I have had a couple of plants that seem to always look sickly and I read earlier in the thread that you can use hydrogen peroxide for root rot. Does this also help control fungi issues in the soil? I just started getting interested in gardening so I’m slowly learning from my mistakes, but I have a suspicion that my yard has developed a fungi issue and I’m unsure what is the best way to get it under control. If anyone has any recommendations they would be greatly appreciated.
What’s led you to think there’s a fungus problem? Most fungus is safe and is a natural part of the ecosystem in soil that keeps everything healthy- breaking down dead plant matter. If you’re having root rot, drainage is an issue, as in your soil is staying too wet. The roots are going slimy and sick in the excess water and bacteria is thriving. Peroxide will help kill that bacteria. If you can describe what adverse issues you’re having we can work on narrowing down if fungus is actually an issue or it’s a problem you can fix by tinkering with the soil mix or watering schedule.
I’m putting my garden in now that it’s past the last frost in my zone. Almost have all my caged plants in, and I’ve started on layering to fill my raised bed. Today I laid weed cloth and stacked a few feet of logs into it to form a base. Then comes straw, cardboard, mulch, compost and a nice layer of garden mix soil. The bed is my lowest priority since I’m growing things that will come in quickly. I’m using this as a rough guide.
You’ll spend a fortune trying to fill in so many cubic feet of space with garden soil without a base.
For my caged in-ground plants, I went with a dig-and-drop method for compost. I always trust a nice bucket of food waste scraps over fertilizer. It’s easy enough to let it accumulate then dig the spot, mix in garden soil and the scraps, mix in the native soil and let the whole thing compost itself right in it’s spot. I just planted in the first hole I dug, and the ground was absolutely full of worm castings and I spotted a lot of baby earthworms there too, so I guess they like it.
I’ll probably do the planters next and the bed last. For the planters I’m just going to buy a pack of established strawberry plants, some
large emerald towers basil plants, packs of established herbs and some mature asparagus crowns. I know the asparagus won’t produce well for a while but that’s fine because I’ll have it in a planter to take with me and once they get going, they can produce for 20 years.
I’m really looking forward to lots of salads, sauce and pickles of all kinds. With the limited space and plants I have I think I can make-
Picked cucumbers, carrots, and peppers
Tomato sauce
Caprese salads
Tzatziki
Pesto
Gazpacho
Summer salads with strawberries
Ramen (love some baby bok choi)
Agua fresca
It’s always such a joy to grow and cook all that produce for the summer, glad I’m doing it again
this is my life’s work
