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About 85% of the information found on this blog is written with beginning gardeners in mind. The other 15% of the content is purely anecdotal. Why? Because some times it's just fun to share things I find amusing or interesting or even infuriating. This particular posting is the result of a simple question I've been asked a fair amount lately, over a short period of time:
What did I do wrong?
This particular question is then followed with anecdotal information of the questioner's own, often stating a certain problem and the outcome. The garden season is just around the corner and new gardeners do not want to have a repeat of poorly performing vegetable plants. It's no fun to garden if the garden doesn't produce. Period.
A good harvest begins with the basics: Soil, Water, Fertilizer, & Air
Soil
I don't pretend to know a thing about soil in Utah or Maine or Kentucky. Don't ask me. However, do ask me about southeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri. I've gardened extensively in both areas. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when determing your soil type:
1) Does the soil become sticky when its wet and form hard, rock-like clods when its dry?
2) Are dandelions, chicory, sorrel, and thistle the first greenery to grow after the soil is tilled?
3) After a good rain, do water puddles remain on the soils surface?
If you aren't in a big hurry for expedient results, you can amend the clay. The quickest possible way to amend clay soil is to mix it with compost. You can create your own compost or it can be purchased from a garden center. I bought a trailer load of compost last spring for about $30. Also check with city recycling centers that accept lawn and garden debris. That debris is worked into compost and is often given away for free or for a very nominal fee. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) is an excellent conditioner for clay soil. It can be added at 20 pounds per 100 square feet of garden bed. Peat moss is also a great additive which helps the soil retain air. In the fall, till rotted manure and chopped leaves into the soil before the garden goes to sleep for the winter.
Fertilizer
Nitrogen (N) promotes healthy, abundant foliage.
Look on the back of the fertilizer package to determine the amount of these nutrients. I think that the ratio of each element should be equivalent to the total mass, for instance 10-10-10, for heavy growers like supertunias. In the garden, I first feed with a granular that promotes heavy growth in foliage, 10-2-6, until the plant begins to flower and then I back off because too much nitrogen can inhibit flowering and in order to get vegetables, the plants must flower. I then use a fertilizer heavier in phosphorus and potassium to set and develop the crop.
Organic fertilizers are derived from animal or plant matter as in bonemeal and manure. I don't fool with these once the plants are in the ground because they can wreak havoc. They contain so much nitrogen that plants literally burn up.
If answering yes to these questions, that's the first elemental part of solving the problem in what went wrong. Clay. Clay soil is a burden. It often discourages first time gardeners from every trying again because its nearly impossible to work, only the hardiest of plants will grow in it, and it is so lacking in fundamental nutrients that what does grow is often deficient in quality. What to do ?I have two solutions but one depends on your timetable.
If you aren't in a big hurry for expedient results, you can amend the clay. The quickest possible way to amend clay soil is to mix it with compost. You can create your own compost or it can be purchased from a garden center. I bought a trailer load of compost last spring for about $30. Also check with city recycling centers that accept lawn and garden debris. That debris is worked into compost and is often given away for free or for a very nominal fee. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) is an excellent conditioner for clay soil. It can be added at 20 pounds per 100 square feet of garden bed. Peat moss is also a great additive which helps the soil retain air. In the fall, till rotted manure and chopped leaves into the soil before the garden goes to sleep for the winter.
No time for that process? Buy good top soil from a garden center and replace the clay. Even at that, I still add compost, gypsum, and peat---just not as much. The soil is the foundation, the most fundamental element in which everything depends.
