OG's Test Gardeners

August 20th

We’ve reached the point of the summer when in my San Diego area garden, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant have kicked into high gear. Squash and zucchinis are still producing, but the cukes have pooped out. My cucumbers are often short lived, which always makes me wonder whether I’ve used enough fertilizer, or the right fertilizer.

I put the question to my seed testing colleagues: What do you do about summer fertilizing?

Their answers covered the entire range. Some folks, like Bill Nunes in California’s Central Valley, do a thorough job of preparing the soil, adding compost and nutrients, and leave it at that. Others rely on the nutrient input from cover crops they grow in between producing crops. Yet another group applies generous helpings of organic-based micro and macro nutrient fertilizers, and some of our numbers use compost tea.

Here are some details:

Like me, Stephanie Van Parys (who gardens in Georgia) fertilizes with whatever she has on hand. “My friend has goats,” she writes, “so three or more months before planting, I put down 4-6 inches of goat manure on the bed and cover with straw. When planting, I drop a trowel full of compost into the hole and set the plant on top of it. The goat manure beds grow amazing tomatoes!” An inch of good compost tops Stephanie’s soil and she’s done with fertilizing for the season.
I tend to rely more on worm compost that comes from our kitchen scraps. A handful in the bottom of a planting hole, combined with a scoop of Dr. Earth Tomato, Vegetable, And Herb Food, keeps most plants (other than cucumbers) going strong all season.

Stephanie and I are in good company. Pam Ruch, the seed testers’ fearless leader in Emmaus, PA rarely fertilizes. Instead, she keeps beds actively growing, either with crops or cover crops, which, she finds makes her plants “grow so lustily” that it rarely occurs to her to fertilize.

In Pam’s home garden, (can you imagine overseeing a huge garden all day, then going home to garden again?), she prepares the beds with compost. This year, she is also testing a fertilizer called “Cockadoodle DOO.” With a name like that, I just had to call the Pure Barnyard, the company that makes Cockadoodle DOO for details.  This fertilizer, the company’s customer service person told me, is an organic, pasteurized chicken manure that looks like oversized coffee granules. The manure is composted, dehydrated, pelletized, heated to kill pathogens and weed seeds, and finally granulated. I can’t wait to hear how it works!

Don Boekelheide grows veggies in North Carolina’s red clay soil. His big challenges are his soil’s tilth (its heavy texture), slight acidity (pH 5.5), and low phosphate content (the “P” in NPK). Unfortunately, Don’s urban garden is far from livestock which makes, in his words, “poop hard to transport.” Instead, he relies on lots of compost mixed into garden beds before planting and added afterwards as mulch.
Don is our resident nitrogen expert, which was the subject of his thesis. He tells us that as important as it is to prepare planting beds, it is also important to supply nitrogen to plants during development.
He grows philosophical as he explains what he is trying to accomplish in his garden – other than growing vegetables:

“If you look at highly productive ecosystems (estuaries, for instance), you see how they rely on large natural inputs of mineral nutrients. So, I'm trying to balance a scientific view strongly influenced by ecology with a sense of wonder and acceptance. Anyway, I make all these charts and spreadsheets tracing nutrient amounts, uptake and probable outputs. I try to account both for what goes in and what comes out, and I'm now trying to go beyond the crop to consider the whole soil/garden system ecologically (we're not just fertilizing the tomatoes, we're fertilizing ‘everything’)...Beats Sudoku, I guess...”

From a practical standpoint, Don says, some crops, like corn, are especially “nitrogen hungry.” He plants seed into nitrogen-enriched soil. Then, as the stalks stretch skyward, he sidedresses them with high nitrogen sources (he favors soy meal and fish meal which I remember from my days in North Carolina is very easy to come by). He uses other organic materials with macro and micro nutrients in the form of compost, bone meal, feather meal, seed meal and a product called Espoma Plant-tone. When the tassels appear (that’s the silk at the top of each ear of corn), Don feeds with yet more nitrogen.

Leslie Doyle in Las Vegas favors home-made fertilizer mixes for her desert soils. Her favorite recipe is 4 cups cottonseed meal to 1/2 cup of bone meal and 1/4 cup of kelp meal. “We have enough potassium in our desert soil that I really shouldn't need the kelp,” she says, “but I use it because of all its trace elements/micronutrients. And, I have read reports that kelp makes an antibiotic in soil that can eliminate some pathogens. Which pathogens? I don't know. I mix a handful of this into the soil for each plant where I plant.”
Does kelp really act like an antibiotic? If you have reliable research data on this point, please send it to us at seedtester@plantsoup.com.

