Soil Preparation for Fruiting Crops

I plan to divide the crops into the four beds according to what type of plant they are and what their needs are. One bed, for example, will have all the fruiting vegetables in it. Fruiting vegetables are those vegetables that produce edible fruits after flowering. such as National Pickling Cucumber, Black Beauty Eggplant, Hearts of Gold Melon, Emerald Okra, California Wonder Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Small Sugar Pumpkin, Butternut Winter Squash, Heirloom Rainbow Blend Tomato, Roma Tomato, Crimson Sweet Watermelon, Black Beauty Zucchini and Waltham 29 Broccoli differ among themselves in appearance as well as in taste. However, they also have certain things in common. For one thing, they all love fertile soil which is rich in organic matter and has lots of nutrient called phosphorus in it, as the lack of it can be the cause for plants not flowering.

Fruiting vegetables need a balanced fertilizer. A fertilizer bag will be labeled with a combination of numbers such as 3-4-4 or 8-24-8, or 12-12-12. These three numbers refer to the three most important nutrients plants need: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). There may also be other nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese.

Nitrogen (N) mainly affects vegetative growth and general health. Chlorophyll, the green substance in plants responsible for photosynthesis, is largely composed of nitrogen. It is also used heavily in new shoots, buds, and leaves. Nitrogen can be applied organically in many ways as well, including blood meal, feather meal, and Fish Fertilizer. Keep in mind that many organic dry fertilizers are slow-release, helping the long-term nitrogen content and building up organic matter in the soil. Nitrogen deficiency is recognized by the yellowing of older leaves, slowing or stopping of growth. Leaves may drop sooner than expected. Excess nitrogen is recognized by extremely fast growth, resulting in long, spindly, weak shoots with dark green leaves.
Because nitrogen promotes leafy growth, too much nitrogen late in the season can minimize or delay fruiting.
Nitrogen is considered to be mobile in the soil, meaning that it moves with water, so it’s best to apply nitrogen when plants will be ready to use it. Apply nitrogen immediately before or after planting annual crops or following green-up for perennial crops.
If you have sandy soil, consider using more frequent applications of nitrogen but using a lower application rate.

Phosphorus (P) is important for healthy roots and is used more heavily during blooming and seed sets. Phosphorus is easily rendered unavailable to plants when the pH is slightly unbalanced. It is released in the soil through decomposing organic matter. Phosphorus deficiency is recognized by dull green leaves and purplish stems. The plant is generally unhealthy, sometimes yellowing. Lack of blooming with lush green foliage may also indicate a lack of phosphorus. Organic phosphorus can be found in rock phosphate, bone meal, and various liquid organic fertilizers such as Neptune’s Harvest Fish & Seaweed.

Potassium (K), sometimes known as potash, is important for general health of plants. It is key in the formation of chlorophyll and other plant compounds. Potassium is also known to help with disease resistance. Potassium deficiency is hard to symptomize, but plants are generally sickly, with small fruit, yellowing from the older leaves upwards, and sickly blooms. Potassium can be found in potash. Among other things, phosphorus supports root growth and fruiting, while potassium supports disease resistance and plant hardiness.

Phosphorus and potassium are not mobile in the soil and need close contact with plant roots in order to be taken up. They should be applied and incorporated prior to planting, either in spring or fall.
Other macronutrients include sulfur, calcium, and magnesium.

Plant Growth Stages

Besides studying abnormal appearances, you can learn whether or not to give specific nutrients to a plant depending on what stage of growth it is in, and even what variety or species of plant it is.

• Young Growth Nitrogen is especially helpful to give, though adequate levels of all nutrients are critical at this phase.
• Newly Transplanted Will benefit especially from higher amounts of root-supporting nutrients, like phosphorus and potassium.
• Blossoming Benefits from phosphorus, potassium, and calcium in particular.
• Fruiting It’s important to include decent amounts of phosphorus and potassium, while not overdoing it with nitrogen. 
• To start your garden, use a general vegetable fertilizer. For vegetables, we use herb and vegetable plant food with a 3-4-4 number. For tomatoes, we use a separate fertilize with a 3-4-6 ration which also contains calcium to help prevent blossom-end ro

Heavy feeders are those that have higher nutrient needs. Oftentimes, these vegetables take longer to reach maturity and are those that we plant after the temperatures warm up. Examples of heavy feeders are Eggplants, Broccoli, Cabbage, Sweet and Hot Peppers, Cucumber, Leek, Pumpkin, Tomato, Melon, Watermelon, Basil, and Zucchini.

Medium feeders, as the name suggests, require lower amounts of nutrients throughout the growing season than heavy feeders.  In a crop rotation schedule, this group of plants usually follows heavy feeders. It is a good idea to amend your soil before planting with a long-lasting organic fertilizer. When fertilizing medium feeder plants, a smaller amount of fertilizer is required compared to what is needed by heavy feeders. Okra is an example of a medium feeder.

Light feeders are plants that can usually thrive in poor soils with low levels of nutrients. Legumes are all nitrogen fixers, so they usually increase the nitrogen levels in the soil throughout the growing season. Plants that are light feeders are usually last in the crop rotation cycle. Beans and peas, as well as many herbs are examples of light feeders.