For various reasons my chiles are doing more poorly than they ever have; which is usually never. They'll likely be a month behind but I only grow to green so things should be OK. But it's saddening to see them struggle. We're in Denver and it's been hot
and early, even for here.

One of the issues is the guy who did my tilling (they're getting hard to find) did a pretty poor job so I'm again considering buying my own machine. I began thinking about tilling just the rows with a narrow tined tiller if I could find one heavy enough
to cut down 8-12 inches. I plant the same row positions year after year and have never had any problems with disease or lack of robustness of growth and I'm beginning to wonder if this full plot tilling is worth it. Google is worthless, showing lots of
beautiful gardens in places that get 30+ inches of rain a year.

Does anyone here do this? Do did it perform for you? And what about narrow tillers?

thx,
H

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On 7/4/2022 11:09 AM, Home Owner wrote:

For various reasons my chiles are doing more poorly than they ever have; which is usually never. They'll likely be a month behind but I only grow to green so things should be OK. But it's saddening to see them struggle. We're in Denver and it's been

hot and early, even for here.

One of the issues is the guy who did my tilling (they're getting hard to find) did a pretty poor job so I'm again considering buying my own machine. I began thinking about tilling just the rows with a narrow tined tiller if I could find one heavy

enough to cut down 8-12 inches. I plant the same row positions year after year and have never had any problems with disease or lack of robustness of growth and I'm beginning to wonder if this full plot tilling is worth it. Google is worthless, showing
lots of beautiful gardens in places that get 30+ inches of rain a year.

Does anyone here do this? Do did it perform for you? And what about narrow tillers?

thx,
H

I will have been in my house 49 years later this month. Because of a significant slope in my neighborhood, the house lots on my side of the
street are all cut; the lots across the street are all fill.

I don't have a vegetable garden. My landscape is all shrubs and
perennials except for an occasional flower pot of basil in the summer.
Edibles are integrated with ornamentals: asparagus around my peach
tree, an artichoke as an accent in the back lawn, a circular bed
featuring a loquat tree, grape vines helping to stabilize a steep slope,
a pineapple guava in one corner, three dwarf citrus in large pots on the
back lawn, and a semi-dwarf tangelo in a raised bed in another corner.

As far as I can remember, the soil has never had a general tilling
except possibly for the back lawn (which was sodded with red fescue) and
the front lawn (which is Persecaria capitata ground cover). When
planting, I always dig a generous hole, stirring a generous amount of
gypsum and a small amount of my homemade compost into the soil. The
gypsum reacts with my clay soil to make the soil granular and porous (a
form of chemical tilling); the compost injects micro organisms that help release nutrients. I often place either superphosphate or bone meal at
the bottom bottom of the hole to promote root growth and flowering.

Once every two years in the late fall, I broadcast gypsum over my entire
garden except for the steep slope. Winter is our "not so dry" season,
and the rain -- if it happens -- rinses the gypsum into the soil. As I indicate above, this is a form of chemical tilling. My camellias,
azaleas, and gardenia get gypsum every fall as they require
exceptionally well-draining soil. My potted dwarf citrus do not get
gypsum because my homemade potting mix has excellent drainage, but my semi-dwarf tangelo gets an annual dose of gypsum because all citrus
require good drainage.

I never use gypsum on the steep slope in back because tilling it --
chemically or mechanically -- might destabilize the slope. (It has been repaired twice.) Besides the grape vines, there are two intermixed
ground covers on the slope. Shrubs frame the sides and top.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see <http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html>
Gardening diary at <http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary>

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On 7/4/2022 11:50 AM, David E. Ross wrote:

On 7/4/2022 11:09 AM, Home Owner wrote:

For various reasons my chiles are doing more poorly than they ever have; which is usually never. They'll likely be a month behind but I only grow to green so things should be OK. But it's saddening to see them struggle. We're in Denver and it's been

hot and early, even for here.

One of the issues is the guy who did my tilling (they're getting hard to find) did a pretty poor job so I'm again considering buying my own machine. I began thinking about tilling just the rows with a narrow tined tiller if I could find one heavy

enough to cut down 8-12 inches. I plant the same row positions year after year and have never had any problems with disease or lack of robustness of growth and I'm beginning to wonder if this full plot tilling is worth it. Google is worthless, showing
lots of beautiful gardens in places that get 30+ inches of rain a year.

Does anyone here do this? Do did it perform for you? And what about narrow tillers?

thx,
H

I will have been in my house 49 years later this month. Because of a significant slope in my neighborhood, the house lots on my side of the
street are all cut; the lots across the street are all fill.

I don't have a vegetable garden. My landscape is all shrubs and
perennials except for an occasional flower pot of basil in the summer. Edibles are integrated with ornamentals: asparagus around my peach
tree, an artichoke as an accent in the back lawn, a circular bed
featuring a loquat tree, grape vines helping to stabilize a steep slope,
a pineapple guava in one corner, three dwarf citrus in large pots on the
back lawn, and a semi-dwarf tangelo in a raised bed in another corner.

As far as I can remember, the soil has never had a general tilling
except possibly for the back lawn (which was sodded with red fescue) and
the front lawn (which is Persecaria capitata ground cover). When
planting, I always dig a generous hole, stirring a generous amount of
gypsum and a small amount of my homemade compost into the soil. The
gypsum reacts with my clay soil to make the soil granular and porous (a
form of chemical tilling); the compost injects micro organisms that help release nutrients. I often place either superphosphate or bone meal at
the bottom bottom of the hole to promote root growth and flowering.

Once every two years in the late fall, I broadcast gypsum over my entire garden except for the steep slope. Winter is our "not so dry" season,
and the rain -- if it happens -- rinses the gypsum into the soil. As I indicate above, this is a form of chemical tilling. My camellias,
azaleas, and gardenia get gypsum every fall as they require
exceptionally well-draining soil. My potted dwarf citrus do not get
gypsum because my homemade potting mix has excellent drainage, but my semi-dwarf tangelo gets an annual dose of gypsum because all citrus
require good drainage.

I never use gypsum on the steep slope in back because tilling it -- chemically or mechanically -- might destabilize the slope. (It has been repaired twice.) Besides the grape vines, there are two intermixed
ground covers on the slope. Shrubs frame the sides and top.

By the way, unlike some chemicals, gypsum is a natural substance. The
white sands of White Sands National Park are naturally occurring gypsum crystals.

--
David E. Ross
"A Message to Those Who Are Not Vaccinated"
See my <http://www.rossde.com/index.html#vaccine>.

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Home Owner wrote:

For various reasons my chiles are doing more poorly than they ever have; which is usually never. They'll likely be a month behind but I only grow to green so things should be OK. But it's saddening to see them struggle. We're in Denver and it's been

hot and early, even for here.

i do not fully till any of my gardens and it has been years
where i may not turn an area completely. i just turn a part
of each garden as i have things to bury that need to rot.

the weather has been odd here too, very dry with temperatures
going from low 70sF to mid 90sF and then back. some overnight
temperatures have been down into the 40sF. peppers don't like
cold.

how are you watering them? it is better to water deeply
a few times when needed than to water a lot of times more
shallowly, especially when it gets hotter. also how deep
were they planted? what kind of peppers? have you grown
them before? etc. the more details you provide the better
advice you might get back.


songbird

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