rototilling vegtable garden what to mix with?

Question

I am going to start rototilling my vegi garden should i mix anything with the dirt so that it will be better prepared for the vegies?

Answer 1

Fish emulsion, combined with kelp, drenched onto the soil, and used to aid transplant shock. Sea plants can improve soil tilth. Kelp and other sea plants also contain relatively concentrated amounts of plant auxins, growth regulators and stimulants, such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid and cytokinins. These can help promote rooting in transplants and cuttings, and also help to delay decay in mature crops. I use Growmore seaweed extract and Alaska® Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1 to make this.

Compost is true gold for the gardener. Added early it holds water, buffers wayward pH, and adds a slight amount of nutrients, especially trace elements. Brewed in your own backyard, it adds not only organic matter, but also a fresh shot of microorganisms that have been busy chomping on the decaying matter. In completed compost, red worms are also plentiful. Bagged compost or composted steer manure has been sterilized so you don’t get the little beasties.
Soil by analogy: As we require food to support us so do plants. Our digestive system works to break down dinner to supply the basic units that will become us structurally, and provide energy, so soil acts to feed plants. Soil requires a steady supply of organic mater to support the worms and micro-organisms, which digest the organics into available plant nutrients. Then just as we take vitamins to complement our diet we can give plants trace minerals and other supplements but these are no substitute for the staple of organic matter to feed the plants. Balance and moderation are key.
Alfalfa - Nitrogen is not the big benefit from alfalfa (Meal: 5-1-2; Pellets: 14-4-8), the real benefit comes from a fatty acid alcohol called triacontanol, which occurs, naturally in the waxy surface of the plant’s leaves. Triacontanol is a root stimulant. It can be applied to plants straight out of the bag or box, or applied in an "alfalfa tea."
For direct application sprinkle lightly around around each hill or row and water. The pellets then swell up and break apart. Then scratch the alfalfa into the soil or cover with mulch. If you leave the alfalfa on the surface, it will mold, and, when it dries, it will turn hard and crusty…work it in. Don’t use more than a 1/2 cup per hill, or its effectiveness will drop.
Alfalfa tea - (alfalfa pellets soaked in water) is a highly touted concoction, especially when "fortified" with other ingredients. Studies at the Organic Gardening Research Center in Emmaus, PA demonstrated that small quantities would increase vegetable yields by 30 to 60% (Large quantities had little effect; once again, more is not better).
Recipes call for 1/3 to 1⁄2 cup alfalfa pellets per gallon. "Fortifiers" include epsom salts 1T/gal, kelp, fish emulsion, soluble fertilizer as package recommends.


Mulch has two primary purposes: retarding water evaporation from the soil (especially important to me in July and August), and suppressing weeds. Organic mulches also provide soil conditioning as they slowly decay. I prefer a fertile mulch of manure composted with saw dust but mulching materials include bark, pine needles, dried grass clippings, nutshells, compost, and nearly anything else that lets water through and won’t smell when it sits for a while. To suppress weeds, a three-inch layer is recommended. I’ve scrimped on that because I have a lot of beds, and I don’t mind being aggressive with weeding. A layer of one or two inches will disappear in a year…you’ll be amazed at how it goes away and your beds never fill up. At least my very sandy ones don't.

Magnesium tends to be deficient in weathered, acidic soil in the Northwest. Although dolomitic lime adds magnesium to the soil, it breaks down slowly, and the calcium may interfere with magnesium uptake. This is helped by the epsom salts an excellent source of magnesium sulfate

Answer 2

I can't beat some of the answers here, as they are highly technical, but I can add this:

Improving soil conditions can take some time, even with a roto-tiller. Add sand and peat and manure when you have them and allow plenty of time before planting so things can break down and "mingle."

If you choose manure (a good choice) make sure it's not "green" meaning not composted enough. If the bag smells like ammonia, you might want to throw it on a compost heap and let it decay some more. Also, check the bag to make sure it's 100 percent compost with no fillers. If there's no list of ingredients, don't buy the compost.

If you buy compost at the store rather than make your own, make sure it's not too wet or too dry. It's normal for bagged compost to smell a little musty, but it should also smell like walking through a forest after the rain.

Stay away from bagged topsoil unless you just have a void to fill or if you plan to enrich it later. The nutrient content of storebought topsoil is almost never that good.

Before you add anything though, you should check the composition of your soil. If it's sticky, clumpy and slick when wet, it's clayey soil. If it's very granular and flows between your fingers, it's sandy. Different types of soil require different additives, and the other answerers have covered this.

Answer 3

I would add some compost (or some form of humus) to replace nutrients and keep the soil structure good. If you haven't added lime in the past few years, I'd add that too. And if the soil is sandy or nutrient-poor I'd add some 12-12-12 fertilizer granules. When all that stuff is down you can rototill back and forth several times to make sure it's all mixed thoroughly.

I almost forgot, if you grow a lot of tomatoes and you usually put them in the same spot add some gypsum granules to replace the calcium tomatoes use.

Answer 4

Depending on the size of your area, you might mix some organic compost and/or sterilized manure over the entire area and till it in. I've had good results by just doing general tilling to get the soild loose, then adding the compost mix to just the row I'm planting. You might also work in some generic or slow-release 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Answer 5

First I would determine what type of soil you have, whether it is acidic or alkaline, there are products that will balance out your soil, other than that, I would add plenty of organic material, compost, humus (I think that's how its spelled), maybe bone meal, peat moss, sand (to help keep the soil from turning to clay).

Answer 6

Peat Moss and cow manure!!! Get some horse manure if you can. It works even better than cow manure.