Crap soil. AGAIN. Leaves yellow. Stunted everything. Even the freaking basil isn’t growing. Thank you, Vigoro organic potting mix, thank you.
Need more? Something, a bird one suspects, judging from the slash-like wounds on the stems, the lack of tell-tale havoc in the surrounding dirt, and the omnivorous quality of the beast, has eaten everything. A freaking COMMON SPARROW, most likely. The poor tomato pictured here had staged a comeback. All the submerge leaves had made a desperate bid for daylight. It was so exciting! So green! So hopeful! So Christmas miracle-y in June-y. But nope, not to be. All plants on deck are dead this year, folks. Four cucumbers, three basil plants, three tomatoes…all eaten. White flag waved: it’s finished.
Fingers crossed for plants out front and the liberal application of organic (why bother?) fertilizer. The only thing that looks decent is the mystery tomato and the one surviving Early Girl — both of which were spiked with a traditional, evil, chemical-rich fertilizer stick. Sigh.
Plants On Deck 
you people here are funny. I am a 3rd year novice gardener. I have a great deck off my apartment that I container garden in. last year was such a bust for me I almost didn’t bother but the fighter in me prevailed and I am at it again. Good to hear other stories from the trenches. At present the war brings me face to face with demon squirrels that , to be honest, scare the hell out of me. Something in their eyes that says those are OUR strawberries
Hah! Wait until they pluck the just-reddened tomatoes off the vine and eat them while perfecting their Dirty Harry glare.
Chester County checking in and everything I have is doing horribly just barely clinging to life with the same Vigaro organic potting mix. I am really disappointed. I am afraid to add something else to the mix but I may do just that this weekend after a month of no growth and a few deaths. Habaneros, tomatoes, 2 types of basil, and strawberries all wasted.
Thank you so much for your comment! I feel a little less like a serial plant killer. I mixed in a bunch of organic 4-3-1 fertilizer into the dirt surrounding my existing pale peppers, basil, and Swiss chard. I’m hoping it perks things up. I’ll keep you posted.
Ouch. That’s why I always plant more tomatoes/beans/everything than I think will fit in a container, and hope they don’t kill each other.
FYI, Greensgrow sells big bags of organic potting soil — the same stuff they use in their raised beds. It’s probably a lot better for the type of growing you’re doing than any organic mix you can pick up a Home Depot.
Oh, but I did overplant (for my available space, at least)! Five tomatoes planted, two surviving. Four cucumbers, NONE surviving. (My daughter will be so disappointed.) As much as I love, love, love Greensgrow, the last bag of organic soil I bought from them ALSO killed everything. I sent soil samples from that batch back to the company, and this is what they had to say: “The salts were mostly coming from the high levels of Potassium and high Sulfur. These high levels are what caused nutrient issues with your plants.”
I’m cursed!