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Growing Vegetables Year Round
Susan Slobac asked:
How do cherry tomatoes in the dead of winter sound to you, a gardener in a northern clime wishing for summer? Impossible, you say. Not if you garden indoors. Vegetables of all types can be grown year-round indoors, with the proper light, soil, fertilizer and temperature, as well as focusing on suitable plant varieties.
If you are going to grow indoor vegetables in winter, you will need to start by raising plants from seed in late summer or early fall. It’s best to buy your seeds in the spring if you wish to do this, because it is not always easy to find seeds for sale at local garden centers in the fall.
Use a light seedling mix for starting your seeds. Its loose consistency will make it easy for the plants new roots to start to develop. After the seedlings have two true leaves, you can begin to carefully transplant them into individual four-inch containers. You can use any good potting soil for this purpose, but do not use regular garden soil. It is usually very heavy, has poor drainage and can also harbor disease and insects that can kill your new starts.
Because you will be watering these plants every day or every other day to keep the roots properly moist, you are also washing nutrients out of the soil. So feed your plants with a complete organic fertilizer every couple of weeks to give them the food they need to grow and flourish.
You will be playing with temperatures when raising indoor vegetables to suit the particular plants you wish to grow. Some vegetables, such as lettuce, endive, and radishes like cooler indoor temperatures. Daytime temperatures in the 60s work well, while night temperatures should go no lower than the 40s. A basement situation might work well to provide these temperatures, or an unheated porch if it doesn’t get too cold.
Sun lovers like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and beans must have daytime temperatures in the upper 70s and nights can go down no lower than 60 in order for these plants to flower and produce fruit. You will likely need to provide bottom heat to your containers to make sure they are warm enough to do well indoors.
If you do not have the proper hydroponic lights, you will be doomed to failure when it comes to growing vegetables indoors. This is of utmost importance to your success. You need to keep your light two to four inches above your plants for them to thrive. HID lamps, in conjunction with digital ballasts or electronic ballasts can be purchased in as hydroponic grow light kits, work well for this purpose. These grow lights provide a complete spectrum of light for every stage of plant growth, and work well in indoor applications.
How do cherry tomatoes in the dead of winter sound to you, a gardener in a northern clime wishing for summer? Impossible, you say. Not if you garden indoors. Vegetables of all types can be grown year-round indoors, with the proper light, soil, fertilizer and temperature, as well as focusing on suitable plant varieties.
If you are going to grow indoor vegetables in winter, you will need to start by raising plants from seed in late summer or early fall. It’s best to buy your seeds in the spring if you wish to do this, because it is not always easy to find seeds for sale at local garden centers in the fall.
Use a light seedling mix for starting your seeds. Its loose consistency will make it easy for the plants new roots to start to develop. After the seedlings have two true leaves, you can begin to carefully transplant them into individual four-inch containers. You can use any good potting soil for this purpose, but do not use regular garden soil. It is usually very heavy, has poor drainage and can also harbor disease and insects that can kill your new starts.
Because you will be watering these plants every day or every other day to keep the roots properly moist, you are also washing nutrients out of the soil. So feed your plants with a complete organic fertilizer every couple of weeks to give them the food they need to grow and flourish.
You will be playing with temperatures when raising indoor vegetables to suit the particular plants you wish to grow. Some vegetables, such as lettuce, endive, and radishes like cooler indoor temperatures. Daytime temperatures in the 60s work well, while night temperatures should go no lower than the 40s. A basement situation might work well to provide these temperatures, or an unheated porch if it doesn’t get too cold.
Sun lovers like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and beans must have daytime temperatures in the upper 70s and nights can go down no lower than 60 in order for these plants to flower and produce fruit. You will likely need to provide bottom heat to your containers to make sure they are warm enough to do well indoors.
If you do not have the proper hydroponic lights, you will be doomed to failure when it comes to growing vegetables indoors. This is of utmost importance to your success. You need to keep your light two to four inches above your plants for them to thrive. HID lamps, in conjunction with digital ballasts or electronic ballasts can be purchased in as hydroponic grow light kits, work well for this purpose. These grow lights provide a complete spectrum of light for every stage of plant growth, and work well in indoor applications.
Vegetable Gardening – 5 Tips For A Perfect Vegetable Garden!
Abhishek Agarwal asked:
There are no second opinions about the fact that vegetable gardening is a much more satisfying experience than any other form of gardening. This is more so because one gets the opportunity to relish the dishes made out of ones own produce. However, vegetable gardening is also not as easy as other types of gardening and one needs to plan well in advance, even before starting tilling the ground for the seeding purpose.
1. One important factor that needs consideration while planning is the climatic conditions. There are some vegetables that can be cultivated only in a certain type of climate and season. For example, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli can only be grown in cold areas, whereas, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes grow better in hot and sunny weather.
2. Another gardening tip that can be effectively used is that there are certain kinds of vegetables that do very well if exposed partially to sunlight. For example, lettuce is a plant that grows fantastically when exposed to sunlight for half a day and then kept in shade for the remaining half. One should plan the placement of ones vegetables in the garden keeping such factors in mind. Other vegetables that grow very well under partial exposure to sunlight are carrots, spinach, cauliflower, cucumbers, Swiss chard, radishes and beets.
