No True Leaves - Soil Fertility

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OrganicRusty Belmont, CA Oct 14, 2016

Hello All - First post here.
I just acquired a brand new school garden complete with new raised beds (250gal galvanized stock tanks) with new soil. I don't know the source of the soil but I'm guessing it's probably city compost from curbside waste collection (it contains a bit of glass and nails). The problem I'm having is that most of my seeds sprout as they should, but then stop growing - they just sit there and never produce any true leaves. This is not the case for any sprouts in the pea family (peas, fava, etc.), but even they tend to grow slowly. I've got lettuce sprouts that are almost a month old with nothing but their cotyledons out. I'm suspecting it is a soil nutrient issue. Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated.
Rusty

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Pistil Lake Stevens, WA(Zone 8a) Oct 14, 2016

Hi Rusty-
Likely there is some nutrient missing or too low. Especially as this is a school garden, you (and especially the kids) need to find out what is the problem.
An inexpensive test kit should be enough, you can get one at Lowe's for $12. this will be a fun science project you can do in one class.
I got some commercial "Soil Mix" once for a new garden, i planted plants in pots and they did not grow-until I fertilized.
Now you could run into another issue depending on your climate. Here in Seattle where we have a bit of winter, after I fertilized I had nice lush growth, but then some of my perennials did not come back the next year. I talked to a nursery guy, he said by fertilizing so late in the year I caused lush spring-like growth that had not toughened up for winter.
If you are growing fall vegies in California, this probably does not matter, I had perennial flowers there.
Peas and beans, if inoculated at planting time, make their own nitrogen so likely you have a nitrogen deficiency. Probably something else too, but the test kit will let you know what.
http://www.lowes.com/pd/Soil-Test-Kits/999989630

Post #10260989
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