[trunk monkey]

Hello Everybody
I became the proud tenant of Plot 37 in April this year. I did not know the history of the plot but the soil looked very dry and dug a bit heavy so I dug in some chicken manure pellets and planted stuff. The crops are quite advanced now and I have noticed the following:
onions are doing quite well
root crops: beetroot, turnips parsnips are doing particulularly well
legumes are growing but a bit slow
brassicas are struggling
Anbody got any idea what this might mean? Soil acid maybe?
Cheers
Trunky

[BabbyAnn]

Chicken manure is a little on the "acid side" but depending on how much you put dow shouldn't affect the soil pH too much.  Chicken manure is packed with nitrogen for leafy growth but sometimes at the expense of roots and fruits, so those root crops may appear all leaf and not much else at the moment.

Brassicas - it's possible the up down up down weather we've had is just not suiting them.  For some reason my earlier sowings are taking off but later sowings are struggling.  You could do a one off and sprinkle some horticultural lime round the base of the plants and water in to raise the pH and see if that improves things.

Depending on which legumes, they could be slow due to the weather as runners and french beans prefer it much warmer.  They are usually not that fussed with soil pH (unless it is well on the acidic side) so like the brassicas, you could perhaps put some lime down on the soil and water in. 

[mumofstig]

You could always buy a cheap soil ph testing kit, so you know exactly what you're dealing with for now and then you'll know how to treat it in the future 

[fatcat1955]

Look at the weed's growing. Nettel's , dock's, and creeping buttercup are indication's that the soil is acid.

[Yorkie]

It's been a little chilly for beans etc as BA said; mine are taking a while to get off the ground, so to speak.

[bravemurphy]

For your brassicas dib a hole put a few chicken pellets in the bottom then a bit of soil, sprinkle the hole and 6 inches radius of it with lime plonk in your brassica make sure its firm puddle it in and watch it grow 

[trunk monkey]

Thanks for your advice everybody. I'm off to the allotment to try it out.
Trunky