Water
I've heard many a gardener brag: I don't have to water my garden. That is pure crap. Unless weather conditions are perfect the whole growing 
season long, everyone waters. Buy good equipment the first time. I prefer four-ply, rubber reinforced mesh hoses equipped with heavy duty brass couplings. They last and last. I scatter hose guides throughout the garden so that the hose glides along the guide instead of falling on and crushing my plants. Osciallating sprinklers can cover a large area but up to 25% of the water may evaporate before reaching the soil. Personally, I'd love to have a low-volume irrigation system but I'm not rich. I've settled for soaker hoses. Made of canvas, they seep water along the entire length of the hose, wetting the soil 2 feet on either side. They are great for vegetable gardens but I also install them in my flower beds. Water deeply but infrequently. This forces the plant to develop deep roots. The only deviation from this: keep seedlings moist. It's doesn't do to let them dry out. Use mulch or straw to retain moisture until the plant can fend on its own.
season long, everyone waters. Buy good equipment the first time. I prefer four-ply, rubber reinforced mesh hoses equipped with heavy duty brass couplings. They last and last. I scatter hose guides throughout the garden so that the hose glides along the guide instead of falling on and crushing my plants. Osciallating sprinklers can cover a large area but up to 25% of the water may evaporate before reaching the soil. Personally, I'd love to have a low-volume irrigation system but I'm not rich. I've settled for soaker hoses. Made of canvas, they seep water along the entire length of the hose, wetting the soil 2 feet on either side. They are great for vegetable gardens but I also install them in my flower beds. Water deeply but infrequently. This forces the plant to develop deep roots. The only deviation from this: keep seedlings moist. It's doesn't do to let them dry out. Use mulch or straw to retain moisture until the plant can fend on its own.Fertilizer
Let's face it, do you know of a harder worker than a vegetable plant? Most are transplanted into the garden when they are but a few tender weeks old, quickly they generate doubling their beginning size over and over, and they produce offspring in hoards if well tended. No matter how good the soil and water conditions are, the plant can use a little something to eat now and then! Last year I had 32 tomato plants that produced 1800 + good tomatoes. That's not counting the ones insects or birds destroyed. Yes, I fertilize them. I prefer a granular pellet that I can either top dress (sprinkle on at the surface) or broadcast (throw from a hand held spreader).
Let's talk about principal nutrients or the big three: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Nitrogen (N) promotes healthy, abundant foliage.
Phosphorus (P) stimulates root growth and aids in plant maturation
Potassium (K) promotes healthy, abundant flowers and fruits
Look on the back of the fertilizer package to determine the amount of these nutrients. I think that the ratio of each element should be equivalent to the total mass, for instance 10-10-10, for heavy growers like supertunias. In the garden, I first feed with a granular that promotes heavy growth in foliage, 10-2-6, until the plant begins to flower and then I back off because too much nitrogen can inhibit flowering and in order to get vegetables, the plants must flower. I then use a fertilizer heavier in phosphorus and potassium to set and develop the crop.
Organic fertilizers are derived from animal or plant matter as in bonemeal and manure. I don't fool with these once the plants are in the ground because they can wreak havoc. They contain so much nitrogen that plants literally burn up.
Air
Believe it or not, the success of the garden also depends on air and/or the circulation thereof. All plants need air to stay healthy. Air works to dry out garden beds so that plants don't stand in swampy soil. This eliminates the production of fungus or mildew. Give plants their space. Know how large around a plant will get and plant accordingly. Air should flow freely between plants and circulate above and beneath foliage.
The other factor of air is its ability to infiltrate soil so that the soil doesn't compact and stunt roots. The freer the roots are to spread and travel, the healthier the plant. About once a month, I check all my vegetable plants to see how easily the soil moves under the foliage. If compacted, I use a turning fork to gently loosen the soil. I carefully puncture the dirt around the drip line (a circle around the plant where the heaviest roots have yet to grow) and gently turn the fork back and forth.
If you can master those four basic garden elements, you'll seldom ask the question What did I do wrong and instead will replace it with Wow, look what I did right! Another invaluable resource is to make friends with an experienced gardener who doesn't mind answering questions. In fact, if you live in my area and have gardening dilemmas, feel free to email me. There's nothing I like better than to talk garden!
