Our vegetables are dying

[jamesmogg]

Our vegetable are dying!!

my girlfriend has recently planted some vegetables in our garden and they are NOT doing very well!!

when we bought the house the garden was really overgrown, after alot of hard work, and trips to the tip we cleared it and this is the first of 3 vegetable plots, the site it is on was previously a border with a few bushes and general green mess. i wondered if this is part of the problem, she was in a hurry to see how things would grow so the soil was left as it was after removing the shrubs and stumps and the vegetables planted after germinating in seed trays. they grew ok for a couple of weeks but then the leaves began to brown(although the veins remained green) and they began to wilt and die. as you can see in the pictures.

we checked the soil and the Ph seems neutral, although this could be our poor testing technique!!

any advice would be great, the only plants that seem un effected are the onions.

these are the pictures

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...0062008012.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...0062008013.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...0062008014.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...0062008015.jpg

thankyou for any help in advance.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi James and welcome! Did the leaves turn yellow before turning brown? If so, as the green veins remained on the leaves, then it could be magnesium deficiency. With magnesium deficiency the leaves turn yellow but the veins remain green, then the leaves can turn brown. If it is magnesium deficiency the treatment is a foliar spray of epsom salts mixed with water. I think you can buy epsom salts from the garden centre and the dilution will be on the pack.

[green fingers]

Were the plants hardened off before planting out? They look like some cucumbers I planted out a bit early that were affected by the cold.

[jamesmogg]

thanks for the quick replies,

we didnt put them out till a couple of weeks ago so i dont think it can be the cold, there are some squash french beans and courgetes.

magnesium was one of the things we thought from a bit of googling, so i shall go and get some epsom salts tommorow, thanks very much for the advice, i shall let you know how it goes.

thanks

[smithyveg]

You say you cleared the land and then planted straight away.....part of the problem could just be that your soil lacks a bit of 'ooomph' after having various shrubs and stuff growing in it for many years. In the autumn I'd dig in plenty of well rotted manure and make sure you keep on top of the weeds. Top dress with some general fertiliser in the spring before planting.


Potatoes are a good crop to grow on recently cleared land.

Regards
Simon

The vegetable grower