When the topic is green lifestyles, what’s old is new for vegetable gardening enthusiasts. Over time individual gardener’s vegetable preferences might change. In the long run, they learn from their mistakes. and eventually get to a place where their gardens work for them rather than their working for their gardens.
The presentation focuses on some tips specific to vegetable gardens.
Vertical Gardening
Vertical gardening remains very popular for people with limited garden space. Some vegetables, such as the peas and beans, grow vertically and provide great edging for a basic six square foot garden. Garden preparation, which consists of clearing the soil of weeds and rocks, and insuring it can provide balanced nutrients to the vegetables, starts the process.
Typically two pea varieties get classified as suited for gardens: English peas (shelled and canned) and pod peas such as sugar peas and snow peas. Regardless of types, all peas can be planted in soil at at a depth of approximately one inch or more. Once growing, peas are susceptible to aphids and root maggots. Maggots tend to be more numerous in cooler, moist soil, so planning later helps control the problem.
Snap beans, string beans or pole beans definitely have a niche appeal, commonly making the top ten list of back yard garden vegetables. The reason is simple. They are easy to grow and fun to eat.
Pole beans, the choice for vertical gardening, start by planting a few seeds around a thin pole (readily available at local garden stores) or trellis etc. al, and once the vines begin to grow, they find the pole and begin growing up and around it. Helping the young vine find the pole is also a possibility.
Garden Nutrients
Vegetables, like people, require adequate food, water and shelter to thrive. Formal classification of vegetable food is couched in the language of soil nutrients. It stands to reason that growing award winning vegetables requires an adequate supply of soil nutrients. Each vegetable has its own nutrient needs and generally the types of nutrients gardeners consider breaks down into three groups:
- Primary nutrient refers to the big three nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
- Secondary nutrient refers to calcium, magnesium, and sulfur, which are used in moderate quantities by crops.
- Micronutrient, trace, or minor element refers to iron, boron, manganese, zinc, copper, and molybdenum, the essential plant nutrients used in relatively small quantities.
Depending on the garden theme, and the results of a soil test, some general rules of thumbs can be applied to guarantee the soil is adequately filled with nutrients prior to the planting season. According to the Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Gardeners:
Many states issue suggested rates of application of fertilizers for specific vegetables. These recommendations are sometimes made according to the type of soil – that is, light or heavy, sands, loams, clays, peats, and mucks. Other factors often used in establishing these rates are whether manure or soil-improving crops are employed and whether an optimum moisture supply can be maintained. The nutrient requirements of each crop must be considered, as must the past fertilizer and cropping history. The season of the year affects nutrient availability. Broad recommendations are at best only a point from which to make adjustments to suit individual conditions.
So with a general recommendation in hand and the fertilizer ready to go, it’s time to work the soil and apply half of the fertilizer . Add the reset into the top three inches of soil when the soil is set for planting. Direct application of fertilizers on garden transplants is usually not recommended because of potential fertilizer burns. It’s best to apply the fertilizer approximately six inches from transplants so that as they grow, their roots will be stronger when they reach the fertilized soil.
Most commercial fertilizers contain one or more of the three major plant nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). When a fertilizer contains all three elements, it called a complete fertilizer. Shelves of commercial fertilizers share a common label with three numbers, indication the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. For example, a bag of fertilizer with the numbers 5-10-10 contains 5% nitrogen, 10% phosphorous, and 10% potassium.
Each vegetable has its own fertilizer requirements for the growing, flowering and vegetable stages. For example, cole crops require consistent doses of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Over the counter plant starter fertilizers can be applied at the planting stage, and after three weeks and five weeks. Starter fertilizers increase yields by 20%
Individual nutrients are also readily available. For example, gardeners interested in organic fertilizers might want to check out fish emulsion (3-5%), composted chicken manure (3%) and blood meal (12-15%) as means of increasing nitrogen. Bone meal (12-24%) provides a phosphorus pick up for plants. Kelp meal (2-5%) provides a potassium boost.
Seedlings
When the garden discussion turns to vegetable seeds, seed catalogues are a great starting place. They provide gardeners with the most recent vegetable varieties on the market along with helping the gardener plan for the growing season. Best of all, many of them are free. Just call the local seed company or visit them on line.
A discussion of the types of seeds available during any particular season also extends beyond the availability of new varieties. Often the conversation centers on differences between heirloom seeds and the hybrid seeds that constitute most of the new varieties.