This year, Leslie is testing a new product made from the unused parts of chickens. “It looks like it might be dried and ground up parts; bones, feet, heads, sinew, feathers, etc. And this is kind of peculiar,” she continues, “the NPK is 6-6-6, but the packages are going to be printed with NPK 6-6-5 and some with 6-5-6 because they think people won't buy it at 6-6-6 . . . the sign of the DEVIL. Spooky to some people, huh? I never would have made the connection.”

Once her plants start filling garden beds, adding fertilizer to the soil becomes more difficult, Leslie says, so she turns to foliar sprays. “Foliar feeding with kelp works great,” she writes, “I also think it is necessary in our harsh climate.” Once or twice during the growing season, Leslie sprays with tea from worm compost and castings. In May/June, she foliar feeds with liquid kelp and repeats the process around the end of July “to get plants through the rest of the heat,” and then again in late September.

Speaking of foliar sprays, Coloradoan Ann Caffey’s years of experience and experimenting with fertilizers has made her a believer in biodynamic gardening conceived of and promoted by Rudolf Steiner back in 1924. Ann uses SoilSoup compost tea applied as a foliar spray three to four through the growing season.  Ann admits to having no particular schedule for spraying, but instead watches for when her plants “look like they need it” which is to say when they look “stressed” when she sees evidence of hungry critters feeding on the leaves or stems. Ann says that compost tea “seems to ‘relax’ my plants and they quit sending out those nasty vibes that attract insects.” Hmmm.... 

Have any questions or comments for the seed testers? Send them to SeedTester@PlantSoup.com.

Wishing you a healthy green garden!

