Soil and poor growth

Question

I have a very small community garden plot which I got midsummer last year. It was rather late in the growing season, but what I planted did well. This spring, I added compost which had been delivered to our gardens – it was quite fine and black – not quite as chunky as a lot of compost I have used. I added about an inch of it over my plot and I am finding that things are not growing very well. They seem to quickly go to seed and some plants, like the yellow bean plants or the tarragon, have leaves that look quite yellow. Do you have any idea what the problem might be? Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

A lack of nutrients is most likely the issue here, especially if you normally do not fertilize. If you have healthy foliage, then the soil is likely too high in nitrogen. If so, you will get plants with plenty of foliage growth but little to no blooms. You can offset this by adding some phosphorus rich fertilizer or bone meal to the soil around your plants. This article should help as well: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/bone-meal-fertilizer.htm