Think of heirloom seeds as the open-pollinated seeds. They reproduce themselves on an annual basis, with each succeeding generation growing consistently as the plant of the original seed. Heirloom seeds often get credited as producing more tasty vegetables.
Hybrid seeds are a cross between two different varieties. Plants from many of the non-sterile seeds can take on the characteristics of either of the plants used as the original cross-bred plants. Hybrid seeds often provide resistance against a variety of insect pests and/or diseases. Critics often remark that the gain in healthier plants and vegetables is muted a bit by a loss in taste.
Gardeners often run out of space prior to running out of seeds. Fortunately, seeds will keep for a few years, provided they are stored correctly. A few techniques such as storing unused seeds in a cool, dry place, preferably air tight maintains the seeds integrity for a few seasons.
Be mindful of saved seeds. As mentioned previously, unused hybrid seeds will produce consistent plants from season to season. However, saving the seeds of a newly grown hybrid variety does not offer the same type of growing consistently. Additionally, some seeds, such as beans and peas have a tendency to carry diseases. Saving them adds an element of risk to future plant growth.
Checking the vitality of saved seeds is fairly easy. Just take a sample of around ten seeds and attempt to germinate them using the damp paper towel method. Check to see how many of the seeds germinate, and then use that number as a baseline for determining how thickly they ought to be seeded in the garden.
When starting vegetable seeds in soil, use clean potting soil because it allows for drainage and prevents seed rot. Small sprouts crave sunlight. Prevent them from early bends in the stem and provide them with a bit of light exercise by rotating their containers to face the sunlight on a consistent basis.
Good air circulation prevents the little sprouting plants from “damping off”. Wet soil and no air flow are a perfect combination for inviting fungus growth in the soil.
All vegetable transplants have an ideal age/size that enables them to continue active growth after transplanting and be somewhat resistant to environmental stress. For example, the ideal age for tomato transplants is 6–8 weeks; plants younger than 6 weeks have problems dealing with adverse weather conditions such as wind, low temperatures (below 45°F), and drought. On the other hand, older plants (older than 10 weeks) have a relatively large above ground mass that has initiated flowers and may be heading into the reproductive phase of growth; hence, the plants will produce fruit, but only a fraction of their full potential.
Age of transplants for ideal growth:
- Tomato: 6–8 weeks
- Pepper: 8–10 weeks
- Eggplant: 8–10 weeks
- Muskmelon: 2–3 weeks
- Squash: 2–3 weeks
- Cucumber: 2–3 weeks
- Celery: 9–12 weeks
- Onion: 9–12 weeks
- Cabbage: 6–7 weeks
- Cauliflower: 6–8 weeks
- Broccoli: 6–7 weeks
- Endive: 5–7 weeks
Watering the Garden
Watering tips for the vegetable garden remains one of the most popular questions asked of Master Gardens. Like most garden garden tips, no one answer fits all gardens.
Thinking greywater and rain barrels are but a few ways one can think of good watering tips that might fit many types of vegetable gardens.
Up first is greywater, or household waste water that is semi-clean, or saying it in an opposite way, water that does not come from toilets or other bacteria laden sources.
Greywater systems are popular for recreational vehicle users and residential areas that are confronted with drought. For residential homes, gray water systems can be built into the existing plumbing systems.
The video shows the latest award winning greywater recycling technology designed by two Florida students. It’s a standalone system that can be used anywhere in the world. They claim
The system runs household wastewater through a series of three filters and is able to recycle 46% of the home’s water into graywater which is non-potable water that can be used to replenish toilet tanks and provide water for irrigation.
A few brief thoughts on recycling water rounds out this water tips review. Many areas with water scarcity due to either short term drought or climatic factors often think water recycling for the garden.
Water recycling systems can be as easy as the traditional rain barrel trick. Place a barrel under the roof during the rain, collect the runoff and use it as needed. Of course, if the roof is consistently polluted with heavy metals or other toxic substances, the rain barrel tradition would be more harmful than helpful.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
All one needs to do is a quick internet search on the available water recycling gadgets on the market. Costs vary according to consumer preferences, and one might be right for any average backyard garden in need of a more consistent water supply.
With or without a gray water system, there are some good stand along watering the garden tips.
Where once the watering can ranked as the watering tool of choice or gardeners, today sprinklers hold that position. Ease of use explains their popularity. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making garden tasks easier.
