Vegetable Gardening Tips on Planting and Maintenance
September 20, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Mary Hanna asked:
Here are some tips on vegetable gardening that should help make your gardening experience easier and a very gratifying experience. Preparing the soil for your garden is the most important step. The basis of any successful garden is proper soil that creates good seed germination. Vegetables enjoy garden soil that is well drained, deep, contains high organic matter and retains moisture. Make sure the soil is dry before you try plowing or working the dirt. Check the soil acidity or PH for the different vegetables you are going to plant as some may require varying degrees of PH levels. Another tip on vegetable gardening is that you need easy access to water to keep your garden moist during the growing season. Regularly watering is necessary to keep your garden healthy. In most gardening areas, a vegetable garden requires approximately one inch of rainwater or tap water weekly during the growing season. So, if you experience a dry spell, make sure you water your vegetable garden sufficiently to keep the plants healthy and growing.
Another couple of helpful tips on vegetable gardening are making yourself knowledgeable about the requirements of the vegetable seeds and vegetables you want to plant in your garden. Find out information, such as tendency toward insects, germination qualities, light required, vigor of the plants and the planting zones. This will help you determine the best varieties and types of seeds and plants for your area and garden. A great tip on vegetable gardening is, when you sow your seeds, always plant a few extra to replace ones that fail to germinate. Keep the garden moist until the seedlings have emerged and never thin them until their second set of leaves appears. Thinning out the row when the seedlings are small keeps you from disturbing the other vegetables roots. Test your soil periodically to determine if you need fertilizer and the amount you need. Having your own compost is a great and natural way to fertilize your vegetable garden and cuts down on garbage.
The best way to keep pests away or under control is to start by having healthy soil and plants, using compost, regular watering and adequate drainage. When considering tips on vegetable gardening, do not forget weed control. Weeds rob plants of water, light and nutrients. Hoe or cultivate the soil between your plants after it rains, as this kills any newly sprouted weeds. Use a mixture of pine needles and grass if available, to keep the weeds down or a layer of wet newspaper between the rows of vegetables. Try planting marigolds around the vegetable garden border in order to discourage aphids.
A very good homemade deterrent for pests is:
In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.
Most important of all is that you enjoy your vegetable garden. You will gain a lot of satisfaction from the fact that you grew the vegetables yourself. Not only will you have fun from your garden hobby but now you can start a culinary hobby with all your fresh produce.
Happy Gardening!
Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.
This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.
Here are some tips on vegetable gardening that should help make your gardening experience easier and a very gratifying experience. Preparing the soil for your garden is the most important step. The basis of any successful garden is proper soil that creates good seed germination. Vegetables enjoy garden soil that is well drained, deep, contains high organic matter and retains moisture. Make sure the soil is dry before you try plowing or working the dirt. Check the soil acidity or PH for the different vegetables you are going to plant as some may require varying degrees of PH levels. Another tip on vegetable gardening is that you need easy access to water to keep your garden moist during the growing season. Regularly watering is necessary to keep your garden healthy. In most gardening areas, a vegetable garden requires approximately one inch of rainwater or tap water weekly during the growing season. So, if you experience a dry spell, make sure you water your vegetable garden sufficiently to keep the plants healthy and growing.
Another couple of helpful tips on vegetable gardening are making yourself knowledgeable about the requirements of the vegetable seeds and vegetables you want to plant in your garden. Find out information, such as tendency toward insects, germination qualities, light required, vigor of the plants and the planting zones. This will help you determine the best varieties and types of seeds and plants for your area and garden. A great tip on vegetable gardening is, when you sow your seeds, always plant a few extra to replace ones that fail to germinate. Keep the garden moist until the seedlings have emerged and never thin them until their second set of leaves appears. Thinning out the row when the seedlings are small keeps you from disturbing the other vegetables roots. Test your soil periodically to determine if you need fertilizer and the amount you need. Having your own compost is a great and natural way to fertilize your vegetable garden and cuts down on garbage.
