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Old June 3, 2017   #3
RayR
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Cheektowaga, NY
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The fact that the plants have grown a lot is a good sign but the off color of some of the leaves is likely due to some nutrient imbalances. That's not surprising in a newly created bed that the transplants are put into. "Top Soil" is a word that is used very loosely, where it came from and what it's made of is the question. I've seen top soil that is so poor quality that it's more heavy clay than anything else. Compost is best put on top of the soil like a mulch especially if it isn't completely finished. Finished compost should look like rich soil and and have a nice earthy smell, You shouldn't be able to see much of anything recognizable of the original inputs that made it. If the compost is finished and you were using a soil-free mix with peat moss or coco coir you could mix the compost into that, but compost mixed into so-called top soil...that's sketchy, for some people it may work depending on the soil.
If the soil doesn't have a good mix of microbes and higher soil organisms, that can be a initial problem in a new raised bed or a container culture when you are growing organically with dry organic fertilizers like TT. TT does contain some bacterial spore to aid in mineralizing. Even though there are plant available nutrients available, which is why your plants are growing, there are other things going on. Soil bacteria and fungi are competing with each other and the plant for nutrients. Bacteria and fungi are good at breaking down organic matter to extract nutrients but they are also not going to turn down an easy meal from available nutrients in the soil water, which is where they compete with the plant, at least at first. You have to realize that this new artificial environment you have created in a new raised bed hasn't had time yet to stabilize and run like a finely tuned organic system.
Everything starts with the microbes, they initially immobilize nutrients, hoarding them in their cells, in that state those nutrients are not plant available. They produce powerful enzymes that break down organic matter and minerals in the soil and they can hoard a lot of the nutrients they extract but some will still escape and be taken up by plant roots. They need a lot of nutrient to not only survive but to multiply in vast numbers. When they die or are consumed by predators like nematodes, protozoa, soil mites, earth worms or whatever, that's where the plant gets a greater share. Those predators can't use all the nutrients from the microbes they consume, so the excess is released back into the soil water as excrement which a portion of that will then be taken up by plant roots.
It takes a little time for a new soil food web to work efficiently, but there are things you can do to cheat and get the plant what nutrients may be missing in sufficient amounts in the mean time. If you go off the purely organic program you can use Texas Tomato Food which contains mainly soluble nutrients in pure salt form that the plants can use immediately. TTT also contains a third party product called Vitazyme which is an organic mix of enzymes and plant growth promoting hormones extracted from bacteria and plant sources.
If you want to stay on the purely organic program you can use a liquid organic fertilizer which contains a substantial amount of plant available NPK and micronutrients like fish hydrolysate or Fish Emulsion or some combination with kelp extract. These liquid products will also kick your microbial populations into high gear.
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