Watering Tips: When using a sprinkler, keep in mind a few potential drawbacks. First, sprinklers tend to be less than totally efficient distributing the water. For example, on a windy day, some of the water intended for the garden can be blown away. Depending on the garden soil, a light and consistent layer of water can promote soil crusting, or a hardening of the top of the soil once the layer of moist soil dries. Finally, on windless days, sprinklers can add a layer of water on plant leaves, leaving them more vulnerable to problematic viruses and bacteria.
Typically garden experts recommend that the basic salad vegetable garden, one that consists of tomatoes, lettuce, peas, carrots, onions and the like, receive one inch of water per week. That advice often means watering the vegetable garden can be as easy as counting on weekly light summer rains or hauling out the watering can and providing a gentle shower for the plants on a weekly basis.
In the garden world, like the real world, a one size fits all answer, does not always fit. Soil and climate conditions, for example, vary from location to location, therefore the one inch rule needs to be understand as a rule of thumb and applied in flexible terms.
Common sense reminds us that gardens planted in sandy soils, in hot, dry areas might need a bit more water to effectively deal with the garden’s higher drainage and evaporation levels. The University of Nevada Extension service provided some good advice on the topic of how much and how often should I water the garden in hot, sandy soil climate.
How much water your plants need is a question of how deeply and how often to water. How deeply you water depends on the depth of the plant roots. Most vegetable plant roots go down 6 to 12 inches into the soil. However, long-season plants such as tomato, corn, squash and melon, and perennial plants such as asparagus, raspberry and rhubarb can go down as deep as 24 inches or more. Provide enough water to wet the soil to the depth at which most of the roots are found.
Watering Tips: In areas prone to extreme dryness where day to day monitoring of the garden is not practical, piling a three inch layer of mulch around the plants helps retain soil moisture. Additionally it keeps down weed growth.
On the other hand, gardens planted in clay or loam soils, in cooler climates, might need a bit less water. Checking the look of the soil a couple of inches in depth, at a spot of soil away from the plants can help determine the soil’s moisture content. The University of California Extension Service provided the following advice.
Give plants up to 1.5” water/week as needed during hot periods for plants with a spread of 12” or more. During cooler seasons, 3/4” water/week may suffice. For small seeds (planted 3/4” depth or less), immediately after planting the seed, apply from 1/2” to 3/4” of water (in the planting bed) to settle the soil and to start seed germination. For larger seed crops, water a few days prior to seeding, as well as water to a depth of 2 or more inches after planting the seeds.
Watering tips: Over watering the garden can be as problematic as under watering the garden. While there exist more than a few over watering symptoms that gardeners use as a check, perhaps the presence of yellowing, droopy leaves during the growing season is the easiest symptom of over watering for the beginning gardener to recognize.
Composting
Composting remains one of the easiest and most efficient practices for maintaining a healthy lawn and garden. In its simplest form, composting amounts to recycling appropriate yard and food waste to make soil. When done with a bit of thought, compost supercharges all soil types, from clay to sandy, because its texture improves air, water and nutrient flow important for root development.
Composting practices range from simple to complex. For convenience sake, compare the pictures on the page, a compost bin and a compost pile and you come up with two basic types of composting, closed container and open air.
Geography and practical goals usually determine the most appropriate composting practice for any individual household. Heat is an important element in the composting process, and the classic compost bin with a lid, provides a practical and clean way to apply consistent heat throughout the process. Additionally, classic compost bins provides an element of critter control during the process, an important point to think about in smaller yards. Compost bins come in shapes and sizes suitable to a variety of needs. Some, for example, come in barrel form, with a handle for turning the barrel to mix the compost.
Households with larger yards and less concern about critter control can easily opt for an open air compost pile placed somewhere strategically in the back yard. Any three foot by three foot space will do.
Successful composting is a matter of knowing what to add and what not to add to the compost bin. For example, all experts agree on the importance of avoiding adding meats, oils and diseased plants to the pile. Meats and oils spoil the soil, and the probability of producing unhealthy soil with diseases increased when diseased plants are added.
The standard household composting program consists of placing daily vegetable and fruit waste on the pile, and mixing it with a gathering of appropriate yard waste. The reasoning is simple.
First, think of compost as the organic meal for soil microorganisms. Assuming that healthy meals produce healthy soils, your basic five star compost menu consists of a fixed ratio of carbon and nitrogen ingredients (30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen).
