.   I also mix in a small amount of well aged steer manure every
other
> >year.
> >
> >This year my plants are slow because of the lingering cool weather, but
they
> >are a nice deep dark green and are blooming and making progress.
> >
> >Best Regards,
> >Thomas Giannou
> >Spokane, Washington
>