Hi there – I am a school garden teacher helping my school create their garden from scratch. We planted veggie starts around 10/28, but 5 weeks later everything is still pretty small. I’m thinking the dirt the district provided was not very good and more compost needs to be added. Any other ideas? Thank you
by Dizzy-Cantaloupe-951
5 Comments
Even though you are in California, the days are short and still getting shorter. Plus the days are generally not as warm as spring and summer even if you are in southern California. The plants all look healthy, it is just going to be very slow.
Compost tea never hurt.
Last year I planted some stuff in the garden same time as you, didn’t harvest until march. But it was all really nice stuff. Just took its time is all. Also in CA
What zone are you in? Do you have the option to get your soil tested?
I’m in zone 9. I planted late and cheated with gibberellic acid mixed with 10-10-10. Everything was growing great until we had a freeze and the cover blew off in the middle of the night.
YAy! I also teach kids gardening. Its an amazing line of work.
Yeah. the main growing season in the US does not align with the school season. Students beginning their year in the fall are coming in at the tail end of the gardening timeline.
The days are short and the nights are cool, so your plants will probably have to take their time. Also if you transplanted them from pots, they have to go through whats called transplant shock. This is a period where they really wont grow much at all above ground, because they are repairing and realigning their root systems below ground. This takes even longer when the days are short, so over a month of shock is not unusual in this case.
Its never a bad idea to add more compost. Especially when it gets cooler. because the black of the compost absorbs more sunlight and helps warm the soil a bit.
If you have any bed space left, might I suggest garlic? its planted this time of year, and youll see noticable growth from week to week because it doesnt mind the cold. the kids will love when the little green fingers come crawling out of the soil.
Cheers