The presence of unusual odors, such as ammonia, indicate an excess nitrogen content. It can be remedied by adding more organic material.
Composting as meal preparation, follows a logic of layers. Typically, organic products such as coffee grounds, and fruits and vegetables constitute the first layer. Nitrogen products such as grass clipping and other yard wastes constitute the second compost layer. Pro tip, seeing birds attracted to your compost pile because it’s a worm magnet is a very good sign that you’re doing it correctly.
Every other composting tip adds a twist to the basic compost recipe. For example, many compost advocates who use an open air set up, recommend adding a top manure layer. Think of them as efficient gardeners. As their compost pile gets watered, flipped and aerated over time, the end result of the pile is a perfect loam mixture ready to be placed in a wheelbarrow and distributed across the flower and/or vegetable plots. Of course, there’s always a hidden twist to any specific compost tip. Adding a manure layer attracts flies, making it a less palatable option in smaller yards.
Types of Soil
Plants, animals and humans share a common need for food, water, air and sunlight to grow and stay healthy. In the plant world, soil serves as the primary transfer medium. It’s no understatement to suggest that healthy soil represents the foundation for a healthy garden.
Soil properties and soil types anchor most soil conversations.
Soil property conversations often focus on both organic and inorganic (living and non-living) elements. Bacteria, viruses, yeast and other living organisms constitute the living part of the soil. While plant growth can be harmed by bacteria or any other living organism, the vast majority of organisms in healthy soil benefit plant growth by breaking down nutrients making them amenable food forms for plants.
Two additional soil properties, pH level and nutrient content deserve a bit of attention. Soil pH is measured using the pH scale, a chemical scale that ranges between 0 (acidic or sour soil) to 14 (alkaline or sweet soil)). A 7 means the soil is neutral. Knowing the soil pH level helps determine the different types of vegetable and flowers suited to the soil. Most vegetable gardeners aim for soil in the 6-7.5 pH range.
Adequate pH level does not automatically ensure healthy plant growth in your garden. Because plants require proper nutrition to thrive, soil nutrient levels are also important. Although there are 16 nutrients that plants need, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium commonly receive the most attention. A good rule of thumb for remembering the value of each nutrient says that nitrogen helps leaves and stems, phosphorus contributes to root development and potassium encourages more productive plant flowering.
Organic remedies for nutrient deficient soils abound. Soils with a low pH level (acidic between 0-6.9) can be treated with lime. Sulfur can be added to soils that are too alkaline (between 7.1-14). The necessary amount to apply depends on both your soil type and pH level. Organic fertilizers, including compost and manure, can be applied to the soil during the off season to help build back some of the nutrients lost during the growing season.
Gardeners should take note that organic choices such as these are time sensitive. It takes at least three weeks before applied organic material such as compost and manure disperse their nutrients throughout the soil.
A walk down a sandy trail tells the story of soil types. The non-living elements of soil count as much as the living elements. Most inorganic soil substances are mineral based, important because they help determine soil density. Depending on which reference one reads, two or three main soil types are commonly discussed.
- Clay Soil – small sized non-living particles creating highly dense soil
- Silt – medium sized non-living particles creating to medium density soil
- Sandy Soil – large sized non-living particles creating low density soil
Organic gardeners take note of their soil types primarily because each type differs in its ability to transfer food and water to the plant’s root system. For example, the relatively high density of clay soil creates it own dilemmas for gardeners. In times of drought, clay soil’s ability to retain water might be beneficial. However, on other water abundant occasions, plant roots unaccustomed to water, might have a difficult time staying healthy. Plants, like humans can drown. Additionally, because of its density, clay soil retains nutrients better than its counterparts, a good characteristic if plants are hungry, a less than perfect characteristic in instances of nutrient over exposure.
The exact opposite set of circumstances applies to soil at the other end of the spectrum, sandy soil. The relatively large size of its non-living particles means that both water and nutrients drain away more quickly from plants. Good for plants during the rainy season and perhaps harmful to plants during drought occasions.
Since most plants thrive best in an environment that balances water and nutrient retention, most, if not all gardening specialists recommend mixing humus (decayed organic matter such as tree bark or peat moss) or compost into the soil. Soil mixing creates loam, the Goldilocks category of soil, not too dense, not too porous. Having the ability to balance plant water and nutrient requirements, loam remains the gardener’s number one soil choice.