The best way to keep pests away or under control is to start by having healthy soil and plants, using compost, regular watering and adequate drainage. When considering tips on vegetable gardening, do not forget weed control. Weeds rob plants of water, light and nutrients. Hoe or cultivate the soil between your plants after it rains, as this kills any newly sprouted weeds. Use a mixture of pine needles and grass if available, to keep the weeds down or a layer of wet newspaper between the rows of vegetables. Try planting marigolds around the vegetable garden border in order to discourage aphids.
A very good homemade deterrent for pests is:
In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.
Most important of all is that you enjoy your vegetable garden. You will gain a lot of satisfaction from the fact that you grew the vegetables yourself. Not only will you have fun from your garden hobby but now you can start a culinary hobby with all your fresh produce.
Happy Gardening!
Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.
This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.
Best Gardening Tips: Pests on Houseplants
June 4, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Scott Goodman asked:
Whether you are a professional gardener or just getting started in gardening, you will quickly see that there is a multitude of gardening tips out there that you can use if you ever need any type of gardening help. No matter what your problem is there will be appropriate gardening tips to assist you and act as a solution, but of all these different tips there are a few in particular that you will find useful.
Dealing With Pests on Houseplants
One of the most common problems that gardeners experience is dealing with pests on their houseplants. You really have to be careful, because although of course you want to kill the pests, you need to make sure that you are not going to be doing any damage to the plants.
Therefore one of the best gardening tips has to do with how you can deal with pests on houseplants safely. The first step is to clean up to remove the insects. Cleaning is not only a good physical control and good place for you to get started, but as well it will help greatly by allowing you to monitor how well your other controls are working, because they actually may not be working at all.
Insecticidal soap works quite well for pests on houseplants, and works by killing them by smothering or suffocating. Insect contact with the product is essential and so you are going to need to make sure that you apply the soap frequently enough that all the pests will be taken care of.
Seed Starting
Another of the most important gardening tips involves seed starting. Timing is essential here, and more than anything you do not want to begin too early. With the exception of plants such as peppers and tomatoes, most seedlings do best when they are started in mid-March, so don’t get too anxious and start too early before this.
These are just a couple of the thousands upon thousands of gardening tips that are out there. Even if you are a seasoned gardener, you are really going to benefit by learning about as many of these tips as you can, because then if you ever do have any problems you will already be prepared and know what to do, rather than being clueless and having to take time to look up a solution.
Gardening can be an extremely enjoyable activity and not only that but produce beautiful plants for you, and so if it is not something that you are interested in, it is definitely something worth trying out.
Whether you are a professional gardener or just getting started in gardening, you will quickly see that there is a multitude of gardening tips out there that you can use if you ever need any type of gardening help. No matter what your problem is there will be appropriate gardening tips to assist you and act as a solution, but of all these different tips there are a few in particular that you will find useful.
Dealing With Pests on Houseplants
One of the most common problems that gardeners experience is dealing with pests on their houseplants. You really have to be careful, because although of course you want to kill the pests, you need to make sure that you are not going to be doing any damage to the plants.
Therefore one of the best gardening tips has to do with how you can deal with pests on houseplants safely. The first step is to clean up to remove the insects. Cleaning is not only a good physical control and good place for you to get started, but as well it will help greatly by allowing you to monitor how well your other controls are working, because they actually may not be working at all.
Insecticidal soap works quite well for pests on houseplants, and works by killing them by smothering or suffocating. Insect contact with the product is essential and so you are going to need to make sure that you apply the soap frequently enough that all the pests will be taken care of.
Seed Starting
Another of the most important gardening tips involves seed starting. Timing is essential here, and more than anything you do not want to begin too early. With the exception of plants such as peppers and tomatoes, most seedlings do best when they are started in mid-March, so don’t get too anxious and start too early before this.
These are just a couple of the thousands upon thousands of gardening tips that are out there. Even if you are a seasoned gardener, you are really going to benefit by learning about as many of these tips as you can, because then if you ever do have any problems you will already be prepared and know what to do, rather than being clueless and having to take time to look up a solution.
Gardening can be an extremely enjoyable activity and not only that but produce beautiful plants for you, and so if it is not something that you are interested in, it is definitely something worth trying out.



