To check Veyetable moisture level, stick your finger in Innovative weight approaches soil about three inches deep. Give them an occasional dose of a water soluble organic food to support growth and encourage the biggest harvest. Many vegetables can be grown in containers.

Vegetable gardening tips -

Most vegetables need about 8 hours of direct sunlight per day, but not all do! To make your garden planning easier, we've made some quick lists of how much sunlight is needed for common vegetables:. The majority of weeds will pop up in the spring, and by the end of summer your plants will be large enough to prevent nearly all weeds from finding their way into your successful, lush garden.

Plant your favorites and staples, and expand year by year. Easy hose access is time-saver and will make watering less of a hassle. Your watering frequency will depend on the type of soil you are planting in and if you are using compost.

Compost helps store moisture and make sure plants have water consistently. To check your moisture level, stick your finger in the soil about three inches deep. The soil should be moist but not soaked. Plants sitting in water for weeks may drown.

Lastly, on the hottest days your plants may wilt during the day. Some plants wilt slightly during intense sun in order to direct water mostly to the roots. Cages, stakes, and partitions are great space savers and give your plants the support they need.

University of Minnesota Extension This guide to starting garden plants from seeds indoors covers planning, planting and growing seeds, and moving seedlings outdoors. Start Garden Plants. Cornell University Growing guides offer detailed descriptions and growing instructions, site and soil requirements, varieties, and more.

Read Growing Guides. Gardening History and Heirlooms Remember that special plant from your grandparents' garden that you wish you could grow now? Those heirloom fruits and vegetables were valued, saved and passed down through generations. Search our Archive. The Home Vegetable Garden The Small Vegetable Garden The City Home Garden Diseases and Insects of Garden Vegetables Plan a Garden Learn about starting a garden, container gardening, and companion planting.

Start a Vegetable Garden. Grow Vegetables in a Container. gov] Which plants and vegetables are companions? View a Growing Guide. Books on Vegetable Gardening. Contact your local library to borrow books. All-new illustrated guide to gardening: planning, selection, propagation, organic solutions.

Bradley, Fern Marshall and Trevor Cole, eds. NAL call number: SB A Building raised beds: easy, accessible garden space for vegetables and flowers.

Bradley, Fern Marshall. B73 Find-it-fast answers for your vegetable garden: 1, ways to outsmart insects, diseases, and weeds and keep your plants healthy all season long.

V4 B73 Food grown right, in your backyard: a beginner's guide to growing crops at home. McCrate, Colin, Brad Halm, and Hilary Dahl. NAL call number: S In colder areas, use a cold frame or frost cloth to extend the season. For specific planting dates, consult your local Extension center.

You can also use the North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs for your region: Eastern AG , Central, AG, Western, AG Scheduling when to plant and when to harvest can be done in several effective ways.

Writing the planting dates and projected harvest dates on a calendar is a method used by many gardeners and farmers. Another method is drawing a diagram of the garden and writing projected planting and harvesting dates on the garden diagram.

Knowing when an area will be harvested helps with planning when to plant another crop in that space. Using this method of planning allows for a small space to be managed to its fullest potential. If planting in rows, run them across the slope of the land to reduce erosion.

If there is little or no slope, north to south orientation makes the best use of sunlight. Do not foster the buildup of insect and disease pests by growing the same types of plants in the same spot year after year.

Instead, plan a three- to four-year crop rotation for each bed or garden area to prevent crops in the same plant family from being planted in the same space in succession Table 1.

Crop rotation reduces the likelihood of nematode, insect or disease buildup in the soil. This method of planning works well when the garden consists of three or more raised beds or is large enough to be divided into three or more plots.

Table 2 depicts a sample four-year crop rotation plan for a garden with four plots growing vegetables from four plant families.

Having a garden plan makes it easier to decide what seeds or transplants to purchase, how many will be needed, and when they will be needed.

Things to record in the garden journal would include a list and map of what was planted, planting dates, varieties, source of plants, air and soil temperatures during the growing season, soil test results, fertilizers and pesticides applied, rainfall received, and amount and dates of harvest.

Include photographs throughout the season. Purchase potting soil or make your own by combining equal parts of compost, shredded pine bark mulch, and vermiculite.

Do not use garden soil in container gardens. Amend your soil with organic material first either homemade compost or purchased certified compost. Then submit a soil sample to determine the pH and nutrient content of your soil. The N. Cooperative Extension center in your county can provide a soil test kit to have your soil analyzed and obtain specific recommendations for growing vegetables.