Nan Sterman

August 3rd

Its the heat of summer and we seed testers are busy watering, pruning, harvesting and tasting our vegetables.  In our discussions over the last few weeks there are two standouts: 'Purple Peacock' broccoli and 'Polbig' (I keep wanting to call it 'Poliwog') tomato.
'Purple Peacock' is an unusual kale/broccoli hybrid with edible heads and leaves, or so said the literature that accompanied seed to testers in Ontario Canada, Colorado, Washington, and Pennsylvania.  Testers Pam Ruch (PA), Linda Crago (Canada), Debbie Leung (WA) and Ann Caffe (CO) planted out their seed and waited.
Early on, Linda and the others were convinced that the supplier had sent them seed for red Russian kale.  "It is a pretty, frilly, purple kale," she wrote, "(but) I can't imagine where a broccoli head would appear on this plant." 
By mid-June Pam Ruch, our fearless leader in Emmaus, reported the first harvest of tiny purple heads from what she referred to as a "broccoli/kale monster," adding, "I hope it tastes better than it looks..."
The next day, Pam reported back, "The 'Purple Peacock' heads are small, with big buds ... kind of broccoli raab-y ... but in my opinion, much better tasting than raab. I tossed some in olive oil with salt and pepper and used it in an omelet. It was so tasty and tender, I tossed in the rest of it to eat alone! Or maybe I was just super hungry.... The foliage is curly and papery -- some of it popped as it cooked and got a little crisped, which added a unique texture."
By late June, Pam's 'Purple Peacocks' had reached about 8" across, though some heads maxed out around 2-3."  Still, they retained their odd appearance. "They are funky," she wrote, "with pieces of leaf sticking out of them."
In the Pacific Northwest, a mid-June heat wave caused Debbie's 'Purple Peacock' to start bolting (flowering).  She cut off flower stems to delay their inevitable decline.  Once the heat wave passed and the weather cooled, Debbie's plants started leafing out again, just in time to be hit by flea beetles.   Next crop, she says, she'll grow under row covers to keep flea beetles out.
As of mid July, Ann in Colorado reported that her peacocks were 2 feet tall but hadn't yet formed heads.  In Linda's Ontario garden, the plants finally started heading.  By the end of the month, Linda was raving, "I absolutely love the Peacock Broccoli," she wrote, "It is a stunner in the garden, the head size was good and good side shoot production.  I would definitely want to grow this again.  I had a chef touring my garden yesterday and he loved the look of it and the taste raw."
Pam, gushed too, "the taste is terrific...So far it is my favorite new discovery -- a broccoli-like veg that isn't bothered (much) by cabbage worms! ... I am cutting side shoots now, which are small but tasty. I chopped it leaves and all, and sautéed with garlic in olive oil." 
Debbie in Washington had the final word: "The 'Purple Peacock' is an attention getter and would be great in an edible landscape. The plant is strong -- overcoming aphids when young. I'd give it lots of space so that the central head is larger, giving the plant more food value. The leaves are beautiful throughout the life of the plant, but I wouldn't eat them -- too chewy and scratchy. If you want a similarly beautiful plant for leaves, I suggest growing Red Russian kale or one of that type which are selected for tasty, tender leaves"
While Peacock is garnering raves, the jury is still out on "Polbig' tomato.  This early season, semi-determinate tomato was bred in Poland for cool climate gardens.  Its fruit, we were told, is good for roasting.  I've seen tomatoes described as being good for sauces, canning or eating fresh, but never before have I heard of a roasting tomato!
True to its description, 'Polbig' plants in Emmaus and Canada formed fruits by the end of June, with the Emmaus plants reaching at least 3 feet tall.  "They are absolutely LOADED with fruit," Pam reported. 
In Washington, Debbie lost a 'Polbig' in early July to what she thinks was verticillium wilt, though it is supposed to be resistant.
Linda (in Canada) was the first to harvest 'Polbig.'   That was in late July.  How were they?  "Good size, and plants are loaded," wrote Linda, "Very impressive."  By this week, however, she wrote "The taste is lacking.  They cannot compare taste-wise with my earliest favorite, 'Stupice,' which is just pouring out with fruit.... I don't think I would feel any great compelling reason to plant 'Polbig' again."
In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Pam was also harvesting 'Polbig' this week. Her observations largely echoed Linda's, "I'm not convinced that it is a winner taste-wise," she said. "It is somewhat hard and meaty, like a 'Roma,' so might be a good roaster. The early fruits are not super-sweet, but might improve as the summer goes on. What I like about it is that the foliage is very clean and healthy, and the fruit load impressive, despite it being a compact (no taller than 3') plant."  Maybe Pam will roast some and report back in the near future.
While Linda, Pam, Debbie, and Ann talked broc and tomatoes, the rest of us discussed ways to support cucumbers and tomatoes.  My personal favorite is made from concrete reinforcing mesh, which is essentially a wire grid.  I bend mesh rectangles into cylinders and secure the ends with zip ties.  Each cylinder is wide enough for two tomato plants or six cucumbers to climb.  Branches are easy to wind in and out of the 6" x 6" holes, which are plenty large enough for me to reach in to prune or harvest.
Leslie Doyle who gardens in hot, hot Las Vegas, grows cucumbers, melons and vining squashes up lengths of green plastic construction fencing she bought at a builders' supply store.  When it comes to tomatoes, Leslies says, "We don't use, or recommend, tomato cages in our hot climate. We can keep the plants cooler when they are grown in a heap near the ground, and the result is that we get more fruit set this way.  The hot desert air and frequent winds are devastating to tomatoes growing up in the air.  Except for cherry tomatoes . . . isn't there always an exception?” 
Leslie has also experimented with growing tomatoes on colored mulches.  "Those heaped on red mulch produced some bigger fruit, but many of the plants had acquired a virus and had to be removed.  White flies, aphids and many other insects stay away from the silver – they can't navigate over it so they go somewhere else.  I think it's neat and it works.  There are other benefits to colored mulches, but the elimination of disease from insects makes the silver my best choice."
Leslie foliar feeds tomatoes at least three times during the growing season with water-soluble kelp.  "A solution made to the color of weak tea using my water-soluble kelp power, or you can use liquid kelp than comes in a concentrate.  Among other things, it makes the plants more heat tolerant (stronger) and makes them look really good, too.  I spray all my plants, trees too, with it and everyone can see the difference in my garden compared to their garden. That's important to me because I teach gardening here and we have lots of visitors who come to compare."
Andrea Ray Chandler in Olathe, Kansas added her favorite method for supporting cucumbers. "I like flat panels with plastic netting to grow my cukes vertically.  Saves space, reduces fungus problems, and keeps me from missing the fruits!"  Andrea uses electrical conduit pipe pushed a few feet into the ground.  She hangs plastic trellis mesh from the top bar - weaving top bar in and out of the mesh squares before adding the vertical bars.
Do you have questions or comments for the test gardeners?  Send me an email at SeedTester@PlantSoup.Com
Thanks!

Nan