Your best garden advice please.?
Posted on Mar 23, 2010 under Best For Garden |I want to know all the garden tidbits you can think of. My expertise is in ornamentals and ground covers, but I am expanding my horizons. I have planted 14 different food crops and need all the advice I can get for beans, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelons and squash. I am in Ga.
I am also learning about growing from seed. What is the best and cheapest soil mix to use? How often should I water after the seedlings have appeared?
If you have any specific advice or a great website, I would appreciate it.
Thanks
My husband has been gardening for 45 years, and he’s been giving me great tips:
1. You can plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, summer squash/zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, winter squash, pumpkins, watermelon or eggplant under black plastic. It holds in moisture and heat, and keeps out weeds. Put down black plastic and anchor it down firmly (we bend wires into "U" shapes and stick them into the ground like staples every foot or so). Cut holes in rows in the distance between plants (2-3′ between tomatoes, 1′ between pepper plants or eggplant, 3′ between most of the rest) with a 4′ aisle in between. The holes only need to be big enough to hold the plant, but if you’re planting seeds, make the hole about 4" across. After you’ve finished putting the plants or seeds in the holes, add a cup of Miracle Gro (Miracle Gro for Tomatoes, aka tomato Viagra, for the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, regular Miracle Gro for the rest). Then we take more of our "staples" and put one at the plastic at each plant so the black plastic won’t come up and cover them–it can burn up the plant and kill it otherwise.
2. I’m trying square foot gardening this year, which seems to be working well. Build a raised bed at least 6" high out of NON-treated lumber (the chemicals will leach out into the vegetables) or concrete blocks, stone, etc. We filled ours with a mixture of peat and mushroom medium. Then I drove nails into the sides every foot, ran string up and down the sides to create 1′ squares, and planted different types of seeds in different squares. We have a 4′ x 8′ bed, which creates 48 squares. Plant the seeds at the distance the seed packets say to thin them to (ex., radishes are to be thinned to 1" apart, so allowing for 1/2" from the sides, you can get 121 radishes per square. You’ll need to water a little more, since they won’t get ground moisture, but the seeds I planted are going nuts.
3. When you plant your tomato plants, make sure you stake them or trellis them. Last year we didn’t, and we had a 10′ bed of nothing but vines where you couldn’t reach the tomatoes. We planted Roma tomatoes on one side, and they had reached all the way across the bed by the end of the summer. We’re just putting metal farm fenceposts every 15 feet or so and stringing string about every 6" up the post. Then when the plant gets tall enough, we’ll wind it through the strings.
4. Read your seed packets. They have good information about what you should do in your zone, the length of germination, the size of the plant and how the seeds should be planted. If you want more in-depth information, buy a farmer’s almanac, which will tell you about everything you need to know about planting. They’re available about anywhere, even Wal-Mart.
Good Luck!
March 23rd, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Corn needs generally four rows to pollinate correctly. Planting one row it not a good idea.
They all need full sun, plant in a location that gets at least 8-12 hours of sunlight.
Tomatoes you need to stake or cage to prevent them from toppling over
Beans need a trellis or you can even plant a corn plant for them to climb up.
The cheapest soil mixture is free, create you own compost bin and throw in all your vegetable scraps, egg shells etc. You will have the most richest soil
References :
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:26 pm
I use corn as a trellis for my pole beans but i also plant bush beans as well. I also plant squash as a companion to these plants because they help keep away the weeds while they grow.
Tomatoes do need to be supported unless you find some varieties that don’t need support. I usually start mine indoors in March in large peat pellets. You can buy small and large ones - for squash, pumpkin, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers you will definitely want the large peat pellets and trays. For annuals and herbs, the small peat pellets are fine.
There are some good websites to figure out how to plant your garden. Some things should not be planted next to others. when you do your search, use the key words ‘companion planting’. For example, i plant basil and oregano in between my tomato plants. I planted my cilantro next to my bush beans, my beets with my lettuce and carrots and my onions and chives together…etc. There are special things to plant with all the things you listed above so it’s a good idea to look.
For your potato plants - buy seed potatoes because they will be guaranteed to not carry disease. Plant them and let them grow. About 1 month after planting (or so) you have to start mounding them so that the growing potatoes don’t turn green where they are exposed to light.
For your garden, add compost every spring and after the harvest in the fall. I like to use my own compost but often I have to buy some more. I add about 1 inch on the surface and then work it in, in each season. I do that so that when the snow melts, the nutrients from the fall compost can percolate down into the soil (I don’t know if you get snow but even winter rains would do the same thing). In the spring, I just like to add a bit more of a nutrient boost. That way you don’t have to use too much fertilizer (unless your soil is very poor - but then adding compost is even more important because not only does it help with nutrient boosting but also helps the soil retain moisture and allows the roots of your veggies to grow easily. If the soil is compacted, the roots have a harder time growing). For your tomatoes on the other hand, they are nutrient pigs and will likely need a monthly feed with special tomato fertilizer. Your tomatoes should get the sunniest spot in your garden, with the best soil.