Amend the soil based on the recommendations from the soil analysis. Space plants according to the label on the seed packet or plant tag. Allow space for the plant to mature , and leave space for airflow between plants to prevent disease.

Plant seeds only two to three times as deep as the greatest diameter of the seed. Cover the seed and firm the soil lightly to ensure good seed-to-soil contact. Before planting seedlings that were grown in peat containers or soil cubes, either remove the entire peat container or remove the part of the container that extends above the soil.

If you plant the seedling in the peat container, cover the container completely with soil to prevent it from wicking moisture from the soil. Acclimate transplants to their new environment by providing temporary shade for tender transplants for two or three days after setting them out.

Mulching helps conserve soil moisture, reduce weeds, and reduce erosion. Use shredded leaves, pine straw, newspaper, or other organic matter that will break down and improve the soil. Plan for continual harvest by staggering planting dates at one- to two-week intervals.

For example, if you are going to plant four sections of lettuce, plant the first week one, the second week two, the third week three, and the fourth week four. Table 1. depicts the planting and harvest schedule for a raised bed with weekly plantings of lettuce and other cool-season vegetables.

As one crop is harvested, replant that area. A greater variety of seeds are available than transplants, and seeds are less expensive. Some seeds can be sown directly into the garden.

Plant seeds according to package directions. You can also grow your own transplants by planting seeds. Six to eight weeks before the transplanting date, sow the seeds according to packet directions into a container indoors or in a cold frame, greenhouse, or other protected growing structure.

You can start a garden quickly with transplants and harvest crops sooner than with seeds. Small plants purchased from a garden center, catalog, or online provide a way to overcome seasonal limitations.

Some plants take so long to mature that even if started from seed in the garden at the beginning of the season, they would still not be ready to harvest at the end of the season Brussels sprouts, for example. Except for tomatoes, which can be planted slightly deeper, transplants should be planted in the ground at the same depth they were in the container.

Disadvantages to using transplants include the increased cost compared to seeds and the limited number of varieties. Root crops such as carrots, radishes, and beets do not transplant well.

Water mature plants as needed. Frequency will depend on rainfall and temperature. Check the soil for moisture, and watch plants for symptoms of drought stress leaves drooping in the morning or early evening.

Soil in the vegetable garden should be kept moist but not muddy. Knowing the type of soil in your garden will help you determine how frequently it should be watered. A soil that is heavy with lots of clay will need to be watered less frequently than a soil that is lighter with lots of air pockets, such as a sandy soil or container garden soil.

Fertilize only as needed following the recommendations on your soil analysis. Crops with long growing seasons, such as corn and tomatoes, may need additional fertilizer partway through the growing season. Watch for symptoms of nitrogen and other nutrient deficiency including leaves turning yellow and slow growth.

Avoid the urge to overfertilize, which can produce lush plant growth but decrease flowering and fruit development and increase pest problems.

Mulch to maintain moisture and manage weeds. One to two inches of weed-free loose mulch including shredded leaves, grass clippings seed-free , wheat straw, and pine bark mulch or five to six layers of newspaper should be enough to keep weeds down and the soil moist.

Extend the growing season by protecting crops from extreme hot and cold. Use mulch to moderate soil temperatures.

Cold frames protected by a row cover create shade for heat-sensitive plants. Covered with frost cloth, cold frames protect plants during freezing temperatures. Pests are attracted to stressed plants, so keep plants happy and healthy with adequate sun, water, and fertility.

Include flowering plants that support beneficial insects to control pests and aid pollination. Select hardy disease- and pest-resistant seeds or plants by reading labels carefully. For example, tomato plant and seed labels that include VFN indicate a variety resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, and nematodes.

When choosing transplants, look for those that are healthy and free of insects and diseases. Water the soil and root area, not the leaves. Soaker hoses and drip irrigation will reduce standing water on the foliage, which leads to foliar diseases. Avoid splashing soil, and any diseases it may carry, onto the leaves.

From your Vegetwble to the White Innovative weight approaches a home gardenng garden is the garddening trend today. Obviously the economy has a lot Football player nutrition us looking for ways gardenibg reduce our grocery Nutritional tips for bodybuilders and growing your gardeing can Vegetalbe big money Grape Wine Production to grocery store prices. And the best part is, homegrown food simply tastes better than anything you can buy at the store. Most vegetable plants do best in full sun. Find a location that gets at least six hours of it each day if possible. In order to provide the most sun exposure to all your plants, place the tallest ones, such as corn, indeterminate tomatoes or pole beans on the north or west side so they do not shade the smaller plants.

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New Vegetable Garden: How To Get Started