Hardiest Plants for Sick Soil?

[GardenGeisha]

My raised bed has something wrong with the soil. Last year I got a gorgeous poppy crop, so I decided to plant poppies again this year, but have nary a one.

I'm trying to figure out what I could plant in the way of perennials that would do well in crappy soil, consistently.

I have grown very nice sunflowers in it, but several of them turned wilty this year, as did the peas I planted in it, and the bee balm bit the dust, I think.

My ornamental flowering kale has done pretty well every year.

Daturas were dinky in it.

An Easter lily disappeared.

Tulips are not spectacular in it.

Creeping phlox appears unhappy. Ditto with columbines.

I got a showy weed in it this year that was quite promising, foliage-wise, with a lackluster blossom.

So I'm trying to think of something that I can't go wrong with. This year volunteer carrots and yarrow look pretty good in it. I'd like something colorful.

Zinnias have not done well in it in the past. One year I got nice portulaca. Sweet peas don't like it.

Arugula does very well in it. Early cool crops like radishes have done well in it, also lettuce.

Any ideas? I planted a ton of seeds but nothing came up in it this year except arugula, which may have reseeded from last year.

 

[lesa]

That is a very strange selection of plants to all have a problem... I would suggest using your energy to develop that soil. Perhaps, digging out the top layer and spending a season adding compost. Then, you can grow whatever moves you! Happy Gardening!

 

[bluelacedredhead]

Have a soil test done (County Extension office or a Private soil testing lab) and then amend your soil according to their recommendations.

 

[Carol Dee]

Nasturtiums... they seem to like poor soil. They are colorful and the blooms can be added to salads.

 

[desertlady]

I would add some new compost dirt in it and tilled it well.

 

[GardenGeisha]

I have tried nasturtiums all over the place. They never do well here, oddly, except twice. Once out front in the bed near the road they were lovely, and once I had some volunteers spring up in the weedy walkway that were quite nice, but they usually fizzle.

The soil in the bad bed has compost, Black Magic, and Miracle-Gro. I suspect it was contaminated with Rhizoctonia Solanii.

I've had a recent bad experience taking plants to the Extension Agency that they were not able to diagnose, and they didn't think sending them off for tests would be much good.

Almost all soil around here is loaded with wilts of various kinds, and they don't think testing for it will tell one much-- too hard to tease it all apart as to the cause of the malady-- and they can't test for Rhizoctonia solanii.

I really don't want to go to the hard work & added expense of digging up and replacing all that soil. I just want to make do with what is in there. Some things grow great, like arugula.

Any other plant suggestions? I could grow all arugula in it, I guess. The volunteer carrots look good, too. I suppose yarrow in a variety of colors could be quite pretty.

What do you think about shasta daisies? Don't they pretty much grow well anywhere and spread and spread? I do love daisies.

 

[GardenGeisha]

I forgot to add that the raised bed was built 3 summers ago, and it immediately went bad when we had freakishly hot weather in late April. My zinnias came up and did great, and then the weather turned very cool, and then very hot again. Suddenly they acted like they had damped off and all died. Ditto with the bee balm.

But last spring it was nice and cool consistently, into the middle of June. I think that is why I got such a nice showing of poppies. The soil did not heat up and activate the Rhizoctonia.

But this year it was super hot early on. After my initial lettuce and arugula showing (peas stayed nice looking for some time), pretty much everything soured, just like 3 summers ago, except for arugula, yarrow, and carrots, and ornamental kale. I see a pattern.

Ornamental kale would be quite lovely. I guess I could plant it in that?

 

[momofdrew]

have your soil tested

??? what is Rhizoctonia Solanii???? that's a new one on me...and I have been gardening for over 60 years...

 

[hoodat]

have your soil tested

??? what is Rhizoctonia Solanii???? that's a new one on me...and I have been gardening for over 60 years...

Here's what Wickipedia has to say about it. It's an interesting, if scary, read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizoctonia_solani

 

[GardenGeisha]

That is a good article about Rhizoctonia solani.

I suspect, since all the soil in the raised bed was purchased soil, some of that commercial soil was contaminated when I put it in. I have read online about a certain brand that has had problems. Maybe it was a bad batch of soil? It was on sale at Lowe's, and I stocked up. The soil is not compacted. The first outbreak was when it was nice and loose and had only recently been added to the newly-built raised bed.

I can't spend any more money and take any more risks on purchasing bad soil. It's too expensive to gamble my money away like that. So I'm hoping just to find some very forgiving, tolerant plants to put in the raised bed. I am sure they are out there.

I sowed lots of Nicotiana sylvestris seeds, but not a one came up.

I planted Ecchinops roots there, too. Ditto-- nothing emerged.

It is interesting to me that the poppies in it were so lovely last spring, when it was nice and cool, up until the end of June. After the poppy spectacular, though, it did rapidly go downhill, in the heat.