No cantaloupes or watermelons

 

Because of some health reasons, I did not get a good start on my gardening
until late this year.  I do hope to use the next cool months to get things
ready for next year and get a jump on things.

All of the cantaloupes, watermelons, and pumpkins I planted this year failed
dismally.  They had yellow leaves and tiny fruit.  This was the first
planting.  I had a sandy area where there was a water head, so I added about
five bags of amendment (turkey shit based locally suggested stuff) and a
bale of peat moss.  I did have sprinkler heads on there, but when I thought
it may be watering too much, I put bubblers on there with lower water flow.

For next year:

Should I till more amendments in there?  Should I mound it up?  How much
water, and how often for about six plants?  What fertilizer, and how often?
The lady at the nursery suggested three things to mix in there, blood meal,
cottonseed meal, and another I can't recall, which I did.  She was really
hyped on using natural things rather than chemical fertilizers.  I do have
access to all the horse and cow dung I want to collect right next door.

Help appreciated.

Oh, 3700' elevation, XXtreme SW Utah.  Right on the lines zonally, but 6-7
here:

http://extension.usu.edu/forestry/HomeTown/Select_HardinessZones.htm

Soil, blowsand, but the garden and these areas have been amended with quite
a bit of organic materials.

La Verkin is the closest town to our burb.

Steve

 



Maybe you need to add clay.
--
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the
poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara

http://tinyurl.com/o63ruj
http://countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm

 



I shall take that under advisement and ask about it the next trip to the
nursery.  The gal there knows a LOT about plants, but I wouldn't want her to
date my sister.

Steve

 



Why?Does she smoke?
--
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the
poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara

http://tinyurl.com/o63ruj
http://countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm

 




 "I added about five bags of amendment (turkey shit based locally suggested
stuff) and a
 bale of peat moss."


"Should I till more amendments in there?  Should I mound it up?  How much

The lady at the nursery suggested three things to mix in there, blood meal,

Once again  a soil analysis from the UMASS is 13$, I'm sure Utah Colleges
have comparable prices.  A test will address all of your questions based on
science specific to your soil rather than a generalized ideal of what
someone thinks you should have. It also will give you a Conventional and a
Organic fert guideline.

Also do check with your county extension office,  I bet they have folks that
are as good at answering these questions you have as your Nursery lady and
what you can get here, mostly because they know the conditions you face.

BTW ever check the pH and mineral content of your water?  A soil test will
tell you the pH and the buffered pH of your soil but most folks never know
what the water is.

So think about it.  How much have you given the lady at the nursery so far
based on her
$cientific knowledge of what you should have? Your results to date have been
what?