What should I do with this dirt?

I just recently built 12 raised beds from old watering troughs and qiuckly filled them with purchased garden soil so I could get a fall vegetable crop going before it got too cold. That part went fine, I've got cold frames over them and the plants look great, the problem is that root crops like radishes, beets, and colrobi are all leaf and no root. I tested the soil and as you probably guessed it is low in nitrogen, potassium,and phosphorus. My question is this, should I just scrap the winter vegetable idea for now and ammend the soil through the winter so that I can get a good start again in the spring, or can I continue to grow through the fall and ammend the soil as they grow? Also I purchased a cheap little soil test kit from Mosser Lee Company called "The Soil MAster" does anyone know how accurate it is and if you know of a more reliable one can you please let me know.

Since you have them growing already, maybe some time release fertilizer will give them the nutrients they need?

Thanks, I guess my fear is that I will spend the winter with little to show for it and then be too late this next spring to start off ahead of the game.

If you have some compost it can also be spread around them as they are growing....

Soak compost in water and use the water to feed the plants, it should be a quick bail out for plants that are hungry for something.

These being raised beds, I assume they drain like a container. If that is the case you will have to fertilize a lot heavier than you would if they were in the ground. I would say all of the nutrients have drained out. IMHO it is silly to try and "organic" garden in containers because of the quick drainage and washing away of the nutrients. The salt buildup won't be the problem as it would be in the ground.
You might post this in the container gardening section, they will be the experts. I've only tried to pot up some rose bands for a few weeks, mixed my own heavily fertilized potting mix and in a few weeks time started noticing chlorosis in my roses.

You can grow any kind of veg in containers, you just have to make sure you water well, you add loads of animal manure to the soil (that is well rotted animal manure) and be vigilant, offer shade when it is really hot and you should have success, your veg will grow faster also as they are in a more protected environment, be selective with what you grow also as veg that require a huge amount of root space will take up too much room, I know folks who have great success with veg in containers but they eat the veg while still very young and tender as they dont have the space to let things grow too big, when adding the animal manure, you need to know what veg like it added to the soil the same season as planting as some dont like it unless it has been added the season before, you can get books from the garden section at the library for container veg growing also book stores, it has become very popular hear in UK as so many folks dont have a garden and still want to grow things on say a veranda/balcony, My old Dad used to grow potato's in a barrel so we could have the new season potato's for Christmas dinner, OK you wont feed an army on that size of crop, but boy, did we look forward to those new potato's each year, maybe you are being a bit too ambitious for a new gardener, and in new conditions that your not yet used to, but please dont give up, you will get there in the end, for now, I would add feed even a liquid feed to see if it helps, early next spring, if all has failed is time enough to start of a new planting and soil improvement trial, if you do decide to remove the failures, then start by adding as much hummus to the soil as you can lay your hands on, leaf mould, compost and manure are the best things to add as they will help feed and keep some moisture in the soil, you dont say the size of all the containers, maybe you have over filled them with too many different veg, some veg dont like being in the same bed as others, also you need to watch out for early signs of diseases on the roots of your veg, radishes normally grow within a few weeks in any type of soil, you start to see the little fat round roots almost immediately, we grow them between the rows of other veg as they are so fast growing and are lifted just as the other things need more room for roots to spread, I would look closely at your soil, improve it for next year, but still try see if you can get some pickings from the ones you have right now, if say by end of November you still have such a poor crop, then discard it, but there is still time, your overhead protection will also be drying out your soil very fast as it stops the wind and air getting to the soil, so keep a close eye on your watering as it could be too dry for them to swell and plump up. wish I could help you more but, I cant think of any other reasons for your failure, other than soil being too poor, so good luck and dont stop trying, gardening is all trial and error, but mostly patience. WeeNel.

Thanks for all your insight, one of the things that make gardening fun is that it is always a challange and there are so many good people that want to see you succeed. My containers are about four foot diameter watering troughs, I filled them half full of the rocky clay soil that is prevelant in Nevada and then put in top soil to within 6 inches of the top, it is lightly freezing every night so I have built cold frames for them. The radishes in particular look spectacular, there just isn't any root to them, they are all leaf. The lettuce and spinich are slow growing but look OK. The broccoli and cabbage seem to be doing all right also nut the beets are very slow.

Your Broccoli and cabbage will need different soil conditions from the beets and Radishes, so perhaps this is the trouble, if I were you, I would separate my veg into different beds to suit there needs, greens like cabbage, sprouts etc, need well manured rich soil where as, the others want soil manured from the year before, I have 4 beds that I rotate the growing beds each year, this saves a build up of soil born diseases and also one veg will use up all the nutrients they need and leave the soil empty of goodness for the following year, so I grow my root veg like Carrots, beetroot, parsnips, onions etc, in one bed as they dont like NEW manured soil, next bed I will grow my cabbages, Brussels sprouts and Broccoli etc as that gets a good load of animal manure, next bed I grow peas, beans etc they like good well manured soil, after all these have been lifted, the next year I will grow my root veg like carrots etc where the peas were, but wont manure this bed as it is still OK for the root veg. I then add manure to the other beds and the cabbages go where the carrots and root veg were, some folks get diseases like club root in the cabbage patch and once it has got hold, it takes a few years to get rid, so by rotation planting, you avoid anything like soil born diseases and as you move around the beds each year, you are adding the nutrients needed to the different crops. I would get a book from the library for beginners veg growing in raised beds or rotation planting of veg as this will give you all the encouragement you need to start a good veg area, it does take a good few years for the veg soil to get into good condition, it wont happen over night OR the first season on new imported soil unless it was from farms or really fertile to start with, I honestly do think that your soil is needing worked on for good results next year, as you imported soil from elsewhere, you wont really know what grew on it or in it before you got it, so be patient and vigilant, you will soon learn all the tricks of veg growing, I dont manure the bed my carrots will grow in that year as it causes the roots to fork, I dont grow cauliflowers beside cabbages because they just dont get on together in the same bed etc, things like that were passed down from my father and old gardeners, so you will soon get chatting to other gardeners and pick there brains to gain experience, so dont get despondent, it is all a learning curve and once you get the hang of it, you will be giving crops away to friends and family because you have a glut, talking of a glut, try to grow some things in stages like 2 weeks apart so you dont have all your salad or carrots coming to maturity at the one time, better to pick weeks apart than have to try use up 20 cabbages all at the one time. good luck. Weenel.