North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[road's end farm <organic101@linkny.com>]

On Wednesday, March 3, 2004, at 08:25 PM, David Consolvo wrote:

> I have what might be considered a great soil for melons, a dark sandy 
> loam
> which heats up fast and drains very well.  I grew great melons the first
> year or two, but after that my melon plants had little vigor with little
> growth, hardly enough to ripen one melon.  I think this nice loose soil
> loses its nutrition quickly, and needs lots of good stuff like manure 
> added
> back to it in order to grow hi-nutrient-needing plants like melons.
> Opinions anyone?
>
> Sandy soils are notoriously infertile. If melons like sandy soils so 
> much,
> how do they get the nutrition they need to grow so fast in one season?
>
> Dave Consolvo
> Hungrytown, Virginia
> Zone 7
Do you mean that you've been planting the melons year after year in the 
same spot, and without fertilizing?

Rotate with a non-cucurbit crop, if at all possible; don't put them in 
the same spot more than once in three years. You can get disease 
buildup. If you don't have a large area, rotating even individual garden 
beds can help a lot.

You're also undoubtedly depleting the nutrients. If you can leave the 
bed in clover (or another legume) for at least a year of the rotation, 
this will build your nitrogen back up. As for other nutrients, get a 
soil test so you know what you need to add. Compost is good for just 
about any problem, but if you add specific nutrients from fertilizers 
(including organic ones) you need to know what's needed for the 
situation so you don't get things out of balance.

--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly