Couple of ?s

[Jared77]

Little insight. This is a little garden patch that I threw some plants into so we'd have some fresh tomatoes for sandwiches and hopefully pumpkins to carve in the fall. For those of you who don't know my wife and I bought a house (no more renting!!) plus we had our 2nd child so my garden plans were thrown for a loop. It was literally kind of a long shot anyway but I knew if I didn't plant it I wouldn't have anything. Nothing ventured nothing gained!

As far as the garden went I literally dropped the mower deck as low as I could mowed a fairly bald patch of ground where I wanted the garden to go, planted it and have been mulching it with grass clippings to keep the weeds at bay. When I planted I back filled with some compost and manure mixed together plus some time release fertilizer (I don't have the N-P-K I'm at work).

I didn't till the area because I was in a rush it was plant that or don't bother having anything. I didn't have really high expectations but the plants were doing ok.

I know the soil needs amending there are some bare spots so I know somethings missing but I didn't have time to make the necessary changes. I can fix the soil I can't fix the location. It was an old horse pasture but hasn't had horses on it in about 3 years prior to us buying it and planting there. Neighbor told me I'm planting near the old run in/lean to area. That structure was torn down when the daughter of the previous owners went to college and the horse was boarded at a local stable.

I know I need a soil sample but please keep reading I'm going to address that later in this post.

Ok here's my questions:

1) I've never seen so many male blossoms before in my life. Both my zukes, yellow squash, and pumpkins are literally covered in them. I've got 4 cukes, zukes and yellow squash. Pumpkins I've got a bunch of too. I don't know if stress from the less than ideal soil that's triggering this since they don't feel they can support fruit or what is triggering it. The cukes are doing the best as far as producing a good ratio of male to female flowers since I'm finding little cukes growing, and I do have at least a yellow squash producing too. Otherwise its all male blossoms. They are close to the base/center of the plant too all the squash are blooming really close to the base so I figured I'd be getting more but apparently not.

The plants are blooming on average 1 per plant and its all male blooms. They are Marketmore 76 cukes, and the zukes and yellow squash I'm not sure of but the are varieties I've grown before without issue at my old garden about 10 miles away. Similar soil conditions lots of heavy clay. As far as the pumpkin varieties, its Jack-O-Lantern, Big Macs, and another carving variety I can't remember the name of.

Its more puzzling than concerning. I know there will be more male than female blossoms, but this ratio is really different that anything I've had in the past.

2) After I get my soil sample done and I see what I'm missing when should I make amendments? I had thought about doing it late summer/early fall so I can till it all in the amendments have time to settle in through winter and spring thaw so come spring I'm ahead of the game and ready to go. My previous garden I only added manure which I spread in the fall and spring (as it was available) and then the spring tilling and planted like normal and the garden was great.

I'm asking because I'm going to expand the garden significantly (seriously its going to be about triple the available planted area) plus I've got to get a fence up too so I hoped to get a jump on things for next year.

Sorry to ramble on I wanted people to have some back history before they posted their impressions/thoughts.

So what do you think? I appreciate any input on this.....

 

[ninnymary]

Jared, have the flowers just started coming in? I notice that on my plants, I usually get male flowers at first flush and then the female ones start coming in.

I would do all of the amending and soil preparation in the fall.

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

The soil in that area is probably compacted since it was near the horse shelter. I would amend in the fall also.

 

[digitS']

I agree with Mary & Thistle' on all counts:

1st the male flowers
organic fertilizer in the fall with added/needed amendments

I don't think you did wrong by simply mowing close and mulching. However, there will be a real delay in those previous plants decay and releasing nutrients for your garden plants. Soil organisms will have first shot at those covered plants and the tomatoes & pumpkins may have to wait awhile to benefit. Even the fertilizer that you added in the spring may be tied-up in the process.

First year gardens are always tuff.

Steve

 

[baymule]

First of all, congratulations to you and your family on the new home and new baby! Secondly, kudos to you for starting a garden under all the fluctuating conditions that would take out almost any gardener for the season. If you harvest anything from this first garden, call yourself a major winner. If all you get is one wizened little cucumber, you still get the GARDENER'S TROPHY!! :tools

I agree with the above posters. I will add-get chickens! My dream coop is in the middle of 4 garden spots, with the ability to access one spot at a time. I would use the other 3, in rotation, for spring, fall, fallow with cover crop or possibly corn. Chicken manure can lead to too much nitrogen in the soil, but corn is a heavy feeder and would use it up. Chickens would do a lot of the work for you and give you eggs too!

 

[Jared77]

Thank you Bay I really appreciate the kind words.

I think honestly forgot how it was the first year I planted and having been where we were for a while things were growing right along as planned.

Good to know about the nutrient availability I never even considered it. DUH! I threw at it what I knew "should work" since the bare spots concerned me a little but I figured supplement at the source where the plants were at and work out from there in the fall so I could gauge how things were going, the results of the soil testing, and time permitting.

These plants have been blooming for weeks now that's what got me and why I asked. Before I'd get usually 1-3 male flowers to every 1 female flower. I even expected a flush of male flowers at first but what got me was how many times the same plants were throwing up THAT many male flowers again and again before I saw a single female bloom. That's why I figured I'd throw it out there since I was wondering about stress or a nutrient deficiency since I hadn't done a soil test.

As far as chickens go, they are on the list. So are rabbits. I think we may have rabbits before we have chickens since the rabbit pellets are a cold manure vs chickens. I don't even have compost piles built yet and when I ask about them my wife says "next summer". The rabbit hutches would be on the outside of the compost pile and have poop boards below the hutch so the rabbit manure is dumped right into the compost pile. Trying to work smarter not harder.

I've been looking at coop designs and we'll get one built. Right now though the priority for next year is fencing, and compost piles. Then I can start working up from there. I was already eyeing the space under the deck to store tractors for both rabbits and chickens when they are not in use. Its just dead space down there that's not being used for anything. Out of sight out of mind right?

 

[canesisters]

Jared, how big is that space??? I've seen a lot of folks (was in on BYC or here??) use the space under their porch as a covered chicken run. Someone even set up the nest boxes to be under the steps and one of the treads flipped up to acces the eggs.

Just tossing out ideas.... not like you've got your hands full or anything..

 

[thistlebloom]

The coop/run under the steps was Joz from New Orleans (?).

....I think...

 

[MontyJ]

Too many male blooms could be an excess of phosphorus in the soil. As was already mentioned, males come out before females. Give it time and see what happens. Also agree on amending in the fall. Pull your soil sample away from where you used the slow release or your results will be tainted.

 

[Southern Gardener]

I had the same problem with my cukes - I didn't think I ever get any. They finally started producing female flowers and I was overrun with them.