3. Is your garden located in a region that either has a very long growth season or a very short one. Based on its weather conditions, a garden can be cultivated with the help of the following gardening tip. Gardens with long growth season are apt for growing vegetables like tomatoes, beans (lima, soy and dry), artichokes, celery, peppers, potatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, eggplant, onions, kale and leeks. Whereas, the gardens located in short growth areas must have vegetables like beets, cabbage, carrots, turnips, beans, peas, radishes, peas, mustard greens, onions and lettuce.
4. The next significant gardening tip is based on your level of expertise as a gardener. If you are a beginner, you will do much better by growing vegetables like beans (dry and green), potatoes, squash (summer and winter), radishes, tomatoes, beets, salad greens, beets, sunflowers, lettuce, Swiss chard and any other root crop, that don’t offer great challenges and put you off in no time. In case you are a seasoned gardener and wish to take on the challenges, you can try your hand at celery, watermelon, parsnips, leeks, cantaloupe, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, peas and corns.
5. At the time of planning for your vegetable garden, you must also include the space constraints that certain vegetable plants may impose. Some vegetables can do with minimum space while others may require yards and yards to come good. This gardening tip will help you classify the vegetables by the space that they require to grow. Vegetables that consume maximum space are artichokes (globe), cauliflower, cucumbers, peas, potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, corn, melons and sweet potatoes. Least space consuming vegetable plants are beets, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, radishes, mustard greens, parsnips, beans (bush and pole), carrots, turnips, Swiss chard, leeks, sunflowers, peppers and onions. You must take care while planting these vegetables that you leave enough space for you to move around in the garden.
It is strictly advisable to not to use any chemicals in your vegetable gardens to get rid of weeds and insects. There are several organic methods that can be used without employing chemical herbicides and pesticides. Use of such chemicals kills both the good and harmful bugs in the vegetable garden. Moreover, the chemically exposed vegetables can have severe impact on the consumer health in the long run. You can always make use of a good naturally prepared mulch to get rod of weeds in your garden.
There are no second opinions about the fact that vegetable gardening is a much more satisfying experience than any other form of gardening. This is more so because one gets the opportunity to relish the dishes made out of ones own produce. However, vegetable gardening is also not as easy as other types of gardening and one needs to plan well in advance, even before starting tilling the ground for the seeding purpose.
1. One important factor that needs consideration while planning is the climatic conditions. There are some vegetables that can be cultivated only in a certain type of climate and season. For example, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli can only be grown in cold areas, whereas, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes grow better in hot and sunny weather.
2. Another gardening tip that can be effectively used is that there are certain kinds of vegetables that do very well if exposed partially to sunlight. For example, lettuce is a plant that grows fantastically when exposed to sunlight for half a day and then kept in shade for the remaining half. One should plan the placement of ones vegetables in the garden keeping such factors in mind. Other vegetables that grow very well under partial exposure to sunlight are carrots, spinach, cauliflower, cucumbers, Swiss chard, radishes and beets.
3. Is your garden located in a region that either has a very long growth season or a very short one. Based on its weather conditions, a garden can be cultivated with the help of the following gardening tip. Gardens with long growth season are apt for growing vegetables like tomatoes, beans (lima, soy and dry), artichokes, celery, peppers, potatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, eggplant, onions, kale and leeks. Whereas, the gardens located in short growth areas must have vegetables like beets, cabbage, carrots, turnips, beans, peas, radishes, peas, mustard greens, onions and lettuce.
4. The next significant gardening tip is based on your level of expertise as a gardener. If you are a beginner, you will do much better by growing vegetables like beans (dry and green), potatoes, squash (summer and winter), radishes, tomatoes, beets, salad greens, beets, sunflowers, lettuce, Swiss chard and any other root crop, that don’t offer great challenges and put you off in no time. In case you are a seasoned gardener and wish to take on the challenges, you can try your hand at celery, watermelon, parsnips, leeks, cantaloupe, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, peas and corns.
5. At the time of planning for your vegetable garden, you must also include the space constraints that certain vegetable plants may impose. Some vegetables can do with minimum space while others may require yards and yards to come good. This gardening tip will help you classify the vegetables by the space that they require to grow. Vegetables that consume maximum space are artichokes (globe), cauliflower, cucumbers, peas, potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, corn, melons and sweet potatoes. Least space consuming vegetable plants are beets, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, radishes, mustard greens, parsnips, beans (bush and pole), carrots, turnips, Swiss chard, leeks, sunflowers, peppers and onions. You must take care while planting these vegetables that you leave enough space for you to move around in the garden.
It is strictly advisable to not to use any chemicals in your vegetable gardens to get rid of weeds and insects. There are several organic methods that can be used without employing chemical herbicides and pesticides. Use of such chemicals kills both the good and harmful bugs in the vegetable garden. Moreover, the chemically exposed vegetables can have severe impact on the consumer health in the long run. You can always make use of a good naturally prepared mulch to get rod of weeds in your garden.
