Hey everyone! I'm reaching out for some gardening advice. I've been at this for about a decade, but I'm stuck with a puzzling issue this year. Last year, my raised bed garden thrived in my new place, thanks to some solid starter plants from Home Depot. This year, I expanded my garden beds and wanted to try growing a wider variety, even mixing in some seeds with my starters. I planted tomatoes, green beans, and peppers about a month ago and then added lettuce starts and arugula, spinach, and kale seeds in late April. Fast forward to early June, and I'm seeing a problem: my tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce haven't grown at all since planting. The green beans have grown a little, but they, along with the peppers, look a bit yellow. We've had a ton of rain lately, which I'm starting to think is contributing to the issue. Most concerningly, my spinach, arugula, and kale are just sitting stagnant and haven't made any progress in weeks. On the bright side, my onions, broccoli, brussels sprouts, corn, and strawberries seem to be doing okay. I even added compost and worm castings this year, and the soil looks healthy with plenty of worms. Is anyone else in zone 6b facing similar problems? Any advice?
2 Answers
I can relate! My peppers seem a bit stalled too. The tomatoes and beans are okay, but I've read that heavy rain can wash out nutrients, meaning you might need to fertilize more often. Last year, I used tomato tone every couple of weeks instead of just a few times, and it seemed to help! Maybe you should give that a shot?
The advice about nutrients is spot on! Also, keep in mind that your USDA Hardiness Zone isn’t everything—it mainly tells you about winter temperatures. Curious about your last frost date and how the weather has behaved since then!
Last frost was in early May, and it’s basically been raining almost every day since then.
Totally! Nutrient loss makes a lot of sense. I’m going to start feeding mine more regularly.