Hey fellow gardeners! I'm in far south Texas and this is my first real attempt at gardening. Unfortunately, I'm running into some issues. My soil is a mix of several different types, including some depleted raised bed soil, potting mix, and soil from old pots. I thought I mixed it well, but my plants aren't thriving—some seedlings aren't sprouting at all and others look burnt at the soil line. I used a slow-release 10-10-10 fertilizer last week, but I'm not seeing any improvement.
I'm planning a visit to a local nursery to see if they can offer guidance, and I'll bring soil and water samples to test. I've checked the pH and nitrogen levels myself and noticed wildly differing pH results but consistently low nitrogen. I tested both bottled water, which gave me an acidic result (about 5.0), and my garden water, which is more alkaline around 7.5-8. I'm on well water, which is really hard, and even with a water softener, it's still tough on plants. I'm concerned the water might be the root of these problems. How can I confirm this? Are filters worth trying? And will the fertilizer help, or should I look for something with quicker results? Thanks for any advice!
3 Answers
You might want to cut back on the fertilizer since it can actually burn the roots if it's too strong. Composting would really help your situation, as it improves soil aeration, adds nutrients, and can correct your pH issues too. Since your water might be making the soil too alkaline, try mixing in some acidic materials like peat or evergreen clippings. In your shoes, I'd focus on getting more organic matter into the soil for sure!
If your water softener uses salt, that could be hurting your plants even more. Think about adding lots of organic materials like compost and mulch. Compost tends to fix a lot of soil issues. To bring your soil pH down, you might want to consider using tiger 90 soil sulfur according to the label's recommendations. Hard water will gradually raise your pH, so you may need to add sulfur again after a few seasons. You could also set up some IBC totes to catch rainwater—it can really help with flushing out those pesky carbonates from your soil!
I would suggest posting a picture of your wet soil; that might give some clues about what’s going wrong! Sometimes the texture can give hints about drainage issues or compaction that could be affecting your plants.
I appreciate the advice! My soil does have some organic material, but I can't compost for several reasons, so I'm looking for alternatives that I can add to the existing soil without disrupting the plants.