One note - when you use the peat pellets - you add water to the tray and the pellets expand (make sure they are fully expanded before you seed). You then seed the pellets and cover them with the clear cover (with a little crack to allow some moisture release). keep the in a place where there is no direct sunlight until most of your seedlings have germinated then remove the covers completely. Water them every couple of days because peat by itself doesn’t retain water well.
Oh, also, for the squash, zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins, mound the soil before transplanting the seedlings.
have fun!
References :
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:42 pm
The best garden advice you can get will be from your county extension agent. So, web search things like growing corn in Whatever County, Georgia. You’ll get the best information on specific crop cultivation, care and pest control. The best advice is local advice.
What gardeners in Maine, Georgia and Arizona have to say about growing the best watermelons would be quite different.
References :
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Here are a few articles I’ve written on different aspects of gardening, you might find something usefull here
http://www.helium.com/items/1453093-how-to-consider-wildlife-when-planning-your-landscape
http://www.helium.com/items/1450565-how-to-create-an-astrological-garden
http://www.helium.com/items/1445219-low-maintenance-landscape-ideas
http://www.helium.com/items/1443138-how-to-store-the-seeds-you-harvest-from-your-own-plants
References :
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:37 pm
My husband has been gardening for 45 years, and he’s been giving me great tips:
1. You can plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, summer squash/zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, winter squash, pumpkins, watermelon or eggplant under black plastic. It holds in moisture and heat, and keeps out weeds. Put down black plastic and anchor it down firmly (we bend wires into "U" shapes and stick them into the ground like staples every foot or so). Cut holes in rows in the distance between plants (2-3′ between tomatoes, 1′ between pepper plants or eggplant, 3′ between most of the rest) with a 4′ aisle in between. The holes only need to be big enough to hold the plant, but if you’re planting seeds, make the hole about 4" across. After you’ve finished putting the plants or seeds in the holes, add a cup of Miracle Gro (Miracle Gro for Tomatoes, aka tomato Viagra, for the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, regular Miracle Gro for the rest). Then we take more of our "staples" and put one at the plastic at each plant so the black plastic won’t come up and cover them–it can burn up the plant and kill it otherwise.
2. I’m trying square foot gardening this year, which seems to be working well. Build a raised bed at least 6" high out of NON-treated lumber (the chemicals will leach out into the vegetables) or concrete blocks, stone, etc. We filled ours with a mixture of peat and mushroom medium. Then I drove nails into the sides every foot, ran string up and down the sides to create 1′ squares, and planted different types of seeds in different squares. We have a 4′ x 8′ bed, which creates 48 squares. Plant the seeds at the distance the seed packets say to thin them to (ex., radishes are to be thinned to 1" apart, so allowing for 1/2" from the sides, you can get 121 radishes per square. You’ll need to water a little more, since they won’t get ground moisture, but the seeds I planted are going nuts.
3. When you plant your tomato plants, make sure you stake them or trellis them. Last year we didn’t, and we had a 10′ bed of nothing but vines where you couldn’t reach the tomatoes. We planted Roma tomatoes on one side, and they had reached all the way across the bed by the end of the summer. We’re just putting metal farm fenceposts every 15 feet or so and stringing string about every 6" up the post. Then when the plant gets tall enough, we’ll wind it through the strings.
4. Read your seed packets. They have good information about what you should do in your zone, the length of germination, the size of the plant and how the seeds should be planted. If you want more in-depth information, buy a farmer’s almanac, which will tell you about everything you need to know about planting. They’re available about anywhere, even Wal-Mart.
Good Luck!
References :
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:52 pm
hey catwoman, you asked about potatoes in your last post, so ill add that…in ohio. i plant in early april for august harvest., and in early june for fall storage spuds….same procedure, dig a 4 inch trench with tiller (or hoe), put seed in every 10-12 inches, and cover the row…when they break ground, i till between rows, then hill by hand with hoe when 4 and 8 inches high…then i fill the area between rows with grass clippings (acre lawn) and mulch over that with hay, straw or wood chips (whatever i have any given year)…ive only watered in severe drought…everyone talks about blooms, but in 40 years mine seldom bloomed…they grow to fill the 3 feet between rows and die back when theyre ready, 90 to 120 days depending on cultivar…average a ninefold increase in weight from seed weight…
i plant beans, corn, cucumbers, watermelons and squash seed right in the field…if i can in ohio, you should be able to do it easily in GA
as far as growing vegetables from seed, which i do (greenhouse), the best instructions i know of come with the seed from the co i buy seed from (buffalo NY)…the website’s below, you have to navigate the site to the seed type & cultivar, & then product details, then to detailed growing instructions…
References :
http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/StokesSeeds.storefront