Potash

[Annadl]

Can anyone tell me how to add potash to my soil where I have already planted my cucumbers?  Is it too late now?  Should I have done that when I was preparing the soil or planting?

I have just planted out my squash, pumpkin & watermelon.  They seem to be doing fine but should I  add potash to them as well.

Thankyou
Anna from Downunder

[Annadl]

[Merry Tiller]

Use liquid tomato food when they start to form fruit

[Meg]

do you think you might be a tad late putting out suashes now?? Won't the frost take them??

[adrianhumph]

Maggie,  :o
                   Take a closer look at where the original query came from  ;D feel a bit silly now ???
                         Adrian.

[Meg]

Ooops one red face here then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Meg]

May be I will get an invitation down under just to get the point across.
So sorry.

[Lady Cosmos]

Yes, feed every two weeks with a tomato fertilizer once the first fruits have started to swell and they will be ok, I think

[Merry Tiller]

I think I already said that ???

[Annadl]

Why can't I put the potash before the fruits arrive?

I'll be expecting a technical answer now ;D

[jennym]

You can put it in the soil first- but it needs to be in a slow release form, like rock potash, or wood ash. The plant tends to need more potash at the flowering/fruiting stage, so people tend to use the liquid forms at this stage.

[tim]

Technical? No. But doesn't the thing want to grow (N etc) before it flowers?

[Annadl]

It's just that I can't understand why I have this problem with cucumbers and watermelon now. (same family?)  The leaves have turned pale yellow sort of blotchy (gosh I'll have to learn to put photos up on this site!!) and don't seem to be 'happy'.

I got reading and saw that they need potash.  I have it in the powdered form.  Potash only, not the tomato dust.  My tomatoes are doing fine in the same soil and everything else is doing well in the garden except the cucumbers and watermelon.

[jennym]

Mine always get powdery mildew and look yellowy too, but aways get plenty of fruit. Keep them moist too, they need plenty of moisture.

[john_miller]

It's just that I can't understand why I have this problem with cucumbers and watermelon now. (same family?)  The leaves have turned pale yellow sort of blotchy (gosh I'll have to learn to put photos up on this site!!) and don't seem to be 'happy'.

I got reading and saw that they need potash.  I have it in the powdered form.  Potash only, not the tomato dust.  My tomatoes are doing fine in the same soil and everything else is doing well in the garden except the cucumbers and watermelon.

Potassium deficency is generally first apparent as yellowing of the leaf margins. A generalised pale yellowing is typically indicative of insufficent nitrogen. Given the time of year, for you, it may well be temperature induced N deficency. Either too cold in general or air temperatures being too high compared to the soil temperature so that the vegetative growth above ground is outstripping the ability of the plants roots to supply sufficent N. This is quite common for the northern hemisphere in the our spring. What have your temperatures been like?

[Annadl]

But why would it affect one type of plant and not the others?

We've had 10 degrees at night to 20 degrees during the day with the occassional bursts of cold wind which probably does damage.  Some of my plants really wilt after the wind!!

Thanks

[john_miller]

Tomatoes are native to elevations in the Andes, their optimum temperature for growth, with some variation for phenotype, is about +17C. Growth will reduce to a standstill as temperatures increase to +30C. Cucumbers are believed to have originated in the fertile crescent of the mid east while watermelons originated in Africa. These origins have left neither with the genes to cope with the cooler temperatures that can be experienced in other areas of the world. Optimum growth temperatures for both start at roughly +25C.
If your plants are wilting after wind then it would also indicate that the physiological activity of the roots is suppressed so that they cannot absorb enough water to replace that lost by evapo-transpiration.

[Annadl]

Wow, thankyou John Miller.

[john_miller]

What you could do to alleviate cold symptoms is use a cloche, or one of the modern substitutes, to temper the effects of the cold wind and help the the soil warm up more quickly. This will in turn accelerate the root activity. Next year you may want to put a cloche over the soil prior to planting so that the soil temperature will be more conducive to good root gowth from the beginning.
If I am correct concerning the symptoms your plants are displaying then it is very likely the damaged leaves will turn a slightly grey shade of white eventually. This will not be anything to worry about further as it is just another stage of senescence. If the new leaves are also grey- start panicing!

[weedin project]

You can put it in the soil first- but it needs to be in a slow release form, like rock potash, or wood ash. The plant tends to need more potash at the flowering/fruiting stage, so people tend to use the liquid forms at this stage.

Does this mean that last Saturday's bonfire can be spread over next year's spud bed?

[jennym]

well, yes, I do.
BUT - don't do what I did and spread loads over too thickly - I did that where I planted french beans, and they didn't like it one bit.
I now just do about a trowel full a sq yd, seems to work fine, I had a real good crop of tomatoes this year - outside, no added fertiliser.